Works Archive - The Broadway Bach Ensemble

Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5

Heitor Villa-Lobos’ famous Aria is performed in memoriam Kurt Behnke, one of the early victims of the COVID pandemic.

“Helios” Overture

Can you hear a sunrise and sunset? Besides his well-known six symphonies, Danish composer Carl Nielsen wrote many short orchestral works, including the “Helios Overture.”

Vanhal was well-known among the Viennese composers of his era, and his music was respected by Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. He was a prolific composer, with 100 string quartets, at least 73 symphonies, 95 sacred works, and a large number of instrumental and vocal works attributed to him.

Sigurd Jorsalfar Suite

Grieg initially composed an eight-piece set of incidental music for a historical play written by his friend Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson. It was published as Op. 22 and first performed in Christiania in 1872.

Symphony No. 97

Franz Joseph Haydn so won over London society in his 1791 trip that he was invited back for a second trip, in 1794. A major attraction of these concerts was his celebrated “London Symphonies,” composed between 1791 and 1795.

Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major

Shostakovich wrote the work for his friend Mstislav Rostropovich, who committed it to memory in four days and gave the premiere on October 4, 1959.

Symphony No. 8

Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony, composed in 1812 on the heels of the Seventh Symphony, initially baffled audiences, who found it out of character with his “heroic” style beginning with the Third Symphony, “Eroica.”

Violin Concerto in A Minor

A concerto for violin and orchestra composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1879. It was premiered in Prague in 1883 by František Ondříček, who also gave the Vienna and London premieres.