Mussorgsky's inspiration for Pictures was the death of his dear friend, the architect and visual artist Victor Hartman. Having died at age 39, Hartman had not yet had the opportunity to realize any of his architectural visions, and Mussorgsky was angered...

It is the third orchestral work in Respighi's "Roman trilogy", preceded by Fountains of Rome (1916) and Pines of Rome (1924). Each of the four movements depict a scene of celebration from Ancient Rome. It is the longest and most demanding of the trilogy...

Often described as the last work of Poulenc’s early period, the composer himself wrote to the Belgian musicologist Paul Collaer: "You will see for yourself what an enormous step forward it is from my previous work and that I am really entering my...

REPRINT SERIES Originally composed as a ballet commissioned by Russian ballerina Ida Rubinstein, Boléro is a one-movement orchestral piece and is Ravel's most famous musical composition.

REPRINT SERIES The First Rhapsody is dedicated to Hungarian virtuoso violinist Joseph Szigeti, a close friend of Bartok. Bartók evidently composed both rhapsodies purely as a personal gesture, rather than on commission, and did so without telling...

Romeo and Juliet Suite No.3 Op.101 has 6 movements and is the briefest of the three suites extracted from the Ballet, lasting just under twenty minutes. 1.Romeo at the Fountain2. .Morning Dance3.Juliet4.The Nurse5.Aubade6.The Death of Juliet

The Concerto for string quartet with orchestra was composed in Paris in 1931 for the Belgian Quatuor Pro Arte to which Béla Bartók had already dedicated his fourth string quartet. The work keeps the string quartet distinct from the...

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Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5, Op. 100, is his biggest, his grandest, and his greatest symphony, a massive and monumental work that celebrates the triumph of all that is decent and virtuous over all that is depraved and immoral. Fourteen years had passed...

The concerto is quite traditional, both in terms of its fast-slow-fast structure and in terms of the composer's personal aesthetic; the style is instantly recognizable as Martinu's: broad, wistful melodies soar over percolating rhythms with the...

As is the usual case with Bachianas Brasileiras, Villa-Lobos stressed the conjunction of Bach and Brazil by giving dual titles in Portuguese to each movement, one reflecting a Bach form, the other suggesting the Brazilian nature of the music. Originally...

Composed in the aftermath of World War II, it is one of Honegger's best-known works. It is in three movements, each of which (following the symphony's subtitle) is named after part of the Requiem Mass. The first movement, Dies irae, is marked allegro...

Score and Set of Parts (String count 4.4.3.3.2) This work is clearly an homage to Bach, specifically to his Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor, a composition Vaughan Williams deeply loved and admired. The concerto is cast in three movements, with the...

Ibert's Concerto was dedicated to Moyse,a student of the great French flutist and teacher Paul Taffanel, for whom many of the greatest French flute works were written. But Moyse didn't play it often, in fact, the work lay neglected for many years due to...

It remains one of the most technically formidable piano concertos in the standard repertoire.  The first and last movements are each around twelve minutes long and constitute some of the most dramatic music in all of Prokofiev's piano concertos...

Honegger's Fourth Symphony, which contains musical quotations from two Basel folk songs, expresses the composer's happiness during a pleasant stay in the Swiss countryside after the end of World War II.Despite the pastoral and often joyous mood...

EDITION ZEZA REPRINT SERIES. An instant critical and popular success when first performed by the Rosé Quartet in January 1924, Korngold's string quartet No.1 is an inspired work. He had a knack of orchestrating music for small ensembles to make...

Of the three concertante works that Honegger composed, this is the only one without a diminutive in the title. Ironically, it is one of Honegger's most light-hearted, even amusing scores. It is tuneful and rhythmically vital.The soloist is given...