Two English folk songs form George Butterworth's idyllic The Banks of Green Willow, premiered just two years before the promising young composer's demise in the trenches of World War I. German Max Bruch, captivated by Scottish traditions, wove these melodies into his violin showpiece, Scottish Fantasy. Meanwhile, Brahms' expressive Symphony No. 1, finely dubbed "Beethoven's Tenth," gestated for 22 years due to his remarkable perfectionism.

Bacewicz’s six-minute Overture for Orchestra, composed during the German occupation of Poland, offers a perpetually shifting palette of colors. Spaniard Joaquin Rodrigo’s animated Concierto de Aranjuez features elaborate orchestration for classical guitar, while Fauré’s tragic Pelléas et Mélisande Suite was originally composed as incidental music for a dramatic play. Borodin’s colorful Symphony No. 2 evokes the exuberance of Russian folk dances.

Franco-Brazilian composer Elodie Bouny creates a striking homage to the Amazon rainforest with Ignis, a contemporary complement to Mendelssohn’s exquisite and romantic Violin Concerto in E minor. Dvořák’s pastoral Eighth Symphony vividly depicts Czech songs and dances through rich, pleasing melodic harmonies.

The stirring orchestration of Sibelius’ patriotic Finlandia counters Haydn’s high-spirited and dramatic Cello Concerto No. 1, which remained undiscovered for two centuries until its chance 1961 find at the Czech National Library. Fittingly, Grieg’s four charming Symphonic Dances, inspired by Norwegian folk, also played a key role in formalizing Norway’s own national identity.

As the first of a trilogy of cantatas, Orff's irreverent Carmina Burana draws from a 13th century compilation of vagabond songs and poems detailing fate's fickleness, pagan delights, and corruption, with hypnotic sensuality and powerful rhythms. Hindemith's reworked Symphonic Dances emerged from a discarded ballet collaboration.