# Favorite Symphony/Chamber Orchestra Pieces Without Strings



## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I suppose everyone knows Stravinsky's Symphonies Of Wind Instruments?

What are some other great pieces sans strings?


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Xenakis - Akrata

Do you mean larger scale only? Eg. not things like wind quintets?

Also, how about things for wind and percussion band? Eg. Hovhaness wrote a number of symphonies for that combo. There are two discs of these on Naxos. 

& that label has a whole series of recitals of brass band works...


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Sid James said:


> Do you mean larger scale only? Eg. not things like wind quintets?
> .


Yeah, larger than the average chamber group. 12-13 pieces or more.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Oh, okay. I don't think I know a huge amount of those kinds of things.

Edgard Varese's writing for winds was very colourful and rich (& intense!). His _Deserts_ is for a large body of wind instruments, percussion and tape.

I don't remember but I think an earlier work of his, _Arcana_, has no strings either. Or was it that in an earlier version? I can't remember, I'm trying to find a source online but no cigar so far.

In any case, in all of his surviving works, it sounds as if he's not that interested in the strings, he mainly uses them as a highlight only. He is more interested in percussion and winds, the possibilities of those...


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Oh and coming to the mind now -

Berg - Chamber Concerto for violin, piano and 13 winds
Janacek - Capriccio for piano, left hand, and wind ensemble
Stravinsky - Concerto for piano & wind instruments - these last two were classic couplings in the era of vinyls & tapes...


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Yeah, I like Varese! See now, I have some of these pieces and I had to start a thread so others can remind me to get familiar with my own music collection!   :lol:


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## Trout (Apr 11, 2011)

Mozart's _Gran Partita Serenade_ is quite delightful and one of my favorite works.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

@ starthrower - :lol: - Yeah well with VArese it's not obvious, he names his pieces differently to others, he doesn't do it as formally as Berg, Janacek, Stravinsky above. I had to rack my brain a bit for VArese. But the emphasis in his orchestral writing is definitely tipped towards rich use of percussion and winds, he hardly touches the strings, he's obviously not much interested in those...


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Yes, Mozart's _Gran Partita _can be said to be the king of them all in this genre. Well definitely of the "classic" works of the genre.

Also,* Dvorak's *_Serenade for wind, cello and doublebass Op.44_ (mainly wind instruments except the two string players)...


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## Trout (Apr 11, 2011)

Bruckner's 2nd Mass is another great work scored without strings.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

^^& the motets with brass by Giovanni Gabrieli and Heinrich Schutz that inpired that Bruckner piece, if we're talking choral...


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

& Holst did a few suites for brass band, two I think. Gordon Jacob was the kind of that genre, wind band writing, that is...


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Gustav Holst Wind Band Suites.

Hindemith Symphony in B flat for winds(an underrated number from the man's vast output)


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

RICHARD STRAUSS. Serenade For Wind Instruments, Op.7'
Symphony For Wind Instruments (1945).


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

Lord of the Rings Symphony for Wind Band by Johan de Meij


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Rautavarra wrote an Organ Concerto for solo organ, brass quintet and symphonic wind orchestra.


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## LordBlackudder (Nov 13, 2010)




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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

Vaughan-Williams: English Folk Song Suite


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Thanks, everybody! I'll seek out some of these pieces for a listen.


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## Rondo (Jul 11, 2007)

For brass and percussion, there is Arnold's _Flourish for a 21st Birthday_. An excellent opener, which rivals Copland's _Common Man_. He also did quite a bit of chamber pieces for woodwind instruments (flute, clarinet, oboe, recorder) and brass band; I can't really mention a favorite among those, they're all good.

Also, Holst's First and Second Suites and _Moorside_ Suite.

Great thread topic.


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## TrazomGangflow (Sep 9, 2011)

Music without strings? I can't imagine it! Unless it has a keyboard instrument to compensate. 

Also is it not ironic that most arrangements of Bach's Air are played on strings. Shouldn't that have been composed for woodwinds or brass? Hence the title.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

TrazomGangflow said:


> Music without strings? I can't imagine it! Unless it has a keyboard instrument to compensate.
> 
> Also is it not ironic that most arrangements of Bach's Air are played on strings. Shouldn't that have been composed for woodwinds or brass? Hence the title.


 Is this you joking? It's Air On the G String and an AIR is a tune. If this was a joke I suggest that in your case you mark such things thus :"JOKE", then one will know! By the way ,why are you upsidedown you're not Australian after all? I think I've gone up the twist !


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## waldvogel (Jul 10, 2011)

Hector Berlioz wrote a wonderful, little-heard piece called _le symphonie funèbre et triomphale_. In its original scoring, it features only winds, brass, percussion, and choir. Berlioz later arranged it for a more conventional orchestra with strings, but try to get a copy of the original orchestration if you can.

It features some very unusual instrumentation, including three types of clarinets, ophecleides, and contrabassoon.

Here's a link to a pdf copy of the score. http://imslp.eu/linkhandler.php?path=/imglnks/euimg/6/61/IMSLP108886-PMLP50348-NBE_-_Grande_Symphonie_Fun__bre_et_Triomphale_-_I._Marche_funebre.pdf


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## An Die Freude (Apr 23, 2011)

moody said:


> Is this you joking? It's Air On the G String and an AIR is a tune. If this was a joke I suggest that in your case you mark such things thus :"JOKE", then one will know! By the way ,*why are you upsidedown you're not Australian after all?* I think I've gone up the twist !


It's a reference to his username (not quite Wolfgang Mozart backwards).


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