Symphonies for concert band explained

Prior to the 20th century, only a handful of original symphonies for wind band existed. Symphonies were almost exclusively written for orchestra at the time, but, beginning in the early-mid 20th century, numerous symphonies for concert band began to appear.

There are also numerous orchestral symphonies that have been transcribed for concert band, but those are not included in this article.

Note: 20th and 21st century symphonies labelled with an asterisk (*) are for a smaller band, typically the wind section of the orchestra.

18th and 19th centuries

François-Joseph Gossec
  • "Military" Symphony in F (1794)
    Louis-Emmanuel Jadin
  • Symphony in F (1794)
    Anton Reicha
  • Commemoration Symphony[1] [2] (Musique pour célébrer la mémoire des grands hommes) (1815)
    Hector Berlioz
  • Grande symphonie funèbre et triomphale (1840)
    Charles Gounod
  • Petite symphonie pour neuf instruments à vent (1885)

    1900–1959

    Ernst Krenek
  • Symphony for winds and percussion op. 34 (1924-25)
    Paul Fauchet
  • Symphony in B-flat (Symphonie pour musique d'harmonie) (1926)
    Arthur Meulemans
  • Symphony No. 4 (1935)
    Nikolai Myaskovsky
  • Symphony No. 19 (1939)
    Nikos Skalkottas
  • Classical Symphonny (1947)
    H. Owen Reed
  • "La Fiesta Mexicana", A Mexican Folk Song Symphony for Concert Band (1949)
    Boris Kozhevnikov
  • Symphony No. 3, "Slavyanskaya" (1950/rev. 1958)
    Paul Hindemith
  • Symphony in B-flat for Band (1951)
    Morton Gould
  • Symphony No. 4, "West Point" (1952)
    Roy Harris
  • Symphony for Band, "West Point" (1952)
    Vincent Persichetti Symphony No. 6, Op. 69 (1956)
  • Frank Erickson
  • Symphony No. 1 for Band (1954 rev 1956)
  • Symphony No. 2 for Band (1958)
    Alan Hovhaness Symphony No. 4, Op. 165* (1958)
  • Symphony No. 7, "Nanga Parvat," Op. 178* (1959)
    Vittorio Giannini
  • Symphony No. 3 (1959)

    1960–1999

    James Barnes
  • Symphony No. 1, Op. 35 (1974)
  • Second Symphony, Op. 44 (1980-1981)
  • Third Symphony, Op. 89 (1994)
    Warren Benson
  • Symphony for Drums and Wind Orchestra* (1962)
  • Symphony No. 2, "Lost Songs" (1983)
    Derek Bourgeois
  • Symphony No. 4 "A Wine Symphony", Op. 58a (1978)
  • Symphony of Winds, Op. 67 (1980)
  • Symphony No. 6 "A Cotswold Symphony", Op. 109a (1988)
    Andrew Boysen Jr.
  • Symphony No. 1 (1997)
  • Symphony No. 2 (1999)
  • Symphony No. 3 "JFK" (1999)
    John Barnes Chance
  • Symphony No. 2 (1972)
    Johan de Meij
  • Symphony No. 1, "The Lord of the Rings" (1988)
  • Symphony No. 2, "The Big Apple" (1993)
    Martin Ellerby
  • "Natalis", (Symphony No. 1) (1993)
  • Symphony for Winds (Symphony No. 2) (1997)
    Donald Erb
  • Symphony for Winds (1995)
    Frank William Erickson
  • Symphony No. 3 (1984)
    Nicolas Flagello
  • Symphony No. 2, "Symphony of the Winds," Op. 63
    Nancy Galbraith
  • Wind Symphony No. 1 (1996)
    David Gillingham
  • Symphony No. 1, "Apocalyptic Dreams" (1995)
    Ida Gotkovsky
  • Symphonie pour quatre-vingt instruments a vent (Symphony for 24 wind instruments)* (1960)
  • Symphonie pour Orgue & Orchestre d'Harmonie (Symphony for Organ and Concert Band) (1982)
  • Brillante Symphonie (Brilliant Symphony) (1988-1989)
    Alan Hovhaness
  • Symphony No. 14, "Ararat," Op. 194* (1961)
  • Symphony No. 20, "Three Journeys to a Holy Mountain," Op. 223 (1969)
  • Symphony No. 23, "Ani, City of a Thousand and One Cathedrals," Op. 249 (1972)
  • Symphony No. 53, "Star Dawn" (1983)
    Yasuhide Ito
  • Symphony (1990)
  • A Jubilee Symphony (1994)
  • "La Vita", Symphony in 3 Scenes (1998)
    Gordon Jacob
  • Symphony A.D. 78 (1978)
    Robert E. Jager
  • Symphony No. 1 (1964)
  • Symphony No. 2 (1980)
    Serge Lancen
  • Manhattan Symphony (1961)
  • Symphonie de Noël (1964)
  • Mini-symphonie (1967)
  • Symphonie de l'eau (1984)
  • Symphonie joyeuse (1993)
    Libby Larsen
  • Short Symphony (1996)
    David Maslanka
  • Symphony No. 2 (1986)
  • Symphony No. 3 (1991)
  • Symphony No. 4 (1993)
    W. Francis McBeth
  • "Divergents", A Short Symphony for Symphonic Band, Op. 49 (1969)
    Alfred Reed
  • Symphony No. 2 (1979)
  • Symphony No. 3 (1988)
  • Symphony No. 4 (1992)
  • Symphony No. 5 (1994)
    Gunther Schuller
  • Symphony No. 3, "In Praise of Winds" (1981)
    Claude T. Smith
  • Symphony No. 1 for Band (1977)
    Dan Welcher
  • Symphony No. 3, "Shaker Life" (1997)

    2000–Present

    James Barnes
  • Fifth Symphony, "Phoenix", Op. 110 (2000)
  • Sixth Symphony, Op. 130 (2008)
  • Seventh Symphony, "Symphonic Requiem", Op. 135 (2011)
  • Eighth Symphony, "Symphony for Wangen", Op. 148 (2015)
    William Bolcom
  • First Symphony for Band (2008)
    Derek Bourgeois
  • Symphony No. 8 "The Mountains of Mallorca", Op. 184a (2002)
  • Symphony for William, Op. 212 (2004)
  • Symphony No. 41 "Sinfonia Andalucia", Op. 261a (2007)
  • Symphony No. 68 "The Tower of Babel", Op. 316a (2012)
    Andrew Boss
  • Tetelestai (2014)
    Symphony No. 1, "The Archangels", Op. 50 (2015)
  • Symphony No. 2, "Views of Edo" Op.54 (2018)
  • Symphony No. 3, "Urban Landscapes" Op. 55 (2020)
    Nigel Clarke
  • Symphony No. 1, "A Richer Dust" for Speaker and Wind Orchestra (2014)
    John Corigliano
  • Symphony No. 3, "Circus Maximus" (2004)
    Johan de Meij
  • Symphony No. 3, "Planet Earth" (2006)
  • Symphony No. 4, "Sinfonie der Lieder (Symphony of Songs)" (2013)
  • Symphony No. 5, "Return to Middle Earth" (2018)
    Martin Ellerby
  • A Little Symphony of English Carols (Symphony No. 4) (2009)
    David Gillingham
  • Symphony No. 2, "Genesis" (2007)
    Julie Giroux
  • Symphony No. 1, "Culloden" (2000)
  • Symphony No. 2, "No Finer Calling" (2006)
  • Symphony No. 3, "A Symphony of Fables" (2006)
  • Symphony No. 4, "Bookmarks from Japan" (2013)
  • Symphony No. 5, "Elements" (2017)
  • Symphony No. 6 (2021)
    Samuel Hazo
  • "Blessings", Symphony No. 1 (2001-2003)
    Yasuhide Ito
  • Sinfonia Singaporiana (2005)
    John Mackey
  • "Wine-Dark Sea", Symphony for Band (2014)
    Marcin Masecki
  • "Victory" ("Zwycięstwo"), Symphony No. 1 (2013)
    David Maslanka
  • Symphony No. 5 (2000)
  • Symphony No. 7 (2005)
  • "Give Us This Day", Short Symphony for Wind Ensemble (2006)
  • Symphony No. 8 (2008)
  • Symphony No. 9 (2011)
  • Symphony No. 10 (left unfinished at the composer's death in 2017, completed by his son Matthew Maslanka in 2018)
    Francisco José Martínez Gallego
  • Symphony No. 1, "Kaprekar" (2011)
    Symphony No. 1, "Colors of live" (2016)
  • Steven Reineke
  • Symphony No. 1, "New Day Rising" (2007)
    Robert W. Smith
  • "The Divine Comedy", Symphony No. 1
  • "The Odyssey", Symphony No. 2
  • "Don Quixote", Symphony No. 3 (2008)
    Philip Sparke
  • "Earth, Water, Sun, Wind", Symphony No. 1 (2006)
  • "A Savannah Symphony", Symphony No. 2 (2012)
  • "A Colour Symphony", Symphony No. 3 (2014)
    James M. Stephenson
  • Symphony No. 2 (2016)
    Frank Ticheli
  • Symphony No. 2 (2003)
    Jess Langston Turner Symphony No. 1, "If I am to leave..." (2019)
  • Jan Van der Roost
  • Sinfonia Hungarica (2001)
    Dan Welcher
  • Symphony No. 4, "American Visionary" (2005)
    Judith Lang Zaimont
  • Symphony for Wind Orchestra in Three Scenes (2003)

    See also

    External links

    Notes and References

    1. http://whitwellbooks.com/2010/12/reicha-symphony-for-band/ Reicha, Symphony for Band – Whitwell Books
    2. http://www.worldcat.org/title/commemoration-symphony/oclc/150482362?lang=en Commemoration symphony