String orchestra
Encyclopedia
A string orchestra is an orchestra
composed solely or primarily of instruments from the string family
. These instruments are the violin
, the viola
, the cello
, the double bass
(sometimes considered an anomaly because of its resemblance to the viol
family), the piano
, the harp
, and sometimes percussion. String orchestras can be of chamber orchestra size ranging from between 12 (4.3.2.2.1 = 12) and 21 musicians (6.5.4.4.2 = 21) sometimes performing without a conductor, or consist of the entire string section
of a large symphony orchestra which could have 60 musicians (16.14.12.10.8765 = 60; Gurre-Lieder
calls for 84: 20.20.16.16.12).
Film score
s generally have quite varied string set-ups: for example, James Newton Howard
's score for The Last Airbender
featured 33 violin
s, 21 viola
s, 14 celli
and 15 double bass
es, making it a total of 83 strings.
A twentieth century development has been the reappearance of the concerto grosso pitting of soloists against the full ensemble. During the past eras of pop music, it also employed up to 65-piece string orchestras (Two Tribes
).
(including Eine kleine Nachtmusik
) and Haydn
which dispense with the baroque basso continuo. Some of these works are problematic when it comes to deciding whether they are for orchestra or string quartet
. Particularly in Haydn's early works it is argued that the inversions of harmony from the occasional crossings of the bass and viola line imply a double bass; the question is not settled, however.
Important 20th century works have been written for string orchestra by Bartók
(Divertimento for String Orchestra), Stravinsky
(Apollo
), Witold Lutosławski (Musique funèbre), Benjamin Britten
(Simple Symphony
), Charles Wuorinen
(Grand Bamboula), and Malcolm Williamson
(Symphony No. 7
). Sir Michael Tippett
wrote a Concerto for Double String Orchestra and Ralph Vaughan Williams
wrote a Partita for Double String Orchestra. Composers who have written a Serenade
for string orchestra include Tchaikovsky
, Dvořák
, Suk
and Elgar
. Mendelssohn
also wrote a number of symphonies for string orchestra.
Sometimes works originally written for string quartet, quintet, sextet etc. are arranged for string orchestra. Samuel Barber
's Adagio for Strings
, Alban Berg
's 3 Pieces from his Lyric Suite, Arnold Schoenberg
's Second String Quartet and the sextet Verklärte Nacht
, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
's sextet Souvenir de Florence
, John Corigliano
's Second String Quartet and Jean Sibelius
's Andante Festivo are examples, though a timpani is also added in the Sibelius piece. The work Shaker Loops
written in 1978 for septet then arranged in 1983 for string orchestra by the American composer John Adams has become a popular addition to the repertoire in recent times. Graham Waterhouse
composed several works for string orchestra (Sinfonietta), also in combination with contrasting sounds as Great Highland Bagpipe
(Chieftain's Salute).
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
composed solely or primarily of instruments from the string family
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
. These instruments are the violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, the viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
, the cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
, the double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
(sometimes considered an anomaly because of its resemblance to the viol
Viol
The viol is any one of a family of bowed, fretted and stringed musical instruments developed in the mid-late 15th century and used primarily in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The family is related to and descends primarily from the Renaissance vihuela, a plucked instrument that preceded the...
family), the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, the harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
, and sometimes percussion. String orchestras can be of chamber orchestra size ranging from between 12 (4.3.2.2.1 = 12) and 21 musicians (6.5.4.4.2 = 21) sometimes performing without a conductor, or consist of the entire string section
String section
The string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
of a large symphony orchestra which could have 60 musicians (16.14.12.10.8765 = 60; Gurre-Lieder
Gurre-Lieder
Gurre-Lieder is a massive cantata for five vocal soloists, narrator, chorus and large orchestra, composed by Arnold Schoenberg, on poems by the Danish novelist Jens Peter Jacobsen...
calls for 84: 20.20.16.16.12).
Film score
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
s generally have quite varied string set-ups: for example, James Newton Howard
James Newton Howard
James Newton Howard is an American composer best known for his scores to motion pictures. He is one of the most popular and respected composers for cinema, and has scored over 100 films...
's score for The Last Airbender
The Last Airbender
The Last Airbender is a 2010 American fantasy adventure film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It is a live-action film adaptation of the first season to the Nickelodeon animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender....
featured 33 violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
s, 21 viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
s, 14 celli
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
and 15 double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
es, making it a total of 83 strings.
A twentieth century development has been the reappearance of the concerto grosso pitting of soloists against the full ensemble. During the past eras of pop music, it also employed up to 65-piece string orchestras (Two Tribes
Two Tribes
"Two Tribes" is the second single by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the UK by ZTT Records in May 1984 . The song was later included on the album Welcome to the Pleasuredome....
).
Repertoire
The repertoire is graced with several works by MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
(including Eine kleine Nachtmusik
Eine kleine Nachtmusik
The Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major, K. 525 was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1787. The work is more commonly known by the title Eine kleine Nachtmusik. The German title means "a little serenade", though it is often rendered more literally but less accurately as "a little night music"...
) and Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
which dispense with the baroque basso continuo. Some of these works are problematic when it comes to deciding whether they are for orchestra or string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
. Particularly in Haydn's early works it is argued that the inversions of harmony from the occasional crossings of the bass and viola line imply a double bass; the question is not settled, however.
Important 20th century works have been written for string orchestra by Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
(Divertimento for String Orchestra), Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
(Apollo
Apollo (ballet)
Apollo is a ballet in two tableaux composed between 1927 and 1928 by Igor Stravinsky. It was choreographed by balletmaster George Balanchine in 1928, the composer contributing the libretto...
), Witold Lutosławski (Musique funèbre), Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
(Simple Symphony
Simple Symphony
The Simple Symphony, Op.4 is a work for string orchestra or string quartet by Benjamin Britten.It was written as a piece for string orchestra and received its first performance in 1934 in Norwich, with Britten conducting an amateur orchestra....
), Charles Wuorinen
Charles Wuorinen
Charles Peter Wuorinen is a prolific Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer born and living in New York City. His catalog of more than 250 compositions includes works for orchestra, opera, chamber music, as well as solo instrumental and vocal works...
(Grand Bamboula), and Malcolm Williamson
Malcolm Williamson
Malcolm Benjamin Graham Christopher Williamson AO , CBE was an Australian composer. He was the Master of the Queen's Music from 1975 until his death.-Biography:...
(Symphony No. 7
Symphony No. 7 (Williamson)
Australian composer Malcolm Williamson wrote his Symphony No. 7 in 1984 to a joint commission from the Chamber Youth Strings of Melbourne and the State of Victoria, Australia. It was written mostly at the composer's home in Sandon, Hertfordshire, England....
). Sir Michael Tippett
Michael Tippett
Sir Michael Kemp Tippett OM CH CBE was an English composer.In his long career he produced a large body of work, including five operas, three large-scale choral works, four symphonies, five string quartets, four piano sonatas, concertos and concertante works, song cycles and incidental music...
wrote a Concerto for Double String Orchestra and Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
wrote a Partita for Double String Orchestra. Composers who have written a Serenade
Serenade
In music, a serenade is a musical composition, and/or performance, in someone's honor. Serenades are typically calm, light music.The word Serenade is derived from the Italian word sereno, which means calm....
for string orchestra include Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
, Dvořák
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
, Suk
Josef Suk
Josef Suk may refer to:*Josef Suk *Josef Suk , the elder composer's grandson...
and Elgar
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
. Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
also wrote a number of symphonies for string orchestra.
Sometimes works originally written for string quartet, quintet, sextet etc. are arranged for string orchestra. Samuel Barber
Samuel Barber
Samuel Osborne Barber II was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His Adagio for Strings is his most popular composition and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music...
's Adagio for Strings
Adagio for Strings
Adagio for Strings is a work by Samuel Barber, arranged for string orchestra from the second movement of his String Quartet, Op. 11. Barber finished the arrangement in 1936, the same year as he wrote the quartet...
, Alban Berg
Alban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
's 3 Pieces from his Lyric Suite, Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
's Second String Quartet and the sextet Verklärte Nacht
Verklärte Nacht
Verklärte Nacht , Op. 4, is a string sextet in one movement composed by Arnold Schoenberg in 1899 and his earliest important work...
, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
's sextet Souvenir de Florence
Souvenir de Florence
The String Sextet in D minor "Souvenir de Florence", Op. 70, is a string sextet scored for 2 violins, 2 violas, and 2 cellos composed in the European summer of 1890 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Tchaikovsky dedicated the work to the St. Petersburg Chamber Music Society in response to his becoming an...
, John Corigliano
John Corigliano
John Corigliano is an American composer of classical music and a teacher of music. He is a distinguished professor of music at Lehman College in the City University of New York.-Biography:...
's Second String Quartet and Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. His mastery of the orchestra has been described as "prodigious."...
's Andante Festivo are examples, though a timpani is also added in the Sibelius piece. The work Shaker Loops
Shaker Loops
Written in 1978 by the American composer John Adams, Shaker Loops was originally written for string septet. A version for string orchestra followed in 1983 and first performed in April of that year at Alice Tully Hall New York, by the American Composers Orchestra conducted by Michael Tilson...
written in 1978 for septet then arranged in 1983 for string orchestra by the American composer John Adams has become a popular addition to the repertoire in recent times. Graham Waterhouse
Graham Waterhouse
Graham Waterhouse is an English composer and a cellist. He is known for chamber music and for unusual scoring, such as Piccolo Quintet, Bright Angel for three bassoons and contrabassoon, Chieftain's Salute for Great Highland Bagpipe and string orchestra, and works for speaking voice and cello,...
composed several works for string orchestra (Sinfonietta), also in combination with contrasting sounds as Great Highland Bagpipe
Great Highland Bagpipe
The Great Highland Bagpipe is a type of bagpipe native to Scotland. It has achieved widespread recognition through its usage in the British military and in pipe bands throughout the world. It is closely related to the Great Irish Warpipes....
(Chieftain's Salute).
Other works for string orchestra
- Giovanni Albini - Una teoria della prossimità (2006)
- Samuel BarberSamuel BarberSamuel Osborne Barber II was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His Adagio for Strings is his most popular composition and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music...
- Adagio for StringsAdagio for StringsAdagio for Strings is a work by Samuel Barber, arranged for string orchestra from the second movement of his String Quartet, Op. 11. Barber finished the arrangement in 1936, the same year as he wrote the quartet... - Leonard BernsteinLeonard BernsteinLeonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
- Serenade for Solo Violin, Strings, Harp and Percussion after Plato's "Symposium" - Ernest BlochErnest BlochErnest Bloch was a Swiss-born American composer.-Life:Bloch was born in Geneva and began playing the violin at age 9. He began composing soon afterwards. He studied music at the conservatory in Brussels, where his teachers included the celebrated Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe...
- Concerto Grosso No. 2 - Carlos ChávezCarlos ChávezCarlos Antonio de Padua Chávez y Ramírez was a Mexican composer, conductor, music theorist, educator, journalist, and founder and director of the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra. He was influenced by native Mexican cultures. Of his six Symphonies, his Symphony No...
- Symphony No. 5 - Nigel ClarkeNigel ClarkeNigel Clarke is a British composer and musician. He is a former head of composition and contemporary music at the London College of Music and Media....
- The Miraculous Violin - Antonín DvořákAntonín DvorákAntonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
- Serenade for String OrchestraSerenade for Strings (Dvorák)Antonín Dvořák's Serenade for Strings in E major, Op. 22, was composed in just two weeks in May 1875. It remains one of the composer's more popular orchestral works to this day.-Composition and Premiere:...
in E major, Op.22 - Edward ElgarEdward ElgarSir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
- Introduction and Allegro for StringsIntroduction and Allegro (Elgar)Sir Edward Elgar's Introduction and Allegro for Strings, Op. 47, was composed in 1905 for performance in an all-Elgar concert by the newly formed London Symphony Orchestra. Scored for string quartet and string orchestra, Elgar composed it to show off the players' virtuosity. Though initial critical... - Philip GlassPhilip GlassPhilip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
- "The Hours" (Soundrack) (large string orchestra plus piano soloist) - Edvard GriegEdvard GriegEdvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt , and for his collection of piano miniatures Lyric Pieces.-Biography:Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in...
- Holberg SuiteHolberg SuiteHolberg Suite, Op. 40 more properly "From Holberg's Time", , subtitled "Suite in olden style" , is a suite of five movements based on eighteenth century dance forms, written by Edvard Grieg in 1884 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Danish-Norwegian humanist playwright Ludvig...
(originally written for piano then arranged for string orchestra) - Karl Amadeus HartmannKarl Amadeus HartmannKarl Amadeus Hartmann was a German composer. Some have lauded him as the greatest German symphonist of the 20th century, although he is now largely overlooked, particularly in English-speaking countries.-Life:...
- Symphony No. 4Symphony No. 4 (Hartmann)The Fourth Symphony of the German composer Karl Amadeus Hartmann is a work for string orchestra. It was completed in 1946-7.It was derived in part from an earlier Concerto for strings and soprano written in 1938. Hartmann revised the work to include a new purely instrumental third and closing... - Alfred HillAlfred HillAlfred Francis Hill CMG OBE was an Australian/New Zealand composer, conductor and teacher.-Biography:Alfred Hill was born in Melbourne in 1869. His year of birth is shown in many sources as 1870, but this has now been disproven. He spent most of his early life in New Zealand...
- String Symphonies - Gustav HolstGustav HolstGustav Theodore Holst was an English composer. He is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets....
- St Paul's SuiteSt Paul's SuiteSt Paul's Suite originally titled Suite in C, is a composition for string orchestra by the English composer Gustav Holst. It was written in 1912, but due to revisions wasn't published until 1922. It is named after the St Paul's Girls' School in the United Kingdom, where Holst was Director of Music... - Arthur HoneggerArthur HoneggerArthur Honegger was a Swiss composer, who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. He was a member of Les six. His most frequently performed work is probably the orchestral work Pacific 231, which is interpreted as imitating the sound of a steam locomotive.-Biography:Born...
- Symphony No. 2Symphony No. 2 (Honegger)The Symphony for strings and trumpet in D , Arthur Honegger's second, was commissioned in 1937 by Paul Sacher to mark the tenth anniversary of the Basel Chamber Orchestra... - Karl JenkinsKarl Jenkins-Other works:*Adiemus: Live — live versions of Adiemus music*Palladio *Eloise *Imagined Oceans *The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace...
- Palladio - David Johnstone - more than 20 published works for string orchestra
- Nigel KeayNigel KeayNigel Keay was born in Palmerston North, New Zealand in 1955. He has been a freelance musician since 1983 working as a composer, violist, and violin teacher...
- Serenade for Strings - Marian Lejava - Chant d'Amour (version for strings)
- Felix MendelssohnFelix MendelssohnJakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
- String Symphonies - Lior NavokLior NavokLior Navok is an Israeli classical composer and conductor. He was born in Tel Aviv. His music has been performed in the United States, Europe, Israel, and Mexico by orchestras and ensembles including the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and the Tanglewood Festival...
- Between Two Coasts - Ottorino RespighiOttorino RespighiOttorino Respighi was an Italian composer, musicologist and conductor. He is best known for his orchestral "Roman trilogy": Fountains of Rome ; Pines of Rome ; and Roman Festivals...
- Ancient Airs and DancesAncient Airs and DancesAncient Airs and Dances is a set of three suites composed by Italian composer Ottorino Respighi.- Suite No. 1 :Suite No. 1 was composed in 1917...
, Suite No. 3 (1932) - Aulis SallinenAulis SallinenAulis Sallinen is a Finnish contemporary classical music composer. He writes in a modern, though tonal and not experimental music style. He studied at the Sibelius Academy, where his teachers included Joonas Kokkonen...
- Aspects of the Funeral March of Hintriki Peltoniemi (originally written for string quartet then arranged for string orchestra) - William SchumanWilliam SchumanWilliam Howard Schuman was an American composer and music administrator.-Life:Born in Manhattan in New York City to Samuel and Rachel Schuman, Schuman was named after the twenty-seventh U.S. president, William Howard Taft, although his family preferred to call him Bill...
- Symphony No. 5 - Jean SibeliusJean SibeliusJean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. His mastery of the orchestra has been described as "prodigious."...
- Andante Festivo for strings and timpani - Richard StraussRichard StraussRichard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
- MetamorphosenMetamorphosenMetamorphosen, Study for 23 Solo Strings, subtitled "In memoriam", is a composition by Richard Strauss, scored for ten violins, five violas, five cellos, and three double basses. It was composed during the closing months of the Second World War, from August 1944 to March 1945. Strauss dedicated it...
for 23 solo strings - Igor StravinskyIgor StravinskyIgor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
- Concerto in DConcerto in D (Stravinsky)Igor Stravinsky's Concerto in D for string orchestra was composed in Hollywood between the beginning of 1946 and 8 August of the same year in response to a 1946 commission from Paul Sacher to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Basel Chamber Orchestra , and for this reason is sometimes... - William SusmanWilliam SusmanWilliam Joseph Susman, born August 29, 1960 in Chicago, is an American composer of concert and film music as well as an accomplished pianist. He belongs to the generation of American composers that came of age in the late twentieth century, received traditional academic training while remaining...
- Zydeco Madness, Angels of Light - Pyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyPyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
- Serenade for Strings (Tchaikovsky)Serenade for Strings (Tchaikovsky)Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings in C major, Op. 48, premiered in 1880. It remains one of the late Romantic era's most definitive compositions.-Form:Serenade for Strings has 4 movements:... - Dimitri Tchesnokov - Réminiscence d'après la symphonie pour cordes
- Robin ToanRobin ToanRobin Toan is one of New Zealand’s leading young composers. She has had multiple works performed in Oceania, Asia, Europe and America by leading ensembles and soloists. She has received awards in composition competitions both in New Zealand and internationally...
- dans la nuit (2006) - Ralph Vaughan WilliamsRalph Vaughan WilliamsRalph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
- Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus, Concerto GrossoConcerto Grosso (Vaughan Williams)Concerto Grosso is a work for string orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Originally composed in 1950 for a performance by the Rural Schools Music Association conducted by Sir Adrian Boult, the piece is unique in that the orchestra is split into three sections based on skill: Concertino , Tutti ,... - Graham WaterhouseGraham WaterhouseGraham Waterhouse is an English composer and a cellist. He is known for chamber music and for unusual scoring, such as Piccolo Quintet, Bright Angel for three bassoons and contrabassoon, Chieftain's Salute for Great Highland Bagpipe and string orchestra, and works for speaking voice and cello,...
- Celtic Voices and Hale BoppCeltic Voices and Hale BoppCeltic Voices and Hale Bopp op. 36 are two independent compositions of Graham Waterhouse for string orchestra, which were published together in 1998 by Hofmeister, Leipzig. Celtic Voices was written in 1995, Hale Bopp was written in 1997 inspired by Comet Hale-Bopp, and scored for an additional boy...
(1995, 1997), Sinfonietta (2002) - Anthony Watson - Prelude and Allegro for Strings (1960)
- Malcolm WilliamsonMalcolm WilliamsonMalcolm Benjamin Graham Christopher Williamson AO , CBE was an Australian composer. He was the Master of the Queen's Music from 1975 until his death.-Biography:...
- Epitaphs for Edith Sitwell (1966/72), Ode for Queen Elizabeth (1980), Lento for Strings (1985) - Dag WirénDag WirénDag Ivar Wirén was a Swedish composer.-Life and career:Wirén was born at Striberg near Nora. His father had a roller blind factory, and there were various musical activities in the family home; he took piano lessons, and was a student at the Karolinska school in Örebro, and played the bass drum...
- Serenade for Strings - Takashi YoshimatsuTakashi Yoshimatsuis a contemporary Japanese composer of classical music. He is well known for composing the 2003 remake of Astro Boy.Takashi Yoshimatsu was born in Tokyo, Japan, and like Toru Takemitsu, the composer generally considered to be Japan's greatest in the western classical style, did not receive formal...
- Threnody to Toki for Piano and String Orchestra (1980) - Đuro Živković - Serenade (2002)
- Erić Zoran - Cartoon for Strings