The choice of appropriate music is the responsibility of the Musical Director and involves a delicate balance of resources and abilities. But suggestions are welcome…
Click here to view the repertoire from previous concerts.
Click here to see a compilation of suggestions so far (up to June 2017).
If you have a favourite piece of music that you would like to be considered for future rehearsals or concerts, please give the details in the comment box below (scroll down). It would be helpful if you could also indicate how this music might be sourced.
Suggestions so far (most recent first)…
Something Louise said at the AGM put me in mind of 2 pieces we have done before with a soloist – the Beethoven – Romance for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 in G major, Op. 40 , and the Richard Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1.. Love to do them again!
Mussorgsky, revision by Rimsky-Korsakov: Night on Bald Mountain. Very atmospheric & melodic. All sections of orchestra catered for. Parts available on IMSLP.
Dvorak, New World Symphony; Slavic dances
Shubert, Unfinished symphony
De Falla, El amor brujo
Saint Saens, Danse macabre
Malcolm Arnold – 4 Scottish Dances – (Scottish Waltz).
Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheherazade 3rd movement, The Young Prince and The Young Princess. Available to print on IMSLP.
Or something by Schnittke ? (Third S request.. ) ..
Suggestions from orchestra dinner:
Arturo Marquez – Danzon No. 2
Something soundtrack related?
Something to challenge brass/woodwind?
Elgar?
Mendelssohn?
Sorry, should have written down specifics!
Please can we play the last movement of Sibelius 5th again ? It has been a while : ) . Or Anything else Sibelius. (except Finlandia I think we have done it three times already) .. and any Shostakovich .
Also maybe we could play some Estonian/East Europe composers Pärt etc for the simpler scores rather than so many 10 easy pieces. The arrangements for woodwind are pretty deadly. .. I think a lot of the wind feel a bit weary of the BBC arrangements and thought there might be some simple alternatives that are also enjoyable to play..
The Mandalorian Orchestral Score by Ludvig Goransson. Epic piece, and think it would be great for Winter term! Had a look and Sheet Music Direct could be a source? I’m not sure if it is ridiculously expensive or not?
Very nice piece
How about the third movement (Humour: Animato) from William Grant Still’s Symphony 1 (Afro-American), a very infectious jazz-influenced movement? You can listen to it on YouTube. It has a prominent part for banjo, but perhaps an arrangement for alternative instrumentation is available.
Shostakovich Jazz Suite no 2. Movt 6 waltz.
This seems to incorporate all the sections of the orchestra and is very singable, so hopefully also reasonably playable if slowed down a bit!
Peter Longworth – Manhattan Matins
A young Composer from Scotland currently Professor at the Guildhall School of Music in London. This piece has been played by Wimbledon Community Orchestra in March 2022 and is included in the Caithness Orchestra’s repetoire for their Spring 2023 concerts.
Here is the piece being played by the Guildhall Session Orchestra:
Maybe we would be able to run through that great orchestral work by Hazel Joy Stoakes again this term? After tracking down the parts!!! I think there were a couple of instrumental balance issues that needed to be resolved in it weren’t there which can only be done with a live orchestra….
Still wishing!
Just heard the Overture from Falstaff by Salieri. Sounds great fun!
How about the suite from”Cats”
Super late to get back to this sorry!
Can I suggest a flagrant pro-EU programme? Maybe little bits and pieces of music inspired by different countries in the EU? Lots of romantic music scope there.
Sibelius – Finlandia
Smetana – Ma Vlast
Beethoven – a Movement of 9? (although everyone is doing Beethoven this year and it’s a bit OTT)
Berlioz – Harold in Italy (kinda covers France and Italy? There’s also the Mendelssohn Italian)
Wagner – can we find a doable arrangement of one of the overtures? Maybe Tannhauser?
Vaughn-Williams – Movement from the London Symphony?
MacMillan – Is there something Scottish we could do that isn’t horrendously hard? I mean there’s the McCunn Land of the Mountain Spring (or whatever its called?) but that’s a bit cliche maybe?
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On a totally different theme – Is there anything really contemporary we could try – is it worth asking the Oli at the RCS composition course if there’s anything we could try?
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All just suggestions and I’ll be delighted with whatever! 🙂
Dunc x
I think there have already been two or three suggestions of Land of the Mountain and the Flood. I don’t think it’s clichéd!
As a nod to Beethoven’s 250th birthday, how about the 5th symphony 1st and last movements. We did the last movement 10 years ago so might be worth another outing.
What about the Scene from Swan Lake? Or (for Christmas concert) Home Alone theme?
March of the Siamese Children from the King and I by Richard Rodgers
Music from Game of Thrones by Ramin Djawadi
Finale from Symphony No.5 by Tchaikovsky
Sorry, I realise I’m super late to this, but maybe the suggestions can be added to the list for next term…
– Khachaturian: Sabre Dance (loads of fun)
– Tchaikovsky: Marche Slave (dramatic)
– I second the MacCunn: the Land of the Mountain and the Flood
– Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade: mvt II – The Story of the Kalandar Prince
– Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake: mvt I Scene
– Sibelius: Karelia Suite, mvt I Intermezzo
– Stravinsky: Firebird Suite (Finale)
– Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition – The Old Castle (haunting, lovely bassoon and saxophone solos)
– Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (arr. for orchestra – the Czech Philharmonic orchestra have a recording somewhere)
How about the 2nd movement from Tchaikovsky’s 4th symphony? Beautiful music (and this suggestion has nothing to do with the bassoon solo near the end!)
The Britten — the ending with the contra punct (was it young persons guide finale?) that we left off to come back to at a later date maybe 8 or 9 years ago?… I saw some more recent requests for it as I scrolled down. Perhaps we could play some Purcell in the programme also to go with??
Isn’t it about time we did another piece accompanying a soloist? Perhaps we could persuade one of the pros who support us to help out? Alex ( violin)? Mozart Flute and Harp concerto?
Alternatively something like Peter and the Wolf with a narrator? Ideal for a Christmas concert.
Respighi “The Birds”
Nyman “Chasing Sheep is best left to Shepherds”
OK, a few, some of which were mentioned at the curry night….
Smetana – Vltava from Ma Vlast
McCunn – Land of the Mountain and the Flood
Back to the Future theme tune
Rossini – Barber of Seville overture
Schubert – Allegro Moderato from Unfinished Symphony
Saint-Saëns – Danse Macabre
Something from The Nutcracker (in the winter term) – a couple of dances from the second half would be nice (I’d love to play the Pas de Deux, which is probably a less popular/obvious choice than Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, but I think even more beautiful)
Tchaikovsky – Waltz from Sleeping Beauty
J. Strauss – Radetzky March
I second the idea of the Wallace and Gromit theme tune!
OK, that’s all I can think of for now!
I’d like to support the suggestion of the Waltz from the Sleeping Beauty. And/or perhaps the Rose Adagio.
I’d also support Jane’s suggestion of Russlan and Lyudmilla (so long as the quavers are not too fast!)
Another Christmassy piece that we could probably have a go at could be the Overture to Die Fledermaus?
Theme music from Shindler’s List by John Williams. Hauntingly beautiful Cor Anglais solo.
Tritsch- Tratsch Polka by Johann Strauss.
Vltava (The Moldau) (Die Moldau) by Smetana.
A few suggestions:
* The 2nd movement from Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony
* Mendelssohn Hebrides Overture
* The suggestion of film music is a good one as well
Few suggestions:
Smetana Ma Vlast
Stravinsky Firebird
Dvorak Symphony No 9
Rachmaninov Symphony No 2
Elgar Symphony No 1
A few suggestions that were handed around at the curry night( another great social event, thank you!)
Brahms Academic Festival Overture
Some film music- pirates of Caribbean , Star Trek or similar and perhaps part of the beautiful Berlioz Romeo and Juliet
Could I support Katie’s earlier suggestion of Land of the Mountain and the Flood?
Sullivan: “Mikado” overture?
The first, pastoral, section of the William Tell overture is less familiar than the “Lone Ranger” bit, and is very lyrical.
Also how about Borodin on the Steppes of Central Asia? – very atmospheric.
How about Weber’s ‘Invitation to the Dance’? Great orchestration by Berlioz, with something for everyone.
The Dragonfly by Josef Strauss might be worth considering
My partner is a big fan of Game of Thrones, and has asked if we’d be able to play the theme tune, as he would love to hear us play it and thinks it would be a big hit with the rest of the audience too. I don’t like the show, but have to agree that the theme tune is fantastic!
I think Klaus Badelt’s New Pirates of the Caribbean would be tremendous fun to play!
Always loved the thought of playing Hans Zimmer’s Pirates of the Caribbean theme tune or Alexandre Desplat’s more dramatic Harry Potter scores from the later films. Or the original John Williams scores of course! Mendelsshon’s Fingals Cave and Mussorgsky’s Night on the Bare Mountain!
Wallace and gromit theme tune
Young person’s guide to the itchestra
Ravel’s Bolero. Available on IMSLP.
Are we allowed to use arrangements from the BBC “Ten Pieces” project?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/Z1hMFSnKf95bxKlymzLwyC/orchestral-and-choral-arrangements
Lots of good stuff, with a range of parts for different ability levels.
Some more suggestions…
Butterworth – A Shropshire Lad – http://imslp.org/wiki/A_Shropshire_Lad_(Butterworth,_George)
Handel – Zadok the Priest (orchestral version) – http://imslp.org/wiki/Zadok_the_Priest,_HWV_258_(Handel,_George_Frideric)
Mahler – Blumine (?? tough trumpet solo)
Children’s Corner Suite –Claude Debussy.
Not the best quality of recording
Émile Waldteufel – The Skater’s Waltz, Op. 183
…for winter concert? (http://imslp.org/wiki/Les_patineurs,_Op.183_(Waldteufel,_Emile))
Something by Benjamin Britten? Soirees Musicales? one of the Suites? Tend to have a good range of instruments 🙂
Likely to still be under copyright so would need to be hired.
Further to an earlier suggestion by Alex, how about a Rossini overture? There are any number of contenders – La Cenerentola, La Gazza Ladra, Il Signor Bruschino and, of course, W*ll**m T*ll!
Sorry that should be suite for Variety orchestra, not jazz orchestra. Although many of the recordings are mistakenly labelled Jazz orchestra! see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suite_for_Variety_Orchestra_(Shostakovich)
Still think it would be great.
Beethoven Symphony No. 1 – 1st mvt? (maybe even all of it??)
Shostakovitch Waltz no 2 from Suite for Jazz orchestra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmCnQDUSO4I would be something we could do justice to I think. Good percussion parts too.
Rimsky Korsakov – Sadko (Musical Tableau) Op 5? Realise too late for this session so super organised for next time!
can I suggest Brahms Academic Festival Overture for next season
thanks, Moira
An arrangement of Scott Joplin rags would be a novelty for us.
It would be nice to play a complete symphony (which could come after an interval to give players a chance for a breather). Something like:
Schubert, Symphony No.5
Haydn, Symphony No.104
Sibelius, Symphony No.2
I also like ‘The Hobbit’ symphony by Johan de Meij. There’s an arrangement for symphony orchestra – one or two movements from that would be fun, if the whole thing is deemed too much.
A piece for the wind and brass to get stuck into would be fun – something like the music for the royal fireworks, then offset against something for the strings – e.g. Vaughan Williams’s ‘Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis’.
Other works would include:
Rimsky-Korsakov, ‘Scheherezade’
Beethoven, ‘Egmont’ Overture
Wagner, ‘Der Meistersinger’ Overture
Mozart, ‘Idomeneo’ overture
Rossini, ‘Thieving Magpie’ Overture
I could go on…
Vaughan Williams 8th symphony? Maybe last mvt but maybe quite tricky?
Berlioz Roman Carnival and
1812 overture
May I second Brian’s suggestion of the Borodin “In the Steppes of Central Asia” and repeat my suggestion of Victor Hely-Hutchison’s Carol Symphony: I think it is the third movement that was used by the BBC in The Box of Delights.
Mendelssohn, Symphony No 3 (Scottish) – Introduction, Scherzo or Finale
Borodin, In the Steppes of Central Asia
(both these pieces are available from the Petrucci Music Library)
On the lighter side, this might be fun…
“Gershwin by George” – orchestral medley of Gershwin tunes.
Available from: https://www.jwpepper.com/Gershwin-by-George/10496078.item#.V5tOAxIllCo
That would be great!
After a bit of chat over curry last night…..thoughts on playing a musical overture? “Anything Goes”, “South Pacific”, or “Me and My Girl” all have some great tunes in them!
A movement from Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony would be fun.
Something by Leroy Anderson based on familiar melodies.
Also one or more instrumental interludes, or instrumental arrangements of vocal numbers, from Purcell’s the Masque in Dioclesian
Luigi Boccherini (arr. Berio) – Ritirata notturna di Madrid
Lots of percussion & brass – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt5EtfMZSnY
Mozart – Overture: Abduction from the Seraglio, K.384
…something for everyone, lots of percussion (clarinets in C, but could transpose), available on IMSLP
Berlioz’s “Rob Roy” Overture – great fun, great music, very Scottish!
I think The Land of the Mountain and the Flood has been suggested before – I would also love to play this! And for Christmas (can’t believe I’m talking about Christmas in March!!), how about something from The Nutcracker?
If we were looking at doing anything just for strings, my old school string orchestra played Corelli’s Christmas Concerto and it was always a favourite (but not too Christmassy for November!). Or I love Grieg’s Holberg Suite…. But I guess they wouldn’t be much fun for the rest of the orchestra…
Delius “La Calinda” – full orchestra version has something for everyone