Scores for Orchestra

The song cycle LES NUITS D'ETE (SUMMER NIGHTS) is a setting of six poems by composer Hector Berlioz' (1803-1869) neighbor and friend, Théophile Gautier. The text deals in themes of love in all its fac...

Les Sept Paroles du Christ ("The Seven Last Words of Christ"), is one of Théodore Dubois's (1837-1924) two oratorios, and remains the composer's most frequently performed choral work. First performed...

Antonín Dvorák (1841-1904) began composition of his setting of the Stabat Mater text in 1876 and finally finishing the orchestral version in late 1877, though it was not published until 1881 as Op. 58...

This edition of George Frideric Handel's most famous work was edited by Ebenezer Prout, and includes additional accompaniments largely re-written by him. The preface provided by Prout offers an extens...

EIN' FESTE BURG IST UNSER GOTT ('A Mighty Fortress Is Our God') is among the best known hymns written by reformer Martin Luther, and has been used by many composers, including by J.S. Bach, in various...

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) composed the three-act oratorio Hercules, HWV 60 during a four-week period in 1744. Telling the story of the ancient Greek hero Hercules' death through the jealousy...

During the semi-retirement from his long service as Kapellmeister to the Esterházy family, Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) was tasked with composing a Coronation Mass for the wife of his patron, Prince...

The original setting for chorus and keyboard of the "Tui sun coeli" from Psalm 88 (Vulgate) vv. 12, 15a was completed by Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) between 1796 and 1799. Alternate titles include:...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) composed the sacred choral work Veni Sancte Spiritus (Come, Holy Spirit), K. 47 in 1768, at the age of 12. As Mozart added the subtitle "Offertorium," it is clear t...

The sublime Ave Verum Corpus, K. 618 was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) in June of 1791 for his friend Anton Stoll, and it premiered on June 23 of that year at St. Stephen's church in...

The MASS IN C, K. 220/196b, often referred to by the nickname "Spatzenmesse" or "Sparrow Mass" due to the violin figure in the Hosanna of the Sanctus that recalls the chirping of birds, is Mozart's 9t...

The MASS IN C, K. 220/196b, often referred to by the nickname "Spatzenmesse" or "Sparrow Mass" due to the violin figure in the Hosanna of the Sanctus that recalls the chirping of birds, is Mozart's 9t...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) completed his Mass No. 15 in C, K. 317 on March 23, 1779 after a period of seeking for employment in places such as Paris and Mannheim. Failing that, Mozart's fathe...

This arrangement for orchestra for Three Songs (Drei Lieder) by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) has been completed by Willy Weide (1880-1910). Songs included: 1. Liebestreu (True Love), Op. 3, No. 1; 2. W...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) began composition of his Great Mass in C minor, K. 427/417a in 1782 as a promise to himself to write a major work for his native Salzburg. This period was shortly a...

While it scandalized Parisian audiences at its premiere by the Opéra-Comique in Paris on March 3rd, 1875, Georges Bizet's (1838-1875) Carmen became, a mere decade later, one of the most popular and fr...

Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) composed his popular two-act opera buffa L'elisir d'amore hastily over six weeks in 1832 for a premiere that took place on May 12 of that year at the Teatro della Canobbi...

Don Pasquale, regarded as one of the crowning gems of comic opera, had its first performance on January 3, 1843 by the Theatre-Italien at the Salle Ventadour in Paris. Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) co...

Umberto Giordano (1867-1948) wrote the four-act verismo opera Andrea Chénier in 1896, and it remains his best-known work. It premiered on March 28, 1896, at La Scala in Milan. Loosely based on the lif...

WERTHER, an opera in four acts by Jules Massenet (1842-1912), found its inspiration in a novel by Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther, which in turn based its story on the actual suicide of a young m...

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) wrote music for William Shakespeare's play A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM on two separate occasions. He first wrote the concert overture in E Major, Op. 21 in 1826 at the age...

A dream inspired Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884-1920) to compose The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Kahn, based on the poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The composer originally wrote it for piano in 1912. Fou...

Italian composer Amilcare Ponchielli's (1834-1886) 4-act opera La Gioconda was first performed by La Scala in Milan on April 8, 1876, and was an immediate success, acting as a bridge between the Verdi...

LA BOHÈME, one of the most beloved and commercially-successful operas, is based on the 1851 novel Scenes of Bohemian Life by Henri Murger. With a libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, Giacomo...