Best Orchestral Suites

The Planets, Op. 32, is a seven-movement orchestral suite written by the English composer Gustav Holst between 1914 and 1916. Each movement of the suite is named after a planet in the Solar System and is intended to convey the astrological character and mythological associations of that specific cel...

*Ma mère l'Oye* is a work by the French composer Maurice Ravel, originally written in 1910 as a suite of five pieces for piano four-hands. The music depicts scenes from classic French fairy tales, including "Sleeping Beauty" and "Beauty and the Beast." Ravel later orchestrated the suite and expanded...

Claude Debussy's Images pour orchestre is a three-part orchestral collection consisting of Gigues, Ibéria, and Rondes de printemps, completed between 1905 and 1912. Rather than functioning as a conventional symphony, the work presents contrasting evocations of Britain, Spain, and France through laye...

J.S. Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067, is a Baroque orchestral work consisting of an overture and a sequence of French-style dances. The composition is distinctively scored to feature a prominent solo flute alongside strings and continuo. It remains a staple of the classical flute...

The Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068, is a secular orchestral work by German composer Johann Sebastian Bach. It consists of an overture and a series of dances, scored for strings, oboes, trumpets, and timpani. The second movement, commonly known as the "Air," is among the most widely reco...

"Water Music" is a collection of orchestral movements composed by George Frideric Handel, often published as three suites. The music was commissioned for an outdoor performance on the River Thames in London on July 17, 1717. King George I and his entourage traveled in a royal barge accompanied by an...

Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Carnival of the Animals” is an orchestral suite composed in 1886. It presents a series of evocative musical scenes, often depicting animals and fantastical scenarios. The work's notable sections include the iconic cello solo "The Swan." Primarily intended for performance by orc...

George Frideric Handel’s Water Music is a set of orchestral suites composed around 1711. The work features prominent use of strings, oboes, and horns, reflecting its intended performance during a royal barge excursion on the River Thames. Notably, it's one of Handel’s most popular and frequently per...

The L'Arlésienne Suites Nos. 1 and 2 are orchestral suites derived from the incidental music composed by Georges Bizet for Alphonse Daudet's 1872 play. The first suite was assembled by Bizet himself, while the second was compiled posthumously by his colleague Ernest Guiraud using themes from the ori...

Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46 is a significant orchestral work composed in 1888. It originated as incidental music for Henrik Ibsen's play, “Peer Gynt.” The suite includes widely recognized movements such as "Morning Mood" and demonstrates Grieg's distinctive Romantic style. This comp...

The Carnival of the Animals is a fourteen-movement chamber suite composed by Camille Saint-Saens in 1886. Its instrumental writing humorously depicts creatures including lions, hens, tortoises, an elephant, kangaroos, fish, birds, and fossils, while also parodying familiar music. Saint-Saens restric...

The "L'Arlésienne" Suites are two sets of orchestral music derived from the incidental score Georges Bizet composed for Alphonse Daudet's 1872 play of the same name. The first suite was compiled by Bizet himself, while the second suite was assembled after the composer's death by his friend Ernest Gu...

Lieutenant Kije Suite, Op. 60 is Sergei Prokofiev's orchestral arrangement of music written for the 1934 Soviet film Lieutenant Kije. Its five movements follow the fictional officer's supposed birth, romance, wedding, sleigh ride, and death, preserving the story's satire of military bureaucracy. The...

Flos Campi is a 1925 suite by Ralph Vaughan Williams for solo viola, wordless mixed chorus, and small orchestra. Its six connected movements are prefaced by Latin passages from the biblical Song of Songs, although the chorus sings no text. The unusual ensemble treats the viola as a prominent lyrical...

Gustav Holst (1890-1954) was a prominent English composer celebrated primarily for his orchestral works, most notably “The Planets.” This suite explores astrological themes through evocative music and is notable for its innovative use of orchestration and harmonic language within the early twentieth...

Háry János Suite is a 1927 orchestral suite by the Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály, drawn from his singspiel Háry János. The suite incorporates Hungarian folk melodies and uses the cimbalom, a traditional hammered dulcimer, to impart local color. Its six movements depict episodes from the tall tale...

Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suites, Op. 46 and Op. 55, are orchestral works composed in 1888 and 1891. They originate from incidental music written for Henrik Ibsen's play, significantly elevating the prominence of Norwegian musical traditions. These suites showcase Romantic-era orchestration and are particul...

The work commonly called Air on the G String is an arrangement of the Air, the second movement of Johann Sebastian Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068. Bach's original movement is scored for strings and continuo, with a flowing upper melody supported by steadily moving inner parts; th...

"Tafelmusik" is a large-scale collection of instrumental chamber and orchestral music composed by Georg Philipp Telemann, published in 1733. Subtitled "Musique de Table," the anthology was explicitly designed to provide entertainment during aristocratic banquets. Structured into three separate produ...

L'Arlésienne Suites are two orchestral suites drawn from Georges Bizet's 1872 incidental music for Alphonse Daudet's play. The first suite was compiled by Bizet himself, while the second was assembled posthumously by Ernest Guiraud. The music is notable for its incorporation of traditional Provençal...

Music for the Royal Fireworks (HWV 351) is an orchestral suite composed by George Frideric Handel in 1749. King George II commissioned the work to celebrate the end of the War of the Austrian Succession and the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. It was originally scored for a massive wind and...