Program Notes Available on Short Notice – Composers A-B
If you are seeking something that you don’t see listed, please ask. I do not update this list daily and it is possible that the item you’re seeking I’ve written quite recently. If not, I have many resources at hand and can produce almost anything promptly, particularly if it is an unlisted work by a composer for whom I’ve written other notes.
For operas, I can provide synopses as well as program notes. For lieder and choral works, I can often provide texts in the original language and English translation, more readily for Germanic and Romance languages than for Slavic or Oriental languages. However, lately, I’ve been typing a lot of Czech, so that language is less problematic than it was formerly.
The best way to find a composer's name on this page quickly is with the Edit - Find On This Page option that is almost certainly in your tool bar. Lacking that link, using Control-F should achieve the same goal.
A: (37 notes)
Zequinha de Abreu: Tico Tico
Adolphe Adam: Giselle – ballet
Adolphe Adam: O Holy Night (Minuit, chrétiens)
Adolphe Adam: Si j’étais roi Overture (If I were King)
Mark Adamo: Alcott Music – suite from the opera Little Women
Mark Adamo: Little Women – opera
John Adams: (many listings – see below)
Thomas Adés: Three Studies After Couperin
Thomas Adés: The Tempest – opera
Richard Adler: Wilderness Suite
Samuel Adler: String Quartet no. 8
Isaac Albeniz: Asturias
Isaac Albeniz: Iberia
Isaac Albeniz: Suite espagnola
Eleanor Alberga: 3-Day Mix
Stephen Albert: RiverRun – Symphony no. 1
Tomaso Albinoni: Adagio for Strings
Tomaso Albinoni: Concerti a cinque, op. 5
Tomaso Albinoni: Concerto in G major for two oboes, op. 9, no. 6
Johann Georg Albrechtsberger: Harp Concerto in C
Johann Georg Albrechtsberger: Trombone Concerto in B-flat
Franco Alfano: Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano
Hugo Alfvén: Midsommarvaka (Midsummer Vigil)
Gregorio Allegri: Miserere Mei
Leroy Anderson: Sleigh Ride and other works
George Antheil: A Jazz Symphony
Alexis Aranda: DaVinci Concerto
Dominic Argento: Capriccio for clarinet and orchestra
Dominic Argento: Letters from Composers – song cycle
Dominic Argento: Walden Pond
Anton Arensky: songs
Anton Arensky: Piano Trio no. 1 in d minor, op. 32
Malcolm Arnold: (many listings – see below)
Juan Crisostomo Arriaga: Symphony in D major
Alexander Arutunian: Concerto for Trumpet
Daniel Auber: The Bronze Horse Overture
Daniel Auber: The Crown Diamonds Overture
Lera Auerbach: The Blind – opera
Lera Auerbach: Sogno di Stabat Mater
John Adams: (13 notes)
The Chairman Dances
Chamber Symphony
Saxophone Concerto
Violin Concerto
Dr. Atomic – opera
Gnarly Buttons
Hallelujah Junction
Harmonielehre
Naïve and Sentimental Music
Nixon in China – opera
Road Movies
Short Ride in a Fast Machine
The Wound Dresser
Sir Malcolm Arnold: (6 notes)
Clarinet Concerti
Horn Concerto no. 2, op. 58
English Dances, Set One, op. 27
Irish Dances, op. 126
Four Scottish Dances, op. 59
Three Shanties, op. 4 – wind quintet
B: (60 notes)
Carl Philip Emanuel Bach: Flute Concerti
Carl Philip Emanuel Bach: Sinfonietta no. 2 in E-flat
Johann Christian Bach: Bassoon Concerto in B-flat
Johann Christian Bach: Six Sonatas for keyboard with violin, op. 10
Johann Christian Bach: symphonies
Johann Christian Friedrich Bach: Sinfonie no. 20 in B-flat
Johann Sebastian Bach (many listings – see separate page)
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach: Sinfonia in F
Mily Balakirev: Islamey – Oriental Fantasy
Michael Balfe: The Bohemian Girl – opera
Sir Granville Bantock: A Celtic Symphony
Samuel Barber (many listings - see below)
Béla Bartók (many listings - see below)
Randol Alan Bass: A Feast of Carols
Sir Arnold Bax: (many listings - see below)
Amy Cheney Beach: (many listings – see below)
Ludwig van Beethoven (many listings – see separate page)
Vincenzo Bellini: I Capuletti e i Montecchi – opera
Vincenzo Bellini: Norma – opera
Vincenzo Bellini: La sonnambula – opera
Richard Rodney Bennett: Murder on the Orient Express – film score
Richard Rodney Bennett: Sonata after Syrinx
Alban Berg: (many listings – see below)
Jean Berger: Skelton Poems
Luciano Berio: Folk Songs
Hector Berlioz (many listings – see below)
Paul Ben-Haim: Sonata in g for unaccompanied violin, op. 44
Leonard Bernstein (many listings – see below)
Franz Berwald: Reminiscences of the Norwegian Mountains
Franz Berwald: Sinfonie Singuliere in C major
Heinrich von Biber: Battalia
Heinrich von Biber: Mystery Sonatas
William Billings: Chester
Georges Bizet: (many listings – see below)
Ernest Bloch (many listings – see below)
Theodor Blumer: Tanz-Suite, op. 53
Luigi Boccherini: Cello Concerti
Luigi Boccherini: Guitar Quintets
Luigi Boccherini: String Quintet in E majr, op. 11, no. 5
Adrien Boieldieu: Harp Concerto in C maor
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier: Don Quichotte chez la Duchesse – opera–ballet
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier: Bassoon Sonata in G major, op.50, no 2
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier: flute sonatas
William Bolcom: Cabaret Songs
William Bolcom: Commedia for (Almost) 18th Century Orchestra
William Bolcom: Concerto Grosso for saxophone quartet and orchestra
Alexander Borodin: (many listings – see below)
Giovanni Bottesini: Double-bass Concerto no. 2 in b minor
Giovanni Bottesini: Passione Amorosa
Lili Boulanger: D’un matin de printemps (Of a Morning in Spring)
York Bowen: Viola Sonata no. 1 in c minor, op. 18
William Boyce: Symphony no 1 in B-flat major
Eugène Bozza: Jour d’ete a la montagne for flute quartet
Eugène Bozza: Sonatine for Brass Quintet
Eugène Bozza: Suite in F for horn quartet
Barlow Bradford: A Christmas Medley
Gaetano Braga: Angel’s Serenade
Johannes Brahms (many listings – see separate page)
Frank Bridge: String Quartet no. 1 in e minor
Frank Bridge: The Sea suite
Frank Bridge: There is a Willow Grows Aslant a Brook
Benjamin Britten (many listings – see separate page)
Leo Brouwer: Cuban Landscape with Rain
Leo Brouwer: El Decamerón Negro
Max Bruch (many listings – see below)
Anton Bruckner (many listings – see below)
Colin Brumby: Jesu, Son Most Sweet and Dear
Kenji Bunch: Piano Concerto
Kenji Bunch: Velocity
Ferruccio Busoni: String Quartet no. 2 in d minor, op. 26
Ferruccio Busoni: transcription of the Bach Chaconne
George Butterworth: The Banks of Green Willow
George Butterworth: A Shropshire Lad – orchestral rhapsody
George Butterworth: Six Songs from A Shropshire Lad
Dietrich Buxtehude: organ works
William Byrd: Mass for four voices
Samuel Barber: (21 notes)
Adagio for Strings
Agnus Dei
Cello Concerto, op. 22
Piano Concerto
Violin Concerto
Dover Beach, op. 3
Essay no. 1 for Orchestra, op. 12
Essay no. 2 for Orchestra, op. 17
Essay no. 3 for Orchestra, op. 47
Knoxville: Summer of 1915
Medea
String Quartet in b minor, op. 11
The School for Scandal Overture, op. 5
Serenade for strings, op. 1
Cello Sonata, op. 6
Piano Sonata, op. 26
Souvenirs
Summer Music
Symphony no. 1, op. 9
Toccata Festiva for organ and orchestra, op. 36
Vanessa – opera
Bela Bartok: (24 notes)
Concerto for Orchestra
Duke Bluebeard’s Castle – opera
Piano Concerto no. 1
Piano Concerto no. 2
Piano Concerto no. 3
Viola Concerto
Violin Concerti
Contrasts for clarinet, violin, and piano
Dance Suite
Duos for violins or violas
Miraculous Mandarin – ballet
Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta
Four Orchestral Pieces, op. 12
String Quartet no. 1, op. 7
String Quartet no. 2, op. 17
String Quartet no. 3
String Quartet no. 4
String Quartet no. 5
String Quartet no. 6
Violin Rhapsodies
Roumanian Folk Dances
Piano Sonata, Sz. 80
Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion
The Wooden Prince – ballet
Sir Arnold Bax: (9 notes)
Elegy
The Happy Forest
Morning Song – Maytime in Sussex
Nonet for winds, strings and harp
November Woods
Harp Quintet
Oboe Quintet
Summer Music
Tintagel
Amy Cheney Beach: (6 notes)
Piano Concerto in c-sharp minor, op. 45
two Hermit Thrush pieces, op. 92, no. 1 & 2
Piano Quintet in f-sharp minor, op. 67
Sonata in a minor for violin and piano, op. 34
Symphony in e minor, op. 32, “Gaelic”
Piano Trio in a minor, op. 150
Alban Berg: (10 notes)
Chamber Concerto
Violin Concerto “To the Memory of an Angel”
Sieben frűhe Lieder (Seven Early Songs)
Lulu – orchestral suite
Lulu – opera
Three Orchestral Pieces, op. 6
String Quartet, op. 3
Piano Sonata, op. 1
Lyric Suite
Wozzeck – opera
Hector Berlioz: (14 notes)
Beatrice and Benedict overture
Damnation of Faust
The Death of Cleopatra
L’Enfance du Christ, op. 25
Harold in Italy, op. 16
Le corsaire overture, op. 21
Les nuits d’été, op. 7
Requiem, op. 5
Reverie and Caprice
Roman Carnival Overture
Romeo and Juliet, op., 17 – dramatic symphony
Romeo and Juliet, op. 17 – love scene
Symphonie fantastique, op. 14
Les Troyens – Royal Hunt and Storm
Leonard Bernstein: (13 notes)
Broadway Songs
Candide – opera
Chicester Psalms
Divertimento
Fancy Free – ballet
On the Town
Prelude, Fugue and Riffs
Serenade after Plato’s Symposium
Symphony no. 1, “Jeremiah”
Symphony no. 2, “The Age of Anxiety”
Trouble in Tahiti – opera
West Side Story – musical
West Side Story Symphonic Dances
Georges Bizet: (6 notes)
L’Arlesienne
Farandole, from L'Arlesienne suite no. 2
Carmen – opera
Children’s Games
The Pearl Fishers – opera
Symphony in C
Ernest Bloch: (5 notes)
Concerto Grosso
Nocturnes
Piano Quintets
Schelomo
Suite Hebraique
Alexander Borodin: (7 notes)
Petite Suite
Polovetsian Dances from Prince Igor
Prince Igor overture
String Quartet no. 2 in D major
In the Steppes of Central Asia
Symphony no. 1 in E-flat
Symphony no. 2 in b
Max Bruch: (11 notes)
Adagio on Celtic Themes, op. 56
Allegro appassionato in f, op. 57
Canzone, op. 55
Violin Concerto no. 1 in g minor, op. 26
Violin Concerto no. 2 in d, op. 44
Violin Concerto no. 3 in d, op. 58
Kol Nidrei, op. 47
Eight Pieces for clarinet, viola, and piano, op. 83
Romance in a for violin and orchestra, op. 42
Romance in F for viola and orchestra, op. 85
Scottish Fantasy, op. 46
Anton Bruckner: (11 notes)
Requiem in d minor
Symphony no. 0 in d minor, “Nullte”
Symphony no. 1 in c
Symphony no. 2 in c
Symphony no. 3 in d
Symphony no. 4 in E-flat major, “Romantic”
Symphony no. 5 in B-flat
Symphony no. 6 in A
Symphony no. 7 in E
Symphony no. 8 in c minor
Symphony no. 9 in d minor
