Benjamin Britten’s Four Sea Interludes, Op. 33a, is a concert suite extracted from his opera Peter Grimes, first performed in 1945. Britten selected four orchestral interludes from the opera and arranged them as a self-contained work for the...

Benjamin Britten composed Soirées musicales, Op. 9, in 1935–36, drawing on melodies by Gioachino Rossini, particularly from Rossini’s vocal collection Soirées musicales of the 1830s. The suite grew out of incidental music...

REPRINT SERIES  Alan Rawsthorne’s Symphonic Studies is a large-scale orchestral work completed in 1938 and first performed at the ISCM Festival in Warsaw in 1939. It was one of the pieces that established his reputation early on, and...

Walter Piston’s The Incredible Flutist is a one-act ballet composed in 1938 with a libretto by Piston and Hans Wiener; it is his only work for the stage and was premiered by the Boston Pops under Arthur Fiedler on 30 May 1938. The work paints a...

The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, Op. 34 (subtitle Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell) was written by Benjamin Britten in 1945 for a British Ministry of Education film, Instruments of the Orchestra; the film version (with narration...

Benjamin Britten’s Symphony for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 68, was composed in 1963 and dedicated to Mstislav Rostropovich, who gave the premiere with Britten conducting the Moscow Philharmonic on 12 March 1964. The work’s title reflects...

Manuel de Falla’s Suite No. 2, Three Dances from El sombrero de tres picos, is an orchestral extraction of the principal dances from Part II of the 1919 ballet. he suite is scored for a medium-to-large orchestra with an emphasis on percussion...

Manuel de Falla’s Suite No. 1, Scenes and Dances from El sombrero de tres picos, is an orchestral extraction of the principal dances from Part I of the 1919 ballet. Musically the suite condenses the ballet’s Andalusian...

Darius Milhaud’s Les Cloches, Op. 259 (“The Bells”), dates from 1946 and is a six‑movement symphonic suite adapted from his lost ballet after Edgar Allan Poe’s poem. The movements—Ouverture: Animé; Cloches...

Richard Strauss’s Don Juan, Op. 20 is a tone poem composed in 1888—when the composer was just 24—and first performed by Strauss himself in Weimar on 11 November 1889. Inspired by Nikolaus Lenau’s verse drama Don Juans Ende, the...

REPRINT SERIES Grażyna Bacewicz’s Variations for Orchestra, IGB 11, was composed in 1957 and premiered in 1958 at the Warsaw Autumn Festival, conducted by Jan Krenz. The work consists of a 19-bar theme followed by eight continuous variations,...

Heitor Villa-Lobos extracted Suite No. 4 “Descobrimento do Brasil” (W 380) in 1937 from his score for Humberto Mauro’s film of the same name, completing the cycle of four suites that portray Brazil’s early colonial history. he...

Composed in 1937 for Humberto Mauro’s film O Descobrimento do Brasil, Suite No. 3 (W 379) comprises three continuous movements—Impressão ibérica (11:15), Festa nas selvas (3:37), and Ulalocê (Visão dos navegantes)...

REPRINT SERIES  Bacewicz’s Musica sinfonica in tre movimenti (IGB 21) was composed in 1965, dedicated to conductor Witold Rowicki, and premiered on 6 September 1965 by the Warsaw Philharmonic under his baton at the Stockholm Festival. The...

Villa-Lobos’s Descobrimento do Brasil (Discovery of Brazil) Suite No. 2 contains three movements: Impressão moura (Moorish Impression) – a rhythmically complex piece with modal harmonies and layered textures that evoke a stylized...

Villa-Lobos’s Descobrimento do Brasil (Discovery of Brazil) Suite No. 1 for Orchestra is a programmatic work that musically portrays the discovery of Brazil. Composed with a clear narrative in mind, the suite employs a series of contrasting...

REPRINT SERIES  Respighi’s La Boutique Fantasque is a one-act ballet that captures a whimsical and bustling scene through vibrant orchestration and clear, narrative musical gestures. The work unfolds in a single, continuous movement, where...

Bacewicz’s In Una Parte for Symphony Orchestra IGB 20 is a concise, single-movement work that employs modernist techniques typical of her later style. It is structured around clear rhythmic patterns and focused thematic development, with little...