Saint-Saens's "Organ" Symphony

A child prodigy, Saint-Saëns was not only a gifted composer but an accomplished pianist who could perform all of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas from memory by the age of ten.  Composed for the Philharmonic Society of London, his Symphony No. 3, Organ, is dedicated to his friend Franz Liszt.

Tchaikovsky’s Orchestral Suite No. 3

Tchaikovsky's Orchestral Suite No. 3 is a kind of symphony lite—he called it "a ballet without choreography”—but it's really a symphony, a ballet, an opera and a roller-coaster ride all rolled into one.

Sibelius’s Symphony No. 5

Sibelius's 50th birthday present to himself and his homeland was his Symphony No. 5, music distilled to its essence. "While other composers were engaged in making cocktails," he said, "I offered the public pure cold water."

Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5

Composed alongside fellow distinguished Russian composers at a House of Creative Work northeast of Moscow, Prokofiev’s renowned Fifth Symphony saw its premier in January 1945, as Soviet armies had begun their final push to victory over Germany. As Prokofiev raised his baton in the silent hall, the audience could hear the gunfire that celebrated the news, just arrived, that the army had crossed the Vistula and driven the German Wehrmacht back past the Oder river.

Haydn’s Mass in D minor, Lord Nelson

The real title of Haydn's popular Lord Nelson Mass is "Missa in angustiis" or "Mass in Troubled Times." But those "troubled times" inspired Haydn to new heights of creativity, variety, surprise, and drama.

Respighi’s Roman Festivals

Ottorino Respighi was a master of orchestral color, and his Roman Festivals contains all the colors of the musical rainbow, and then some.

Beethoven's Fidelio

Beethoven's opera Fidelio is a story about the triumph of truth and justice. But it's also a story about the triumph of love.