REPRINT SERIES Prokofiev wrote his Symphony No. 2 in D minor, Op. 40, in Paris in 1924-25, during what he called "nine months of frenzied toil". He characterized this symphony as a work of "iron and steel". Prokofiev modeled the symphony's structure on...

REPRINT SERIES The Scherzo à la russe was first conceived as a work for film use, as it was intended to be featured in The North Star. When the film project was aborted,he arranged this symphonic version in 1945. The defining characteristics of...

Cassazione, Op. 6, is an orchestral composition by Jean Sibelius, composed in 1904 for the programme that introduced his Violin Concerto. Its title refers to the cassation, a genre similar to the serenade, which was popular in the late 18th century...

REPRINT SERIES  As admirers of Kodály are aware, the composer was well known for his work in ethnomusicology. The Peacock Variations falls into this vast realm of the composer's output, using a melody that has Hungarian and possibly Mari...

REPRINT SERIES   After he departed the Soviet Union in 1918, Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953) spent a fair amount of time in the U.S. concertizing. On one such tour in 1930, the Library of Congress commissioned him to compose a string quartet; the...

The Pulcinella Suite, derived from the ballet, was written in 1922 and has no vocal parts. Pulcinella marked the beginning of Stravinsky's second phase as a composer, his neoclassical period. The suite consists of eight...

REPRINT SERIES Concerto in D ("Basle") for string orchestra was composed in Hollywood between the beginning of 1946 and 8 August of the same year in response to a 1946 commission from Paul Sacher to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Basler...

REPRINT SERIES Fountains of Rome or Fontane di Roma is a symphonic poem written by Ottorino Respighi in 1916 and first published in 1918. It is the first orchestral work in his "Roman trilogy", followed by Pines of Rome (1924) and Roman Festivals (1928)...

Respighi composed Metamorphoseon in 1930, for the fiftieth anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and it is in fact something of a concerto for orchestra. The 30-minute long work consists of a theme and twelve variations or 'modes', an allusion to...

Uirapuru is an orchestral piece with an elaborate program about the mythical Uirapuru bird in the Amazon jungle.  It's dedicated to ballet choreographer Serge Lifar. It is characteristic of the composer in blending Brazilian national inspiration...

REPRINT SERIES This Suite No.2 was composed in 1923. It was based on pieces for lute, archlute, and viol by Fabritio Caroso, Jean-Baptiste Besard, Bernardo Gianoncelli, and an anonymous composer. It also includes an aria attributed to Marin Mersenne...

REPRINT SERIES   The suite is in four movements, and lasts around 20 minutes. It is based on Prokofiev's ballet "Ala e Lolli" (Ala and Lolly).1. Invocation to Veles and Ala - barbaric and colorful music describing the Scythians' invocation of the...

REPRINT SERIES The orchestral Tanzsuite aus Klavierstücken von François Couperin, TrV 245 consists of eight movements, each one based on a selection of pieces from Couperin's Pièces de Clavecin written for the solo harpsichord over the...

The suite begins where the opera starts, famously, with the bold, erotic horn music that is "Der Rosenkavalier’s" calling card and always a welcome sound to opera lovers. The suite begins with the opera's orchestral prelude, depicting the night of...

 REPRINT SERIES Hindemith - Konzertmusik für Streichorchester und Blechbläser Op.50 It was one of a large group of pieces commissioned for the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra by its music director, Serge Koussevitzky...

The Hungarian Pictures, also known as Hungarian Sketches, are probably Bartók's most popular orchestral transcriptions. Each of the five pieces was originally conceived for the piano. the first two, "Evening in Transylvania" and "Bear Dance," are...

Serge Koussevitzky asked whether Rachmaninoff would select a group of études-tableaux for Italian composer Ottorino Respighi to orchestrate. He agreed and selected five études from Op. 33 and Op. 39. Respighi rearranged the order of...

REPRINT SERIES Revised in 1920 and finished in 1924, Falla transformed El Amor Brujo into a one-act 'ballet pantomímico'; it is in this version that the work is best known to this day. Movements:1.    Introduccion y Escena /...