Scores for Orchestra

While Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) is usually closely associated with programmatic music, his LE CORSAIRE OVERTURE, Op. 21/H. 101 has no narrative behind the music, despite the title tempting an associa...

Ernest Guiraud (1837-1892) was a colleague and good friend of Bizet's. After Bizet's death, he composed the recitatives still commonly used in Carmen. Between 1880 and 1882, he compiled two orchestral...

One of two orchestral serenades composed by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) that served as early efforts to write orchestral music, this SERENADE No. 1 in D is the composer's first published orchestral wo...

The complicated history of Anton Bruckner's (1824-1896) SYMPHONY No. 4 in E-flat (WAB 104) 'ROMANTIC' began with the completion of the 1st version in 1874. What followed was a second version in 1878 w...

The most popular work by Hugo Alfvén (1872-1960), MIDSOMMARVAKA (MIDSUMMER VIGIL) is also known by its subtitle SWEDISH RHAPSODY NO. 1. Composed in 1903, the work is alleged to have emerged as a respo...

The Brandenburg Concertos are a collection of six instrumental works by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) written around or before 1721 to be presented to Christian Ludwig, the Margrave of Brandenburg...

Honoring Mozart and Haydn, Beethoven's First Symphony is a relatively conservative work from an otherwise bold composer. Despite its classical scoring and form, the symphony is uniquely Beethoven, wit...

Written by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) between 1803-1804, SYMPHONY No. 3 ‘EROICA' (Heroic Symphony) marks the transition to the composer's innovative middle period, breaking the long-standing bou...

Considered one of the cornerstrones of western music, this bridge between the Classical and Romantic eras is among the best-known and most frequently performed works in classical music. Instrumentatio...

Written between 1811 and 1812 while Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was improving his health in the Bohemian spa town of Teplitz, the Symphony No. 7 is considered among the composer's best works (inc...

Ludwig van Beethoven's (1770-1827) choral symphony, Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 was composed between 1822 and 1824, and is the last completed symphony by the composer. Considered by many to be...

Written between October 1809 and June 1810, Ludwig van Beethoven's (1770-1827) Egmont, Op. 84 is a set of ten incidental music pieces for the 1787 play of the same name by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe....

Written between October 1809 and June 1810, Ludwig van Beethoven's (1770-1827) Egmont, Op. 84 is a set of ten incidental music pieces for the 1787 play of the same name by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe....

DIE GESCHÖPFE DES PROMETHEUS (The Creatures of Prometheus), Op. 43 is a ballet in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). Choreographed by the dancer Salvatore Viganò, it is based on the Greek m...

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) completed his Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor in 1803, not long after writing the famous letter to his brothers, the Heiligenstadt Testament, in which he lamented his...

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) completed his Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat shortly after Vienna surrendered to Napleon's invading forces in the spring of 1809. It received its premiere on November...

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) composed the Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61, in 1806. The premiere by violinist Franz Clement on December 23rd, 1806, at the Theater an der Wien was poorly receive...

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) wrote two romances for violin and orchestra, one in F and one in G. While the Romance for Violin and Orchestra No. 2 in F Major, Op. 50, was published later and has a...

Beethoven's concerto for violin, cello and piano in C Major, Op. 56, commonly known as the TRIPLE CONCERTO, was composed in 1803 and premiered in 1808.  The choice of the three instruments effect...

Norma is a two-act lyric tragedy by Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835). A leading example of the bel canto genre, the opera premiered at La Scala in Milan on December 26th, 1831. The story tells of a love t...

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) completed Le Carnaval Romain, Op. 9 (Roman Carnival Overture) in 1843, with the premiere performance taking place on February 3rd, 1844 at the Salle Herz in Paris. Written a...

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) completed The Damnation of Faust, Op. 24 in 1846. A work for four solo voices, chorus, children's chorus, and orchestra, Berlioz originally intended the work, based on Goeth...

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) composed Symphonie Fantastique (Fantastic Symphony), Op. 14/H48 in 1830. Tt is often described as remarkable for a composer's first symphony given its large scale, wide rang...

In January 1834, the great violinist Niccolo Paganini asked Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) to write a viola concerto so that he could showcase his newly-acquired Stradivarius, though Paganini rejected the...

Originally written as a suite for piano four-hands in 1871, Georges Bizet (1838-1875) orchestrated five of the twelve movements of Jeux d'Enfants in 1880. A precursor to other childhood-themed works b...