# Easier symphonies for school/amateur orchestras



## celegorma

Hey guys, I need suggestions to easy to medium level symphonies for an amateur orchestra. Our orchestra is not that good but we do have a full array of instruments, and prefer to make use of as many of them as possible.


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## GraemeG

Mendelssohn 5, maybe?
GG


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## Vaneyes

Shostakovich, Schnittke, Lutoslawski. Just kidding. 

I think the early Mozart would prove delightful. Enjoy, Have fun. Good luck. :tiphat:


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## drpraetorus

The Schubert unfinished is not too hard. Mozart 35. Beethoven 1 and 2.


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## GraemeG

Agree with Schubert 8. But the finale of Beethoven 1 is thoroughly professional standard.
GG


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## Jaws

celegorma said:


> Hey guys, I need suggestions to easy to medium level symphonies for an amateur orchestra. Our orchestra is not that good but we do have a full array of instruments, and prefer to make use of as many of them as possible.


Have you got a whole brass section, 4 horns,3 trumpets,3 trombones and tuba? By easier symphonies I am assuming that you mean that the notes are easier to play? It is important to understand that amateur orchestras can't generally really play symphonies because their members don't often have the time to practice their instrument needed to get the higher skill levels required to get the style and interpretation to the level that most people would consider to be playing what the composer intended. With this in mind sometimes simplified parts of symphonies can give a better overall experience for players than original compositions especially if you have a whole brass section that you want to use, but not put your string section off by presenting them with more notes than they feel comfortable with. Mozart and Schubert have simple notes, but they don't have parts for trombones and 4 horns.


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## Ramako

Arranging stuff is a good idea. How about Haydn's Sturm und Drang symphonies (e.g. 39, 44, 45, 49, 53 - not a Sturm und Drang but a cracking good one anyway) arranged for massive forces? :devil:


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## Vaneyes

Ramako said:


> Arranging stuff is a good idea. How about Haydn's Sturm und Drang symphonies (e.g. 39, 44, 45, 49, 53 - not a Sturm und Drang but a cracking good one anyway) arranged for massive forces? :devil:


Extra celli and double bass, please.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

Mozart 6 and 7 are excellent, Schubert's third would make use of more instruments.


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## swaffles

the last movement of Schubert #3 would be pretty hard technically though. Lots of fast notes.


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## arpeggio

Our community orchestra is not the greatest in the world but it is OK. We just performed in our fall concert the Dvorák Seventh. It was difficult but we managed to get through it.

Some other symphonies that we have pulled off are the Schubert Ninth and Beethoven Fifth.

We actually tried the Brahms Third once but that was a disaster.

This spring we will be performing the Sibelius Third. We tried it a few years ago and we got through it OK.

We have always had good luck with the symphonies of Haydn and Mozart.


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## swaffles

Actually, Beethoven 5th isn't a bad idea. It's not a terribly hard piece. Beethoven 3, however, is pretty hard. Beethoven 6 has moments of profound difficulty, but large parts of it aren't too bad. 

Dvorak 7 can be pretty hard, surprised a community orchestra pulled it off! 

Dvorak 8 is a less difficult piece than the ones surrounding it (7 or 9).


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## clavichorder

Is it true that a number of Shostakovich symphonies are very doable for amateur or community orchestras? I heard that such orchestras tend to program Shostakovich pretty often, but I'm not sure if this is true.


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## swaffles

Well, I've only done 5, and it's very, very hard, so I would doubt that. Maybe some of the others aren't so bad though.


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## GraemeG

Yeah, Dvorak 7 is full of rhythmic minefields. Our orchestra played Mahler 1 and Dvorak 7 in consecutive concerts, and honestly, the Dvorak was harder to make work. The Mahler is a relatively forgiving work. In general, Dvorak is a lot harder than it sounds, rather like Mozart.
Outside the Mendelssohn & Schubert already mentioned, I'd be inclined to look at later Haydn: 88 or 92 or some of the London symphonies, but of course they'll leave your brass under-employed. Prokofiev 7 is often popular becuse it's not too hard. Even Sibelius 2, although the scherzo will be the hardest thing to get together.
cheers,
GG


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## Jaws

I know that in the US the amateur orchestras are generally a much higher standard than in the UK, but some music can put off string players, if there are too many notes that they can't play. This is why arrangements of symphonies, can give a better experience for your string section. I do think that amateur orchestras need large string sections (safety in numbers) so the better the experience for them the more likely they are to stay as members of your group.


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