Scores for Orchestra

Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) loved Russian folk stories, a fact easily validated by his six fairy-tale operas. He based his 1880 overture SKAZKA (FAIRY TALE), Op. 29, on the prologue to Alexand...

Chanson de Matin (Morning Song), Op. 15, No. 2 was originally written for violin and piano and most likely completed no later than 1890. The work has a companion piece called Chanson de Nuit (Night So...

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) composed the incidental music for the play Belsazars gästabud (Belshazzar's Feast), by Hjalmar Fredrik Eugen Procopé, in 1906. In eight movements for orchestra and singers, t...

The Wand of Youth suites are based on materials Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934) wrote as a boy for use in a play by the younger members of his family. The composer also used materials he composed while e...

The Wand of Youth suites are based on materials Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934) wrote as a boy for use in a play by the younger members of his family. The composer also used materials he composed while e...

Symphony No. 7 was composed by Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) between 1904 and 1906. Often informally called "Song of the Night" due to the 2nd and 4th movements both being titled Nachtmusik (Night music),...

EFTERKLANGE AF OSSIAN (ECHOES OF OSSIAN) OVERTURE, Op. 1, composed in 1840 by Niels Wilhelm Gade (1817-1890), marked a major turning point in his early career and brought him widespread recognition as...

MANON, written by Jules Massenet (1842-1912) was composed in 1883 and premiered the following year on January 19 at the Opéra-Comique. It tells the story of a young woman who, despite being a good per...

In 1843, Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) composed the well-loved and technically challenging POLONAISE in A-flat Major, Op. 53. Its subtitle "Heroic" has its origin in a letter by George Sand in which she...

The Romanian composer Georges Enescu (1881-1955) spent his career in Paris, but much of his music bears the unmistakable influence of his native folk music. His SUITE D'ORCHESTRE, Op. 9, (Suite No. 1)...

Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) wrote Barbe-bleue (Bluebeard, Eng.; Blaubart, Ger.) while travelling in 1865. An opéra bouffe in three acts, with a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy ba...

Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) composed Overture on Jewish Themes (or Overture on Hebrew Themes), Op. 34, in 1919 for the uncommon combination of clarinet, string quartet, and piano, and this original v...

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847) wrote Lobgesang (Hymn of Praise), Op. 52 in 1840 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Johannes Gutenberg's invention of the printing press. Described by th...

Johannes Brahms' (1833-1897) Op. 117 consists of three short intermezzi originally written for piano in 1892. Each of the intermezzi is slow and meditative. Intermezzo No. 1 is a lullaby, and this orc...

Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1848-1918) composed the Symphonic Variations in E minor only two years prior to the completion of the Enigma Variations by his well-known student, Edward Elgar. It premi...

One of his longer works and the last to see immediate popularity, Edward Elgar's (1857-1934) Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61 has always found its way on concert programs, even when Elgar's works fe...

Claude Debussy (1862-1918) had originally intended for Images pour orchestre to be a sequel to the first set of Images for solo piano. However, around 1905, he had decided to orchestrate the compositi...

Morton Gould, equally comfortable in the worlds of both "serious" and "light" music, presented his symphonettes (an Americanization of the term "sinfonietta," much like kitchenette and dinette) as wor...

Dark Eyes is a well-known Russian romance song. The lyrics, written by Ukrainian poet Yevhen Hrebinka, were first published in 1843. The melody, to which the lyrics are set is by German-Polish compose...

Originally composed for piano, this orchestration from Lecuona's celebrated Andalucia Suite by Morton Gould is a sure crowd-pleaser! Instrumentation: 2(1st dPicc).2.2.2: 4Sax(AATB): 2.3.2.1: Timp.Perc...

First published and recorded in 1954 (only included at the time on the album "A Leroy Anderson 'Pops' Concert"), this lovely piano instrumental was released as a UK single in 1957 and hit the charts i...

Leroy Anderson completed four works in 1953: "Song of the Bells," "Summer Skies," "The Girl in Satin," and "Concerto in C for Piano and Orchestra." He commisioned a modern home for himself and his fam...

Programme Note from original publication - This work was first played in America by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in June, 1910, and was the result of a commission from Mr. Carl Stoeckel, to who...

Ravel's longest work at almost an hour, the complete one-act ballet Daphnis et Chloe was described by the composer as a "symphonie choregraphique" (choreographic symphony).  Ravel began...

AUX ÉTOILES (TO THE STARS), composed in 1874, is a short poem for orchestra by French composer Henri Duparc (1848-1933). He originally intended it for a three-movement work titled Poéme nocturne. High...