# A Composer's 3 Orchestral Works



## bz3 (Oct 15, 2015)

Topic query: What 3 orchestral works by any composer do you feel encapsulates the range of their output?

By this, I do not mean what you think are a composer's 3 best works. For example, a common answer to such a question for Beethoven would be Symphonies 3, 5, and 9 and yet all 3 cover a similar range of emotional material while neglecting his lighter side, such as the 6th symphony, or his more introspective like the 3rd piano concerto. 

I am interested in getting a wide view of composers I'm less familiar with - for example someone like Dvorak whose last 3 symphonies and cello concerto I know well but little else of the ouevre.


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## Mal (Jan 1, 2016)

Dvorak - early string quartets, his "bore you to death" side.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Sibelius: _Pohjola's Daughter_--prototypical Sibelian tone poem
_Violin Concerto_--his only concerto, written for the instrument that was his own specialty
_Symphony #5_--prototypical Sibelian symphony


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Satie, Gymnopedie No. 1. (Cheating a little; Debussy orchestrated it.) His early, quasi-spiritual side combined with his release of chords from their function of progressions and into sounds, featuring a melody which does not develop but unfolds and could go on indefinitely.

Parade. This summed up his next phase, writing music whose essence is satirical, whose structure is like Cubist paintings, forsaking seamless transitions for, instead, jump cuts between sections, like early movies, and which quotes popular songs out of context. 

Socrate. This is looking to the future, to neoclacissism, music which forsakes expression and because of it becomes expressive, even anticipating minimalism because of its use of repeating cells to drive the music forward.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Prokofiev: Suite from _Love for Three Oranges_--specimen Prokovian suite from ballet/opera/film score
_Piano Concerto #2_--specimen amazing Prokofiev keyboard magic, especially first movement
_Symphony #3_--the denser, heavier, darker Prokofiev


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

Stravinsky:

Rite of Spring: primitivism
Symphony in C: neoclassical
Movements for piano & orchestra: serial


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Leonard Bernstein:

Prelude, Fugue & Riffs (1949) - jazzy, playful
_Halil_ for flute and chamber orchestra (1981) - sombre, moving
Concerto for Orchestra: _"Jubilee Games"_ (1986 - rev. 1989) - academic, angular


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## waldvogel (Jul 10, 2011)

Robert Schumann: 

Symphony #2 - top form from a relatively early symphony.

Piano Concerto - one of the great concertos, Schumann as the arch-romantic.

Violin Concerto - where would he have gone from here if he had been capable of composing?


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## scratchgolf (Nov 15, 2013)

Franz Schubert:

I may love his 8th and 9th symphonies equally but for importance, easily his 8th. Sometimes called the "First true Romantic symphony". So....

Symphony 8 (Unfinished) - Arguably his greatest symphony, orchestral work, and even overall. Arguably. Nothing more to add here that hasn't been said before. 

Rosamunde: Overture 'Die Zauberharfe' D. 644 - This one work may just sum up the entirety of happy Schubert. What could have been. Would have also made a wonderful finale to the somber 8th Symphony.

Mass No. 6 in E Flat, D.950 - As I've stated before, Schubert was not a terribly devout man but, when moved by religion, he wrote sacred works of great beauty. I believe this to be his finest sacred work, but not by much. 

an honorable mention would go to the short, Classical, Symphony 5. It shows he truly held Mozart above all others.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Aaron Copland:

Piano Variations

Clarinet Concerto

Appalachian Spring


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Charles Ives:

Concord Piano Sonata

Second Symphony

Three Places in New England


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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

Mal said:


> Dvorak - early string quartets, his "bore you to death" side.


You, as in you.

For the living, his quartets are the core of his sound.


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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

hpowders said:


> Aaron Copland:
> Piano Variations
> Clarinet Concerto
> Appalachian Spring





hpowders said:


> Charles Ives:
> Concord Piano Sonata
> Second Symphony
> Three Places in New England


hp, killing it. Except, s/he asked for orchestral, so I'll revise your Ives:

Second Symphony
Fourth Symphony
Three Places in New England


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Avey said:


> hp, killing it. Except, s/he asked for orchestral, so I'll revise your Ives:
> 
> Second Symphony
> Fourth Symphony
> Three Places in New England


Ahhhhh!!! I didn't see that. Okay. I might have added "Decoration Day" instead of the Concord Sonata. Too little. Too late. LOL!!

For Copland, change out "Piano Variations". Add "Symphony No. 3" in its place or if you are really adventurous, add "Connotations" instead of "Symphony No. 3".

Happy listening!!!


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

Brahms

Violin Concerto
Piano Concerto No.1
Symphony No. 4


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## bz3 (Oct 15, 2015)

Thanks for all, especially Copland and Ives - the latter of whom I've wanted listen to more lately.

Would Haydn man venture a recommendation for Haydn symphonies not including the London and perhaps more famous earlier named ones?


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## Totenfeier (Mar 11, 2016)

Mahler 1 - Triumphant
Mahler 6 - Tragic
Mahler 9 - Elegiac


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## Gordontrek (Jun 22, 2012)

Tchaikovsky:
Symphony 4
Symphony 6
Romeo and Juliet


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Ralph Vaughan Williams -
Symphony #2 'London' in the 1913 version
Symphony #4 (1934)
Symphony #8 (1956)


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