[Orchestra] Introducing famous and popular pieces
Among classical music, the orchestra is the most opulent and offers the widest range of expression.
When a variety of instruments, each infused with the performer’s own sensibility, come together to create a single piece of music, it produces a unique allure found nowhere else.
In this article, we’ve picked out famous and popular orchestral pieces.
Even within orchestral music, there are many genres—from symphonies and concertos to operas.
We’re introducing everything from pieces everyone has heard to works well-known among classical enthusiasts, so be sure to check them out.
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[Orchestra] Introducing famous and popular pieces (61–70)
EntertainerScott Joplin
“The Entertainer” was composed in 1902.
It begins in C major, but later modulates to F major; in that section the rhythm also differs from the rest.
With a brisk yet relaxed feel, the piece follows an A-B-A-C-D form.
It was apparently not very popular at the time, but after it was used in the film “The Sting,” it became instantly famous.
Even today it is widely used in commercials and video games, so many people have likely heard it.
Prelude to Act III from LohengrinRichard Wagner
Lohengrin is one of the knights who appears in the legend of King Arthur.
He is the hero who arrived in a swan-drawn boat to rescue a princess who was about to be ensnared by intrigue.
This prelude is a highly brilliant piece performed at the beginning of Act III, which opens with the wedding scene of the princess.
If you listen closely to the oboe toward the end, you can hear the melody of the famous Bridal Chorus that follows.
E.T.John Williams
A masterpiece by film music maestro John Williams.
It brilliantly captures the heart of a moving story about the friendship between a lonely boy and a gentle extraterrestrial.
It won the Academy Award, the Golden Globe, the Grammy, and the BAFTA.
Williams is the only person to have received all of these awards multiple times with the same score.
This piece symbolizes universal themes of friendship, adventure, and cross-cultural exchange, expressing the film’s magical world through music.
Born from Williams’s long-standing collaboration with director Steven Spielberg, it is a gem that conveys the profound bond between cinema and music.
Music of the CelestialsHisaishi Joe
This is “Heavenly Beings’ Music” from The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.
The composer is Joe Hisaishi, well known for his music in Studio Ghibli works.
Hisaishi is one of the representative composers for Studio Ghibli, but interestingly, he usually scores only films directed by Hayao Miyazaki; when other directors are involved, different composers tend to take over.
The director of The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is Isao Takahata, making this a rare case where Hisaishi worked on a non-Miyazaki film.
Since Princess Mononoke, full orchestras have more frequently been used for in-film performances.
As Ghibli and Hisaishi’s popularity has grown, there have been more concerts as well, and it’s said that Hisaishi creates new arrangements for each concert.
It might be fun to compare the soundtrack versions with the concert versions.
Invitation to the DanceCarl Maria von Weber
A piano piece composed by the German composer Weber.
As the title suggests, it depicts a gentleman inviting a lady to dance.
In the introduction and opening section, a sequence of exchanges at the ballroom is portrayed: the left hand represents the gentleman’s invitation, while the right hand expresses the lady’s responses.
His first invitation is declined, but the gentleman persists, and gradually a conversation develops.
Once they have warmed to each other and grown closer, the gentleman asks her to dance again—third time’s the charm.
The lady accepts, and the two disappear into the whirl of the ball, a progression rendered beautifully in the music.
Path of the WindHisaishi Joe
The indispensable classic “The Path of the Wind” from Studio Ghibli’s beloved masterpiece My Neighbor Totoro is presented here in an orchestral performance.
This piece is included in “Orchestra Stories: My Neighbor Totoro,” in which composer Joe Hisaishi restructured music from My Neighbor Totoro so it can be enjoyed with narration.
In the original, Hisaishi—then influenced by minimalism—used an electronic sound, but this version becomes a grand orchestral work that brings out the beauty of acoustic instruments.
The sheet music is also available, so students and members of community orchestras who want to enjoy ensemble playing on real instruments might consider giving it a try.
After the introduction, the violin solo is superb, vividly conjuring up images of Japan’s pastoral landscapes.
Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14Hector Berlioz
This piece is Berlioz’s first symphony, composed in 1830.
The hallmark of Symphonie fantastique is the “idée fixe.” While commonplace today, it was a novel concept at the time.
The work bears the subtitle “Episode in the Life of an Artist,” and it is said to have been inspired by his own experience of unrequited love.
Air on the G StringJ.S.Bach
The commonly used name for an arrangement by August Wilhelmj of a work by Johann Sebastian Bach—known as the father of music—for solo violin with piano accompaniment.
The piece gets its name from the fact that it can be performed using only the violin’s G string, and in Japan it’s often heard at graduation ceremonies and similar occasions.
It also reached a wider audience when it was sampled in 1997 by the German music group Sweetbox in their song “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright.” A staple of classical music, its beautifully expansive melody—hard to believe it’s played solely on the violin’s G string—soothes the soul.
Dragon BoyHisaishi Joe
From Studio Ghibli’s hugely famous film Spirited Away, this is “The Dragon Boy.” The “dragon” refers to Haku, and the piece is used in the scene where Haku and Chihiro meet and then depart from the bathhouse.
In the film, the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra performs it: a mystical tone born from layered harp and piano leads into flowing horn lines, while the woodwinds stack in perfect fourths to evoke a traditional Japanese atmosphere.
This performance is a longer version than the one in the film, making “The Dragon Boy” even more powerful.
Jesu, Joy of Man’s DesiringJ.S.Bach
Movement 6 of a church cantata.
Bach also composed many works based on the Bible.
Piano arrangements are often performed, but with an orchestra you can truly savor that deep, expansive sonority.
A melody filled with joyful hope is repeated.