Honegger: Orchestral Works

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Explore the complete catalog of Orchestral compositions by Honegger. This curated list includes composition years, historical Wikipedia context, and interactive audio to add specific tracks directly to your listening queue.

Title Year Actions
3 Mouvements Symphoniques, H.53, 67, and 83

Oscar-Arthur Honegger (French: [aʁtyʁ ɔnɛɡɛʁ]; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher is "more even than Le Roi David or Pacific 231, his most universally popular work".

Cello Concerto in C major, H.72
Chant de joie, H.47

Oscar-Arthur Honegger (French: [aʁtyʁ ɔnɛɡɛʁ]; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher is "more even than Le Roi David or Pacific 231, his most universally popular work".

Concertino for Piano and Orchestra, H.55

Oscar-Arthur Honegger (French: [aʁtyʁ ɔnɛɡɛʁ]; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher is "more even than Le Roi David or Pacific 231, his most universally popular work".

Concerto da camera, for flute, cor anglais and orchestra

The cor anglais (UK: , US: or original French: [kɔʁ ɑ̃ɡlɛ]; plural: cors anglais), or English horn (mainly North America), is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially an alto oboe in F. The cor anglais is a transposing instrument pitched in F, a perfect fifth lower than the oboe (a C instrument). This means that music for the cor anglais is written a perfect fifth higher than the instrument sounds. The fingering and playing technique used for the cor anglais are essentially the same as those of the oboe, and oboists typically double on the cor anglais when required. The cor anglais normally lacks the lowest B♭ key found on most oboes, and so its sounding range stretches from E3 (written B♮) below middle C to C6 two octaves above middle C. Some versions have a Low B♭ key to extend the range down one more note to sounding E♭3.

Hymne

Oscar-Arthur Honegger (French: [aʁtyʁ ɔnɛɡɛʁ]; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher is "more even than Le Roi David or Pacific 231, his most universally popular work".

Largo, H.105

This is a list of compositions by Arthur Honegger.

Le chant de Nigamon

Oscar-Arthur Honegger (French: [aʁtyʁ ɔnɛɡɛʁ]; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher is "more even than Le Roi David or Pacific 231, his most universally popular work".

Le Grand Barrage, sound picture, H.162
Pacific 231, H.53

Oscar-Arthur Honegger (French: [aʁtyʁ ɔnɛɡɛʁ]; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher is "more even than Le Roi David or Pacific 231, his most universally popular work".

Pastorale d'ete

Pastorale d’été, H. 31 (Summer Pastoral), is a short symphonic poem for chamber orchestra by Arthur Honegger. It was inspired by Honegger's vacation in the Swiss alps above Bern in 1920 and lasts seven or eight minutes. Pastorale d'été was written in August 1920 at Wengen in Switzerland. It was Honegger's first orchestral work of any real consequence before he wrote his massive Horace victorieux, which he wrote in the winter of 1920-21. The score of Pastorale d'été was inscribed with an epigraph by Arthur Rimbaud: J'ai embrassé l'aube d'été (I have embraced the summer dawn). The scoring is for strings, single woodwinds, and horn. The work is atmospheric, placid and restrained, and has been described as "a latter-day Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun by Claude Debussy). It seems to be a musical impression of a peaceful early morning in the Swiss alps. It opens with a languorous soaring theme on the horn, which is then taken up by the strings. The instrumentation matches the pastoral nature of the theme and the mood in the outer sections. The middle section is more lively and is colourfully orchestrated. The main theme returns to close the piece in the same peaceful, manner of the opening. The work was dedicated to Alexis Roland-Manuel. It was first performed on 17 February 1921 at the Salle Gaveau in Paris, conducted by Vladimir Golschmann. The work won a Prix Verley, a prize decided by the audience members. The first British concert performance was on 27 October 1921 conducted by Eugene Goossens in the Queen's Hall, London. The work has entered the general orchestral repertoire, and has often been played in concert. Honegger conducted a recording of the work himself, as have Hermann Scherchen, Jean Martinon (1971), Michel Plasson (1991), Leonard Bernstein, David Zinman, Thierry Fischer, Charles Dutoit and many others. As part of the narrative of the novel Expo 58 by Jonathan Coe (published 2013) there is an imaginative and detailed description of the Pastorale in the chapter entitled 'The trouble with happiness'. It pays particular attention to the orchestration and to the overall shape of the piece, e.g. "...the main theme was by now beginning to take on the character of an old friend: once again, it rose and fell, rose and fell, a soft, endlessly renewable conversation between the different sections of the orchestra; until it too faded into nothingness, amid the dying flourishes of gossamer-bowed violins, the last twilit birdcalls of flute and clarinet."

Pastorale d'été, symphonic poem for chamber orchestra, H.31

Pastorale d’été, H. 31 (Summer Pastoral), is a short symphonic poem for chamber orchestra by Arthur Honegger. It was inspired by Honegger's vacation in the Swiss alps above Bern in 1920 and lasts seven or eight minutes. Pastorale d'été was written in August 1920 at Wengen in Switzerland. It was Honegger's first orchestral work of any real consequence before he wrote his massive Horace victorieux, which he wrote in the winter of 1920-21. The score of Pastorale d'été was inscribed with an epigraph by Arthur Rimbaud: J'ai embrassé l'aube d'été (I have embraced the summer dawn). The scoring is for strings, single woodwinds, and horn. The work is atmospheric, placid and restrained, and has been described as "a latter-day Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun by Claude Debussy). It seems to be a musical impression of a peaceful early morning in the Swiss alps. It opens with a languorous soaring theme on the horn, which is then taken up by the strings. The instrumentation matches the pastoral nature of the theme and the mood in the outer sections. The middle section is more lively and is colourfully orchestrated. The main theme returns to close the piece in the same peaceful, manner of the opening. The work was dedicated to Alexis Roland-Manuel. It was first performed on 17 February 1921 at the Salle Gaveau in Paris, conducted by Vladimir Golschmann. The work won a Prix Verley, a prize decided by the audience members. The first British concert performance was on 27 October 1921 conducted by Eugene Goossens in the Queen's Hall, London. The work has entered the general orchestral repertoire, and has often been played in concert. Honegger conducted a recording of the work himself, as have Hermann Scherchen, Jean Martinon (1971), Michel Plasson (1991), Leonard Bernstein, David Zinman, Thierry Fischer, Charles Dutoit and many others. As part of the narrative of the novel Expo 58 by Jonathan Coe (published 2013) there is an imaginative and detailed description of the Pastorale in the chapter entitled 'The trouble with happiness'. It pays particular attention to the orchestration and to the overall shape of the piece, e.g. "...the main theme was by now beginning to take on the character of an old friend: once again, it rose and fell, rose and fell, a soft, endlessly renewable conversation between the different sections of the orchestra; until it too faded into nothingness, amid the dying flourishes of gossamer-bowed violins, the last twilit birdcalls of flute and clarinet."

Prélude et fugue de J. S. Bach, in C, H.68b
Prélude pour La Tempête, H.48a
Prélude, Arioso and Fughette sur le nom de Bach, for piano, H. 81

This is a list of compositions by Arthur Honegger.

Rugby, H.67

Oscar-Arthur Honegger (French: [aʁtyʁ ɔnɛɡɛʁ]; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher is "more even than Le Roi David or Pacific 231, his most universally popular work".

Symphonie mimée pour orchestre, "Horace victorieux"

This is a list of compositions by Arthur Honegger.

Symphony no. 2, for strings and trumpet ad lib in D major, H.153
Symphony no. 1 in C major, H.75
Symphony no. 3, H.186, "Liturgique"

Oscar-Arthur Honegger (French: [aʁtyʁ ɔnɛɡɛʁ]; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher is "more even than Le Roi David or Pacific 231, his most universally popular work".

Symphony no. 4, H.191, "Deliciae Basiliensis"

This is a list of compositions by Arthur Honegger.

Symphony no. 5 in D major, H.202, "Di Tre Re"

This is a list of compositions by Arthur Honegger.