These excerpts are made available for the educational benefit of University of Colorado Boulder College of Music students in accordance with the U.S. Copyright Law, Chapter 1, Section 107.
The excerpts listed below are the result of William Stanley’s many years’ gathering solo passages from orchestral repertoire (with a nod to opera, chamber and brass ensemble) that he has played, listened to and heard about from others. These are true solo excerpts—not section tuttis or other non-solo prominent passages. Depending on your personal experience, some of what you find here may be obvious ... or new to you.
This is an ongoing project: As new solos are found, the list will grow. Email William Stanley if you know of a work that should be included here, or if you discover a solo passage in a new piece. Other feedback, including corrections, is also welcome.
Students are encouraged to purchase recordings of the complete pieces to hear these solos in context and to expand your listening repertory. Using complete parts is always the preferred way to learn orchestral rep. Please purchase your own parts of copyrighted material from the publisher when available.
Adams, John - Chamber Symphony excerpt audio
Adams, John - City Noir excerpt audio
Adams, John - Dr. Atomic Symphony excerpt audio
Arnold, Malcolm - Tam O'Shanter Overture excerpt audio
Ayers, Richard - No. 42 (In the Alps) excerpt audio
Bartok, Bela - Concerto for Orchestra excerpt audio
Bartok, Bela - The Miraculous Mandarin excerpt audio
Berwald, Franz - Symphonie No. 1 (Symphonie serieuse) excerpt audio
Bristow, George Frederick - Symphony No. 2 excerpt audio
Britten, Benjamin - Gloriana: Opera in Three Acts excerpt audio
Carter, Eliott - Three Occasions for Orchestra: Remembrance excerpt audio
Chavez, Carlos - Symphony No. 4 (Sinfonia Romantica) excerpt audio
Chavez, Carlos - Suite de Caballos de Vapor (Horse Power Suite) in progress
Copland, Aaron - Rodeo excerpt audio
Copland, Aaron - Third Symphony excerpt audio
Copland, Aaron - Lincoln Portrait excerpt audio
Crumb, George - Star Child in progress
Daugherty, Michael - Motor City Tryptich [sic] excerpt audio
Donizetti, Gaetano - La favorita (opera) excerpt audio
Duffy, John - Symphony No. 1 excerpt audio
Dvořák, Antonin - Symphony No. 6 excerpt audio
Ellington, Duke - Black, Brown, and Beige Suite excert audio
Ellington, Duke - Harlem excerpt audio
Gershwin, George - An American in Paris excerpt audio
Gershwin, George - Rhapsody in Blue excerpt audio
Golijov, Osvaldo - Nazareno excerpt audio
Haydn, Michael - Divertimento in D excerpt audio
Hindemith, Paul - Konzertmusik excerpt audio
Hovhaness, Alan - Symphony No. 4 in progress
Ives, Charles - Symphony No. 4 excerpt audio
Ives, Charles/William Schuman - Variations on "America" excerpt audio
Janáček, Leoš - Sinfonietta excerpt audio
Kern, Jerome - Portrait for Orchestra: Mark Twain excerpt audio
Mahler, Gustav - Symphony No. 2 excerpt audio
Mahler, Gustav - Symphony No. 3 excerpt audio
Mahler, Gustav - Symphony No. 5 excerpt audio
Mahler, Gustav - Symphony No. 7 excerpt audio
Milhaud, Darius - Le creation du monde excerpt audio
Moncayo, Juan Pablo - Huapango excerpt audio
Mozart, W. A. - Die Schuldekeit des ersten gebots excerpt audio
Mozart, W.A. - Mass in C minor (Weisenhaussmesse) excerpt audio
Mozart, W.A. - Requiem excerpt audio
Ravel, Maurice - Bolero excerpt audio
Ravel, Maurice - Daphnis et Chloe excerpt audio
Ravel, Maurice - L'enfant et les Sortileges excerpt audio
Ravel, Maurice - Piano Concerto for the Left Hand excerpt audio
Respighi, Ottorino - Feste Romane (Roman Festivals) excerpt audio
Schnittke, Alfred - Symphony No. 1 in progress
Shostakovich, Dimitri - Symphony No. 4 excerpt audio
Shostakovich, Dimitri - Symphony No. 9 excerpt audio
Shostakovich, Dimitri - Symphony No. 15 excerpt audio
Shostakovich, Dimitri - Waltz No. 2 excerpt audio
Sibelius, Jean - Symphony No. 2 excerpt audio
Sibelius, Jean - Symphony No. 7 excerpt audio
Strauss, Richard - Symphonic Fantasie aus Die Frau ohne Schatten excerpt audio
Strauss, Richard - Le bourgeois gentilhomme excerpt audio
Stravinsky, Igor - L'Histoire du Soldat excerpt audio
Stravinsky, Igor - Pulcinella Suite excerpt audio
Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich - Symphony No. 6 excerpt audio
Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich - The Nutcracker excerpt audio
Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich - The Tempest excerpt audio
Thomas, Ambroise - Hamlet (opera) excerpt audio
Thomas, Michael Tilson - From the Diary of Anne Frank excerpt audio
Tomasi, Henri - Fanfares liturgiques excerpt audio
Wagner, Richard - Overture to the Flying Dutchman excerpt audio
Walker, George - Orpheus excerpt audio
Weill, Kurt - Symphony No. 2 excerpt audio
Xenakis, Iannis - Jonchaies excerpt audio
Zender, Hans - Schubert's Winterreise - a composed interpretation (1993) excerpt audio