Berlioz's Te Deum

Napoléon III’s Exposition Universelle of 1855 in Paris saw the premiere of this daring, grandiose work, for the opening of the Church of Saint-Eustache. The new organ, a wonder of engineering at the time, was a fitting pillar of what Berlioz described as a “colossal” and “Babylonian” performance with nearly one thousand singers and instrumentalists.

Mozart’s Divertimento in D major

Mozart’s Divertimento in D major, written when he was 16, is one of the most popular of his works in this style. The finale uses counterpoint in a way that surprised his audiences and presaged the innovative delights of his later work. The Serenade No. 6, written four years later, was likely composed for dancing at parties during the annual Carnival celebrations in Salzburg.

Grieg's "Peer Gynt"

Scandinavian classic, Peer Gynt, written by Henrik Ibsen, may be one of the world’s first great modern psycho dramas as it moves seamlessly across time and space and between fantasy and reality. Edvard Grieg’s incidental music for Peer Gynt captures its many moods and has become some of the most popular classical music of all time.