# Best-orchestrated work



## maestro267

What, in your opinion, is the best-orchestrated work in the repertoire?


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## PeterJB

Alpine Symphony.


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## DrKilroy

Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe or (my arbitrary choice) Vaughan Williams' Sinfonia antartica. 

Best regards, Dr


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## Manxfeeder

DrKilroy said:


> Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe or (my arbitrary choice) Vaughan Williams' Sinfonia antartica.
> 
> Best regards, Dr


Though I don't feel comfortable answering the question directly, I'd say something by Ravel would have to finish, at the very least, in the top five of this list.


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## Winterreisender

Well there's certainly no shortage of pieces to choose from... My perpetual favourite is probably Berlioz's _Symphonie Fantastique_.


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## SuperTonic

Possibly Ravel's orchestration of Pictures at an Exhibition.

I want to suggest one of Stravinsky's ballets as well, but I can't decide on which one.


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## Mahlerian

There are different types of orchestration, and generally it's hard to compare across styles. For his time, Mozart's orchestration makes a good deal of use of the wind section, and is generally excellent, but it would be seen as monochrome given later practices.

Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe is an excellent example of orchestral technique applied for maximum gorgeous, lush sonic effect, and fully worthy of mention here.

Strauss's orchestration, likewise, aims for a very rich sound, thicker than Ravel, but no less colorful. The richness of Death and Transfiguration or Ein Heldenleben stems from his sure technique.

Mahler's orchestration, on the other hand, aims for variety of small-scale effects much more than overwhelming large-scale ones. His later songs are the pinnacle of the transparency he had always aimed at. The Kindertotenlieder, Ruckert Lieder, and Das Lied von der Erde are excellent examples of subtle instrumentation.

Stravinsky drew upon the lush orchestration of Rimsky-Korsakov and Ravel early on in his career, but from the later 1910s on, he went for a hard-edged sound to fit the rhythmic and harmonic brittleness of his music. The Firebird is an exemplary work in the former style, and Agon is the extreme of the latter.

Holst's Planets Suite draws upon all of the above, and its popularity derives in no small part from the refinement of the orchestration.


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## dgee

Ravel and Strauss are obviously THE stand-outs in orchestration but a couple of personal favs off the top of my head are Respihigi's Foutains of Rome (everyone sounds great in this and it's not overblown crud like Pines) and Szymanowski Symphony 3 (wordless chorus and organ - yuss! And check out the very end)


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## tdc

I wasn't aware Strauss was considered such a standout orchestrator, he sounds to my ears as though he learned a lot from Wagner. I consider Wagner a great orchestrator and am somewhat surprised he hasn't been mentioned yet. Ravel gets my vote for best orchestration. I think his orchestration is pretty consistent across his oeuvre, so I have a hard time choosing just one work as the best.


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## PetrB

Let's add / start with Rameau, who has the general credit / reputation as being the first to really write with specific orchestral color(s) in mind, thinking in terms of instruments as an integral part of the whole. (Footnote, he incorporated clarinets in his orchestration a few moments after the instrument was "new.")


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## Manxfeeder

dgee said:


> Szymanowski Symphony 3 (wordless chorus and organ - yuss!


Szymanowski did get amazing sounds from an orchestra.


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## Celloman

Mention should be made of Witold Lutoslawski. His _Concerto for Orchestra_ could very well serve as a treatise for orchestration, as could his 3rd and 4th symphonies, _Mi-Parti_, _Jeux Venitiens_, and many other colorful and variegated works.


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## kon

All orchetral works are GREAT.
What if I should choose only one, it is R.Strauss-Ein Heldenleben.


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## Eschbeg

Mahler's First Symphony, quite nearly on the strength of the first movement alone. An evening with the score taught me more about orchestration than an entire semester of orchestration class.


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## Silkenblack

Stravinsky´s Firebird has sonic dimension like a Chagall painting.


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## Garlic

Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder
Scriabin's Prometheus
Pretty much any orchestral work by Ligeti or Takemitsu could qualify


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## Eschbeg

Eschbeg said:


> Mahler's First Symphony, quite nearly on the strength of the first movement alone. An evening with the score taught me more about orchestration than an entire semester of orchestration class.


Honorable mention:

Ravel, _Mother Goose Suite_ (the approaches to tone color from movement to movement are so diverse that one may easily believe they were written by different composers)

Beethoven, Symphony No. 6 (a great study in what one can do with the more or less standard 18th- and early 19th-century orchestra)

Debussy, _La Mer_ (pretty much any orchestral color one finds in Wagner is also found here, plus stuff that is distinctly Debussy as well; in terms of timbre, the work is actually a fascinating document of Debussy's transition from Wagnerian to modernist)

Boulez, _Le Marteau sans Maître_ (best timbral use of a "Pierrot" ensemble, in my humble opinion)


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## GGluek

Rimsky-Korsakov's orchestration of Boris Godunov.


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## tahnak

GGluek said:


> Rimsky-Korsakov's orchestration of Boris Godunov.


More than the orchestration of Boris Godunov, I feel, in its own terms, Scheherazade is probably the greatest orchestrated work in the symphonic repertoire.


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## DaDirkNL

I think Schubert's Ninth Symphony has the best orchestration. There is not a thing I would change in this symphony.


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## Cadenza

Saint Saens for me, namely his _Organ_ symphony, and also his concertos, are full of color, and texture, and twists and turns like no other composer.


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## MozartEarlySymphonies

Some of my favorite orchestra works would be Beethoven's Seventh, Holst's Planets, any symphony by Sibelius and Mahler and Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.


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## randomnese

I don't know if Tchaikovsky would count as a great orchestrator... though some of his symphonic writing just come off as loud, he did some pretty amazing things in his Fifth Symphony.


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## csacks

I would like to consider Johannes Brahms. His first symphony, the last movement in particular, is, to me, spectacular. 
Is not Ravel´s Bolero a masterclass of orchestral work?.
So should be included, IMHO Rimsky Korsakoff´s Sheherezade, Tchaikovsky´s 5th and 6th (and 1812) and Mussorgsky/Ravel Pictures al an Exhibition.


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## Avey

I think _any_ Sibelius is an interesting mention. Honestly, nothing sounds like *Sibelius*, but I wouldn't say that's due to his orchestration. I'm no academic, but I am a listener, and I think his "orchestration" is rather simple, or at least nothing spectacular. What's truly _special_ about his work, however, is with that subtlety comes such power and mystery - it's magnetic.

When I think of great orchestration, I think of the _rondo_ from *Mahler's* _Ninth _. The call-and-respond between the horns and strings, the interplay of the flute and pizzicato, timpani and chimes filling the interstitial bits, and those dynamics -- it's so damn intricate, yet you hear _every single part_. Gosh.


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## Mahlerian

Avey said:


> I think _any_ Sibelius is an interesting mention. Honestly, nothing sounds like *Sibelius*, but I wouldn't say that's due to his orchestration. I'm no academic, but I am a listener, and I think his "orchestration" is rather simple, or at least nothing spectacular. What's truly _special_ about his work, however, is with that subtlety comes such power and mystery - it's magnetic.


Sibelius's orchestration is very well constructed, even if its inventiveness doesn't jump off the page in the manner of a Ravel or Mahler. His inspiration was Bruckner, but he had far better technique in balancing the various groups.


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## Blake

Avey said:


> I think _any_ Sibelius is an interesting mention. Honestly, nothing sounds like *Sibelius*, but I wouldn't say that's due to his orchestration. I'm no academic, but I am a listener, and I think his "orchestration" is rather simple, or at least nothing spectacular. What's truly _special_ about his work, however, is with that subtlety comes such power and mystery - it's magnetic.


Right on. Sibelius is the master of subtlety.


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## Novelette

Liszt's "Faust" Symphony is amazingly orchestrated, in my humble opinion.


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## Vasks

I agree that the Respighi's "Fountains" is a tour-de-force. I'll mull over my other choices later except I can never forget the plethora of colors that exudes from the first of Tsontakis' "Four Symphonic Quartets"


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## waldvogel

I'm going to split my vote into three categories:

First of all, if budget is of no issue, and the orchestra contains around 100 players, I'll vote for Mahler's Fifth Symphony. The orchestration of, particularly, the third movement and the concluding rondo are remarkable. In both of these movements, there's a continously evolving chamber sonority, with music that is sometimes written just for a choir of four clarinets (one in E-flat, two in B-flat, and a bass clarinet). Every movement except the fourth also comes to a great orchestral climax that can be devastating, as in the first movement, scary, as in the second, thrilling, as in the third, or downright ecstatic, as in the finale.

My second vote will go to an orchestra of around 80, using four horns, a few percussionists, and third players for piccolo, English horn, bass clarinet, and contrabassoon. I'll pick Strauss'_ Don Juan_. Everyone notices the steamy harmonies here, but this is a piece that never sounded good in its piano transcription to me.

Finally, if we're cut down to around 20 or so players, I'll recommend the chamber version of Copland's _Applalachian Spring_. So much of this piece involves delicate harmonic changes - which are clearer and less strident in the chamber version.


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## stevenski

Rubinstein:Symphony 2 "Ocean"(the mega storm movement is startling in orchestration!)
Paderewski:"Polonia " Symphony; a neglected masterpiece; caveat: this is not the Paderewski of the Minuet! Steve


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## techniquest

It's probably impossible to decide which is _the_ best orchestrated work. However, I'll nominate a few contenders from my collection:
R Strauss - An Alpine Symphony
Ravel - La Valse
Respighi - Fountains of Rome (more subtly orchestrated than the other 2 Rome poems)
Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherazade
Prokofiev - Symphony No.5
Shostakovich - Symphony No.13
Also, Janacek - Sinfonietta, Shostakovich Piano Concerto No.2 & Rodrigo - Concerto de Aranuez (amazing what can be done with a relatively small orchestra in these 3 works)


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## guy

I would either say Alpine symphony or the Allegretto of Beethoven's Seventh symphony.


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## Neo Romanza

One listen to Ravel's _Daphnis et Chloe_ can easily reveal his orchestral mastery. Of course, there's Elgar, R. Strauss, Rimsky-Korsakov, Villa-Lobos, Koechlin, Schoenberg, Debussy, Mahler, Berlioz, among others who excelled at orchestration, but orchestration alone doesn't mean anything unless the music itself is good.


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## lupinix

I like prokofievs 5th symphony best i guess, when it comes down to all aspects of composition
Scriabins way of orchestrating in his 4th symphony is great and also ravel in his piano concerto g minor


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