
A string orchestra is an
orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...
consisting solely of a
string section
The string section of an orchestra is composed of bowed instruments belonging to the violin family. It normally consists of first and second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. It is the most numerous group in the standard orchestra. In ...
made up of the bowed strings used in Western Classical music. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the
violin
The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
, which is divided into first and second violin players (each usually playing different parts), the
viola
The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...
, the
cello
The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...
, and usually, but not always, the
double bass
The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...
.
String orchestras can be of chamber orchestra size ranging from between 12 (4 first violins, 3 second violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos and 1 bass = 12) and 21 musicians (6 first violins, 5 second violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos and 2 double basses= 21) sometimes performing without a
conductor. It could also consist of the entire string section of a large symphony orchestra which could have 60 musicians (16 first violins, 14 second violins, 12 violas, 10 cellos and 8 double basses = 60; ''
Gurre-Lieder
' (''Songs of Gurre Castle, Gurre'') is a tripartite oratorio followed by a Melodrama, melodramatic epilogue for five vocal soloists, narrator, three choruses, and grand orchestra. The work, which is based on an early song cycle for soprano, te ...
'' calls for 84: 20.20.16.16.12).
Repertoire
The repertoire includes several works by
Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
(including ''
Eine kleine Nachtmusik
(Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major), K. 525, is a 1787 composition for a chamber ensemble by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791). The German title means "a little night music" and is one of Mozart's most famous works. The serena ...
''),
William Boyce (his eight symphonies are for strings only), and
Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...
which dispense with the
baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
basso continuo
Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...
. Some of these works are problematic when it comes to deciding whether they are for orchestra or
string quartet
The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...
. 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
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of ...
(''
Apollo
Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...
''),
Witold Lutosławski
Witold Roman Lutosławski (; 25 January 1913 – 7 February 1994) was a Polish composer and conductor. Among the major composers of 20th-century classical music, he is "generally regarded as the most significant Polish composer since Szymanow ...
(''
Musique funèbre
Musique is the French word for music.
Musique may also refer to:
Music
* Musique (disco band), a 1970s studio band produced by Patrick Adams
*Musique, a British dance act consisting of Moussa Clarke and Nick Hanson best known for their 2001 song ...
''),
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...
(''
Simple Symphony
The ''Simple Symphony'', Op. 4, is a work for string orchestra or string quartet by Benjamin Britten.
It was written between December 1933 and February 1934 in Lowestoft, using material that the composer had written as a child, between 1923 and 1 ...
'' and ''
Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge
''Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge'', Opus number, Op. 10, is a work for string orchestra by Benjamin Britten. It was written in 1937 at the request of Boyd Neel, who conducted his orchestra at the premiere of the work at that year's Salzbu ...
''),
Charles Wuorinen
Charles Peter Wuorinen (, ; June 9, 1938 – March 11, 2020) was an American composer of contemporary classical music based in New York City. He also performed as a pianist and conductor. Wuorinen composed more than 270 works: orchestral music, c ...
(''Grand Bamboula''), and
Malcolm Williamson (
Symphony No. 7). Sir
Michael Tippett
Sir Michael Kemp Tippett (2 January 1905 – 8 January 1998) was an English composer who rose to prominence during and immediately after the Second World War. In his lifetime he was sometimes ranked with his contemporary Benjamin Britten as o ...
wrote a ''
Concerto for Double String Orchestra'' and
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams ( ; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...
wrote a ''Partita for Double String Orchestra''. Composers who have written a
Serenade
In music, a serenade (; also sometimes called a serenata, from the Italian) is a musical composition or performance delivered in honour of someone or something. Serenades are typically calm, light pieces of music. The term comes from the Ital ...
for string orchestra include
Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...
,
Dvořák,
Suk and
Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...
.
Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonie ...
, in his youth, also wrote
thirteen symphonies for string orchestra.
Sometimes works originally written for string quartet, quintet, sextet etc. are arranged for string orchestra.
Samuel Barber
Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor (music), conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the mid-20th century. Principally influenced ...
's ''
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 that he wrote the quartet. It was performed for th ...
'',
Alban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( ; ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sma ...
's 3 Pieces from his ''Lyric Suite'',
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-centu ...
's string sextet ''
Verklärte Nacht
''Verklärte Nacht'' (''Transfigured Night''), Op. 4, is a string sextet in one movement composed by Arnold Schoenberg in 1899. Composed in just three weeks, it is considered his earliest important work. It was inspired by Richard Dehmel's p ...
'' and String Quartet No. 2,
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popula ...
's sextet ''
Souvenir de Florence'',
John Corigliano
John Paul Corigliano (born February 16, 1938) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. With over 100 compositions, he has won accolades including a Pulitzer Prize, five Grammy Awards, Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, and a ...
's Second String Quartet and
Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his countr ...
's ''
Andante festivo'' are examples. An optional timpani part is also added in the Sibelius piece. The work ''
Shaker Loops
''Shaker Loops'' is a 1978 composition by American composer John Adams, originally written for string septet. The original "modular" score, published by Associated Music Publisher, has since been withdrawn and replaced by a 1983 string orchestra v ...
'' written in 1978 for septet then arranged in 1983 for string orchestra by the American composer
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...
has become a popular addition to the repertoire in recent times.
Graham Waterhouse
Graham Waterhouse (born 2 November 1962) is an English composer and cellist who specializes in chamber music. He has composed a cello concerto, '' Three Pieces for Solo Cello'' and '' Variations for Cello Solo'' for his own instrument, and str ...
composed several works for string orchestra (''Sinfonietta''), also in combination with contrasting sounds as
Great Highland bagpipe
The great Highland bagpipe ( 'the great pipe') is a type of bagpipe native to Scotland, and the Scottish analogue to the great Irish warpipes. It has acquired widespread recognition through its usage in the British Armed Forces, British mili ...
(''
Chieftain's Salute'').
Works for string orchestra
*
Yalil Guerra: "Old Havana," "A la antigua," "Terra Ignota" (Unknown Land), "Clave," for strings and percussion, "El Retrato de la Paloma" (The Portrait of the Dove)-Latin GRAMMY nominated composition (2015), Symphony No. 2 for strings "Los Dioses del Olimpo" (The Olympian Gods), "Al Partir" (On Leaving) dedicated to Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, "Negro Bembón, dedicated to Nicolás Guillén.
*
Louis Andriessen: ''Symphony for Open Strings''
*
Lera Auerbach:
**String Symphony "Memoria de la Luz" (2013)
**Serenade for a Melancholic Sea for violin, violoncello, piano and string orchestra (2002)
** Dialogues of Stabat Mater (after G.B. Pergolesi) for violin, viola, vibraphone and string orchestra (2005)
*
Granville Bantock
Sir Granville Ransome Bantock (7 August 186816 October 1946) was a British composer of classical music.
Biography
Granville Ransome Bantock was born in London. His father was an eminent Scottish surgeon.Hadden, J. Cuthbert, 1913, ''Modern Music ...
: ''Celtic Symphony'' for string orchestra and six harps
*
Samuel Barber
Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor (music), conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the mid-20th century. Principally influenced ...
: ''
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 that he wrote the quartet. It was performed for th ...
''
*
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hunga ...
:
Divertimento for String Orchestra
**Romanian Dances for String Orchestra
*
Mason Bates
Mason Wesley Bates (born January 23, 1977) is a Grammy Award, Grammy award-winning United States, American composer of Orchestra, symphonic music and Disc jockey, DJ of electronic dance music. He is the first composer-in-residence of the John F. ...
: ''
Icarian Rhapsody'' (1999)
*
Jeremy Beck: ''Sinfonietta'' (2000)
*
Alan Belkin: ''Adagio Symphonique'' (2002)
*
Luciano Berio
Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental music, experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia (Berio), Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled ''Seque ...
: ''Notturno'' (1995)
*
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...
: ''
Serenade for Solo Violin, Strings, Harp and Percussion after Plato's "Symposium"''
*
Judith Bingham: ''The Hythe'' (2012)
*
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', w ...
: ''Adagietto,''
L'Arlesienne Suite No. 1 (1872)
*
Ernest Bloch
Ernest Bloch (; ; July 24, 1880 – July 15, 1959) was a Swiss-born American composer. Bloch was a preeminent artist in his day, and left a lasting legacy. He is recognized as one of the greatest Swiss composers in history. Several of his most no ...
: ''Concerto Grosso'' No. 2
*
Nimrod Borenstein
**In the night, Op. 48 (2007)
**In the morning, Op. 51 (2008)
**Symphony for strings, Op. 68 (2014)
**Suspended, Op. 69 (2014)
**Yodit, Op. 82 (2018)
*
Pierre Boulez
Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music.
Born in Montb ...
: ''
Livre pour cordes''
*
Frank Bridge
Frank Bridge (26 February 187910 January 1941) was an English composer, violist and conductor.
Life
Bridge was born in Brighton, the ninth child of William Henry Bridge (1845–1928), a violin teacher and variety theatre conductor, formerly a ...
: ''Lament'' (1915)
*
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...
: ''
Simple Symphony
The ''Simple Symphony'', Op. 4, is a work for string orchestra or string quartet by Benjamin Britten.
It was written between December 1933 and February 1934 in Lowestoft, using material that the composer had written as a child, between 1923 and 1 ...
''
*
Stephen Brown:
**''The Carol Suite'' (1993)
**''Sunrise Serenade'' (2001)
**''On the Idle Hill of Summer'' (2002)
*
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...
: ''Twenty-Three'' (for violins, violas, and cellos) Additionally, many of Cage's indeterminate scores could be arranged for string orchestra.
*
Carlos Chávez
Carlos Antonio de Padua Chávez y Ramírez (13 June 1899 – 2 August 1978) was a Mexican composer, conducting, conductor, music theorist, educator, journalist, and founder and director of the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra. He was influence ...
: Symphony No. 5
*
Nigel Clarke: ''The Miraculous Violin''
*
Anna Clyne
Anna Clyne (born 9 March 1980) is an English composer resident in the United States. She has worked in both acoustic music and electroacoustic music.
Biography
Born on 9 March 1980 in London, Clyne began writing music as a child, completing her ...
:
**''
Within Her Arms'' (2009)
**''
Prince of Clouds'' (2012)
*
Paul Creston
Paul Creston (born Giuseppe Guttoveggio; October 10, 1906 – August 24, 1985) was an American composer of classical music. He composed six symphonies and several concertante works for violin, piano, accordion, marimba and saxophone.
Biography
B ...
: ''Gregorian Chant for String Orchestra'' (1936)
*
Tansy Davies
Tansy Davies (born 29 May 1973, Bristol) is an English composer of contemporary classical music. She won the BBC Young Composers' Competition in 1996 and has written works for ensembles such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orc ...
: ''Residuum''
*
David Diamond: ''Rounds for String Orchestra'' (1944)
*
Avner Dorman: Concerto Grosso (2002–2003)
*
Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8September 18411May 1904) was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predec ...
:
Serenade for String Orchestra in E major, Op.22
*
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...
:
**''
Introduction and Allegro for Strings'' (1905)
**
Serenade for Strings
*
Irving Fine: ''Serious Song: A Lament for String Orchestra'' (1955)
*
Gerald Finzi
Gerald Raphael Finzi (14 July 1901 – 27 September 1956) was a British composer. Finzi is best known as a choral composer, but also wrote in other genres. Large-scale compositions by Finzi include the cantata '' Dies natalis'' for solo voice and ...
: Romance, Op. 11 (1928)
*
Arthur Foote: Suite in E major for String Orchestra, Op. 63 (1909)
*
Alberto Ginastera
Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (; April 11, 1916June 25, 1983) was an Argentine composer of classical music. He is considered to be one of the most important 20th-century classical music, 20th-century classical composers of the Americas.
Biography
G ...
: ''Concerto per corde'', Op. 33 (originally written for string quartet then arranged for string orchestra)
*
Philip Glass
Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...
: film score for
''The Hours'' (large string orchestra plus piano soloist)
*
Henryk Górecki
Henryk Mikołaj Górecki ( , ; 6 December 1933 – 12 November 2010) was a Polish composer of contemporary classical music. According to critic Alex Ross, no recent classical composer has had as much commercial success as Górecki. He became a l ...
: Three Pieces in Old Style (1963)
*
Edvard Grieg
Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic music, Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwid ...
: ''
Holberg Suite'' (originally written for piano then arranged for string orchestra)
*
Stefans Grové: Elegy for Strings (1948)
*
Mark Gustavson
Mark Gustavson (born September 19, 1959 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American composer of contemporary classical music.
Biography
Gustavson lives on eastern Long Island and teaches at various universities in the New York City area, including Ad ...
: ''Hymn to the Vanished'' (2001)
*
Karl Amadeus Hartmann
Karl Amadeus Hartmann (2 August 1905 – 5 December 1963) was a German composer. A major figure of the musical life of post-war Germany, he has been described as the greatest German symphonist of the 20th century.
Life
Born in Munich, the son ...
:
Symphony No. 4
*
Victor Herbert
Victor August Herbert (February 1, 1859 – May 26, 1924) was an American composer, Cello, cellist and conducting, conductor of English and Irish ancestry and German training. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and co ...
: Serenade for Strings
*
Alfred Hill: String Symphonies
*
Gustav Holst
Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...
:
**''
St Paul's Suite'' (1912)
**''
Brook Green Suite'' (1933)
**''
A Moorside Suite'' (1928)
*
Arthur Honegger
Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss-French composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, '' Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher'' is "more even ...
:
Symphony No. 2
*
Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 31 (1976–77)
*
Charles Ives
Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, actuary and businessman. Ives was among the earliest renowned American composers to achieve recognition on a global scale. His music was largely ignored d ...
: ''The Call of the Mountains'' (arranged by Jonathan Dore from the String Quartet No. 2)
*
Karl Jenkins
Sir Karl William Pamp Jenkins, , Honorary Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, HonFLSW (born 17 February 1944) is a Welsh multi-instrumentalist and composer. His best known works include the song "Adiemus (song), Adiemus" (1995, from the Adi ...
:
''Palladio'' (1996)
*
Paul Juon: Five Pieces for String Orchestra, op.16
*
Vasily Kalinnikov: Serenade for Strings in G minor
*
Mieczysław Karłowicz
Mieczysław Karłowicz (, 11 December 18768 February 1909) was a Polish composer and conductor.
Life
Mieczysław Karłowicz was born in Vishneva, in the Vilna Governorate of the Russian Empire (now in Belarus) into a noble family belonging to ...
: Serenade for Strings Op. 2 (1897)
*
Nigel Keay: Serenade for Strings
*
Uuno Klami: Suite for String Orchestra (1937)
*
Sophie Lacaze:
** ''Y aparece el sol'' (2017) for flute, didgeridoo and string orchestra
** ''Immobilité sérieuse I'' (2013) for piano and string orchestra
*
Kenneth Leighton:
** Symphony for Strings, Op. 3 (1948-49)
** Concerto for String Orchestra, Op. 39 (1960-61)
*
Elizabeth Maconchy: Symphony for Double String Orchestra (1952–53)
*
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...
: Adagietto from
Symphony No. 5.
*
Gian Francesco Malipiero
Gian Francesco Malipiero (; 18 March 1882 – 1 August 1973) was an Italian composer, musicologist, music teacher and editor.
Life Early years
Born in Venice into an aristocratic family, the grandson of the opera composer Francesco Malipiero, Gi ...
: Symphony No. 6 "Degli Archi" (1947)
*
Andrew March:
Sanguis Venenatus (Tainted Blood) Elegy for Strings (200
*
Bohuslav Martinů
Bohuslav Jan Martinů (; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphony, symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber music, chamber, vocal and ins ...
: ''
Double Concerto for Two String Orchestras, Piano, and Timpani''
*
Nicholas Maw: ''Life Studies''
*
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...
:
**
13 String Symphonies
**
Concerto for Violin and Strings
*
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
:
**
Three Concertos for Piano and Strings in D major, G major and E major, K. 107 (1771 or 1765)
** Divertimento No. 1 for Strings in D major, K. 136/125a (1772)
** Divertimento No. 2 for Strings in B major, K. 137/125b (1772)
** Divertimento No. 3 for Strings in F major, K. 138/125c (1772)
** ''
Eine kleine Nachtmusik
(Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major), K. 525, is a 1787 composition for a chamber ensemble by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791). The German title means "a little night music" and is one of Mozart's most famous works. The serena ...
'' (1787)
*
Lior Navok: ''Between Two Coasts''
*
Ștefan Niculescu: ''Formants'' (1967), for 17 solo strings
*
Robert Paterson:
**''Suite for String Orchestra'' (2011)
**''I See You'' (for String Orchestra and Recording) (2015)
*
Vincent Persichetti: Symphony No. 5
*
Allan Pettersson:
**Concerto No. 1 (1949–50)
**Concerto No. 2 (1956)
**Concerto No. 3 (1956–57)
*
Ottorino Respighi
Ottorino Respighi ( , , ; 9 July 187918 April 1936) was an Italian composer, violinist, teacher, and musicologist and one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. List of compositions by Ottorino Respighi, His compositions ra ...
: ''
Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite No. 3'' (1932)
*
Carl Ruggles
Carl Ruggles (born Charles Sprague Ruggles; March 11, 1876 – October 24, 1971) was an American composer, painter and teacher. His pieces employed "dissonant counterpoint", a term coined by fellow composer and musicologist Charles Seeger to ...
: ''Portals''
*
Aulis Sallinen
Aulis Heikki Sallinen (born 9 April 1935) is a Finnish contemporary classical music composer. His music has been variously described as "remorselessly harsh", a "beautifully crafted amalgam of several 20th-century styles", and "neo-romantic". ...
: ''Aspects of the Funeral March of Hintriki Peltoniemi'' (originally written for string quartet then arranged for string orchestra)
*
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish conducting, conductor and composer. He is the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Sw ...
: ''
Stockholm Diary'' (2004)
*
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-centu ...
: ''
Verklärte Nacht
''Verklärte Nacht'' (''Transfigured Night''), Op. 4, is a string sextet in one movement composed by Arnold Schoenberg in 1899. Composed in just three weeks, it is considered his earliest important work. It was inspired by Richard Dehmel's p ...
'' or ''Transfigured Night'' (1899) (originally written for string sextet then arranged for string orchestra)
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Franz Schreker
Franz Schreker (originally ''Schrecker''; 23 March 1878 – 21 March 1934) was an Austrian composer, conductor, librettist, teacher and administrator. Primarily a composer of operas, Schreker developed a style characterized by aesthetic pluralit ...
: Scherzo for String Orchestra (1900)
**Intermezzo for String Orchestra (Op. 8, 1900)
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William Schuman
William Howard Schuman (August 4, 1910February 15, 1992) was an American composer and arts administrator.
Life
Schuman was born into a Jewish family in Manhattan, New York City, son of Samuel and Rachel Schuman. He was named after the 27th U.S. ...
: Symphony No. 5
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Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his countr ...
: ''
Andante festivo'' for strings and timpani
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Richard St. Clair Symphony for String Orchestra
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Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...
: ''
Metamorphosen'' for 23 solo strings
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Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...
:
**
Concerto in D (1946)
**''
Apollon Musagète
''Apollo'' (originally ''Apollon musagète'' and variously known as ''Apollo musagetes'', ''Apolo Musageta'', and ''Apollo, Leader of the Muses'') is a neoclassical ballet in two '' tableaux'' composed between 1927 and 1928 by Igor Stravinsky. ...
'' (1927–1928), ballet for string orchestra
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Josef Suk:
Serenade for Strings (Op. 6, 1892)
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William Susman:
**''Zydeco Madness''
**''Angels of Light''
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Tōru Takemitsu
was a Japanese composer and writer on aesthetics and music theory. Largely self-taught, Takemitsu was admired for the subtle manipulation of instrumental and orchestral timbre. He is known for combining elements of oriental and occidental phil ...
: ''Requiem'' (1957)
**"A Way a Lone II" (1981)
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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popula ...
:
Serenade for Strings in C major, Op. 48
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Michael Tippett
Sir Michael Kemp Tippett (2 January 1905 – 8 January 1998) was an English composer who rose to prominence during and immediately after the Second World War. In his lifetime he was sometimes ranked with his contemporary Benjamin Britten as o ...
:
**Concerto for Double String Orchestra
**''Corelli Fantasia''
**''Little Music for Strings''
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Joan Trimble
Joan Trimble (18 June 1915 – 6 August 2000) was an Irish composer and pianist, and one of the most distinguished musicians to come from Ulster in the 20th century. She studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music ...
: "Suite for Strings" (1951)
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Pēteris Vasks
Pēteris Vasks (born 16 April 1946) is a Latvian composer.
Biography
Vasks was born in Aizpute, Latvia, into the family of a Baptist pastor. He trained as a violinist at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, as a double-bass player wit ...
:
**''Cantabile'' (1979)
**''Musica Dolorosa'' (1984)
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Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams ( ; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...
:
**''
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis''
**''
Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus''
**
Concerto Grosso
The concerto grosso (; Italian for ''big concert(o)'', plural ''concerti grossi'' ) is a form of baroque music in which the musical material is passed between a small group of soloists (the '' concertino'') and full orchestra (the '' ripieno'', '' ...
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Heitor Villa-Lobos
Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5, 1887November 17, 1959) was a Brazilian composer, conductor, cellist, and classical guitarist described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has globally bec ...
:
''Bachianas Brasileiras No.9''
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Carl Vine: ''Smith's Alchemy''
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Claude Vivier: ''
Zipangu'' (1980)
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Julian Wagstaff: ''Treptow'' for String Orchestra (2005)
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George Walker: ''
Lyric for Strings'' (1946)
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William Walton
Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...
: Sonata for Strings
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Robert Ward: ''Concertino for String Orchestra'' (originally written for string quartet then arranged for string orchestra)
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Graham Waterhouse
Graham Waterhouse (born 2 November 1962) is an English composer and cellist who specializes in chamber music. He has composed a cello concerto, '' Three Pieces for Solo Cello'' and '' Variations for Cello Solo'' for his own instrument, and str ...
:
**''
Celtic Voices and Hale Bopp'' (1995, 1997)
**Sinfonietta (2002)
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Malcolm Williamson:
**''Epitaphs for Edith Sitwell'' (1966/72)
**''Ode for Queen Elizabeth'' (1980)
**''Lento for Strings'' (1985)
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Dag Wirén
Dag Ivar Wirén (15 October 1905 – 19 April 1986) was a Swedish composer.
Life
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
...
: ''Serenade for Strings''
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John Woolrich:
**''Blue Drowning'' (2005)
**''It is Midnight Dr. Schweitzer''
**''To the Silver Bow'', double concerto for viola, double bass and strings (2014)
**''
Ulysses Awakes''
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Charles Wuorinen
Charles Peter Wuorinen (, ; June 9, 1938 – March 11, 2020) was an American composer of contemporary classical music based in New York City. He also performed as a pianist and conductor. Wuorinen composed more than 270 works: orchestral music, c ...
: ''Grand Bamboula''
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Iannis Xenakis
Giannis Klearchou Xenakis (also spelled for professional purposes as Yannis or Iannis Xenakis; , ; 29 May 1922 – 4 February 2001) was a Romanian-born Greek-French avant-garde composer, music theorist, architect, performance director and enginee ...
: ''
Pithoprakta
''Pithoprakta'' (1955–56) is a piece by Iannis Xenakis for string orchestra (with 46 separate solo parts), two trombones, xylophone, and wood block, premièred by conductor Hermann Scherchen in Munich in March 1957. A typical performance of ...
'' for 46 strings, 2 trombones, wood block and xylophone.
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Takashi Yoshimatsu: ''Threnody to Toki'' for Piano and String Orchestra (1980)
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Đuro Živković
Đuro Živković, also rendered as Djuro Zivkovic ( Serbian Cyrillic: Ђуро Живковић; born 1975), is a Serbian-Swedish composer and violinist. He has lived in Stockholm, Sweden, since 2000.
Biography
Živković was born in Belgrade, ...
:
**''Serenade'' (2002)
**''PSALM XIII'' (2014)
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Ellen Taaffe Zwilich:
**''Partita'' (Violin Concerto No. 2) for Violin and String Orchestra (2000)
**''Commedia dell'arte'' (Violin Concerto No. 3) for Violin and String Orchestra (2012)
**''Prologue and Variations'' (1983)
References
{{Authority control
Types of musical groups
Orchestras