Repertoire Library
Welcome to From the Top’s new repertoire library celebrating works by underrepresented composers.
We’ve put together a collection of stunning works that should be heard more—in concert halls, in classrooms, and yes, on the radio! And as exceptional young musicians, the power to do so is in your hands.
Whether you do so as part of an FTT application, a different application or audition, or just as part of your music-making practice, we encourage you to check out some of these works! To examine what classical music is today and what it could be going forward, it’s crucial to us to feature both performers and repertoire that speak from diverse points of view. As an additional resource, we’ve worked with our friends at Opus Illuminate to offer workshop-style videos about selected works from the library, which speak to the historical, musical, and technical aspects of the pieces (more videos coming soon!).
We plan to continue adding to the library as we learn about new pieces—we also realize that there are many fabulous pieces that are not yet included in the piece listings below. Please email us at auditions@fromthetop.org to suggest adding works, with questions, or to get more guidance in pursuing new repertoire goals. Play on!
Solo Works:
Piano | Violin | Viola | Cello | Double Bass | Harp | Guitar | Flute | Clarinet | Oboe | Bassoon | Trumpet | Trombone | Horn | Tuba | Marimba | Voice | Open
Ensemble Works:
String Quartet | Violin Duo | Piano Trio | Other
Watch a Playlist of Videos Created by Opus Illuminate of Selected Works from this List.
Piano
- Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: 5 Forest Scenes, III. The Phantom Tells His Longing
Listen |Score - Amy Beach: “Dreaming”, from Four sketches for piano, op. 15 n°3
Listen | Score - Amy Beach: Barcarolle, Op 28 No 1
Listen | Score - Margaret Bonds: Troubled Water
Listen | Score - Teresa Carreño: Ballade, Op.15 (7 mins)
Listen | Score - William Grant Still: Three Visions for Piano
Listen | Score | Watch Opus Illuminate Workshop | Watch Opus Illuminate Performance - Gabriela Lena Frank: Barcarola Latinomericana
Listen | Score - Karen Sunabacka: Curlicue
Listen | Score (Email composer to purchase)
Violin
- Jennifer Higdon: String poetic: II. Nocturne for violin and piano
Listen | Score - Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: African Dances, No 1 and/or No. 4
Listen (No.1) | Listen (No.4)| Score - Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Petite Suite, Mvt 3+4
(Originally for orchestra, arranged for violin and piano.)
Listen (Mvt. 3) | Listen (Mvt. 4) | Score - Amy Beach: Romance
Listen | Score - Irene Britton Smith: Sonata for Violin and Piano
Listen | Score - Jessie Montgomery: Rhapsody No. 1
Listen | Score | Watch Opus Illuminate Workshop - Carlos Simon: Between Worlds
Listen (missing first 1:00 min of piece) | Score
Viola
- Rebecca Clarke: Morpheus
Listen | Score - Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson: Lament for Viola and Piano
Listen | Score - Marcos Balter: Ut
Listen | Score (contact composer) - Nadia Boulanger: “Trois pièces for cello and piano (arr. for viola and piano)
Listen | Score - Jessie Montgomery: Rhapsody No. 2
Score - Marion Bauer: Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 22: Allegretto
Listen | Score | Watch Opus Illuminate Performance - Sebastian Peszko: Requiem for the Summer for Viola Solo (written as a response to pandemic summer 2020)
Listen | Score
Cello
- Nadia Boulanger: 3 pieces for Cello and Piano
Listen | Watch Opus Illuminate Performance | Watch Opus Illuminate Workshop | Score - Allison Loggins-Hull: Stolen
Listen | Score - Andrea Casarrubios: Songs of Isolation, “Seven”
Listen | Score - Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson: Black Folk Song Suite: IV. Perpetual Motion
Listen | Watch Opus Illuminate Workshop |Score - George Walker: Cello Sonata Mvt. 1
Listen | Score
Double Bass
- Mason Bynes: The WRECKoning
Listen | Watch Opus Illuminate Performance | Watch Opus Illuminate Workshop | Score (contact composer) - Katarzyna Brochocka: Sonata for double bass
Listen | Score
Harp
- Grace-Evangeline Mason: Glass Cathedrals
Listen | Score (contact composer) - Juhi Bansal: Trail of Stars
Listen | Watch Opus Illuminate Performance | Watch Opus Illuminate Workshop | Score (contact composer)
Guitar
- Joan Tower: Clocks
Listen | Score - Sofia Gubaidulina: Serenade
Listen | Score - Tania León: Bailarin, Paisanos Semos!
Listen | Score - Clarice Assad: 4 Miniatures
Listen: Blues | Listen: Lullaby | Listen: A Tide of Living Water | Listen: MI | Score - Franghiz Ali-Zadeh: Fantasy
Listen | Score - Annette Kruisbrink: Homenaje a Andrés Segovia
Listen | Score
Flute
- Elena Borisova: Kalevala
Listen | Score - Valerie Coleman: Danza de la Mariposa
Listen | Listen | Score - Jonathan Bailey Holland: Flute Sonata
Listen | Score - Alonso Pirio: Flute Sonata
Listen | Score (contact composer) - Valerie Coleman: Fanmi Imèn
Listen | Score | Score - Allison Loggins-Hull: Homeland
Listen | Score
Clarinet
- Quinn Mason: Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet
Listen | Score (contact composer) - Zenobia Powell Perry: Clarinet Sonata
Listen | Score - Nicky Sohn: Weather Change
Listen | Score - Dorothy Rudd Moore: Night Fantasy – Part 1
Listen | Score - Viet Cuong: Zanelle
Listen | Score
Oboe
- Roselyne Masset-Lecocq: L’Oiseau des Galaxies
Listen | Score | Score - William Grant Still: Incantation and Dance for Oboe and Piano
Listen | Score | Watch Opus Illuminate Workshop - Clara Schumann: Three Romances, Op. 22
Listen | Score - Brain Raphael Nabors: Sonata for Oboe and Piano
Listen | Score | Score
Bassoon
- Jenni Brandon: Colored Stones for solo bassoon
Listen | Score - Ulysses Kay: Sonata for Bassoon and Piano
Listen | Score - Reena Esmail: Zinfandel
Listen | Score - Libby Larson: Jazz Variations for Solo Bassoon
Listen | Score - Margi Griebling-Haigh: Sortilege for Bassoon and Piano
Listen | Score - Nancy Galbraith Sonata for Bassoon and Piano, Mvt. 1
Listen | Score
Trumpet
- Ulysses Kay: Tromba
Listen | Score - Ida Gotkovsky: Concertino
Listen (missing movement II) | Score - Whitney George: Incantations No. 2
Listen | Score - Adolphus Hailstork: Trumpet Sonata
Listen (Mvt. 1) | Listen (Mvt. 2) | Score - Dai Fujikura: inkling
Listen | Score
Trombone
- Stephanie Ann Boyd: Lullaby and Dreamsequence for Bass Trombone
Listen | Score (email the composer) - Elizabeth Raum: Fantasy for Trombone and Piano
Listen | Score | Score - David Wilborn: Concertino for Trombone and Piano
Listen | Score - Victoria Bond: The Voices of Air
Listen (Mvt. 1) : | Listen (Mvt 2) | Listen (Mvt. 3) | Listen (Mvt. 4) | Score - Dai Fujikura: deliquesce
Listen | Score
Horn
- James Naigus: Episodes
Listen | Score - Jane Vignery: Sonata for Horn and Piano Op. 7
Watch Opus Illuminate Performance | Score - Catherine Likhuta: Urban Secrets from “Vivid Dreams”
Listen | Score | Score - Dai Fujikura: Harahara
Listen | Score
Tuba
- Libby Larsen: Ursa for Tuba and wind Symphony/Piano
Listen | Score - Sanae Kanda: Eastern Wind for Tuba and Piano
Listen | Score - Barbara York: Through the Tunnel
Listen | Watch Opus Illuminate Workshop | Score - Sofia Gubaidulina: Lamento
Listen | Score - Dai Fujikura: Contour
Listen | Score
Marimba
- Beata Moon: Wood, Water, and Land
Listen | Score (email composer) - Keiko Abe: Michi
Listen | Watch Opus Illuminate Performance | Watch Opus Illuminate Workshop | Score - Chih-Yun Wang: Nuit Blanche
Listen | Score
Voice
- Margaret Bonds: Three Dream Portraits for Soprano and Piano
Listen (No.1) | Listen (No.2) | Listen (No.3) | Score - William Grant Still: Song for the Lonely (male and female voiceparts)
Listen | Listen | Watch Opus Illuminate Performance | Watch Opus Illuminate Workshop | Score - Carlos Simon: Dead Fires for Baritone and Piano
Listen | Score - Manuel Ponce: Estrellita
Listen (Opus Illuminate performance) | Score | Watch Opus Illuminate workshop
Open Instrumentation
- William Grant Still: Bayou Home
Listen | Score - William Grant Still: Song for the Lonely (vocal and instrumental versions )
Listen (bassoon and piano version) | Score
String Quartet
- Joseph Bologne: String Quartet No. 4, mvt. 1
Listen | Score - Billy Childs: String Quartet No. 3, “Unrequited”
Listen | Score | Score (contact composer) - Florence Price: String Quartet in A Minor or G Major
Score - Carlos Simon: Warmth From Other Suns
Listen | Score | Composer
Violin Duo
Piano Trio
- Clara Schumann: Piano Trio, Mvt. 3, “Romance”
Listen | Score - Rebecca Clarke: Piano Trio (1921) – Mvt. 2, Andante molto semplice
Listen | Score - Carlos Simon: Be Still and Know – Piano Trio
Listen | Score | Composer
Other Ensembles
- Clarinet Quintet | Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Clarinet Quintet
Listen | Score - Violin, Clarinet, and Marimba | Kevin Puts: Legends Will Rise
Listen | Score | Score - Viola and Cello | Paul Wiancko: American Haiku
Listen | Score - Marimba Duo | Ivan Trevino: 2+1 Marimba Solo
Listen | Score - Cello and Percussion | Andrea Casarrubios: Speechless
Listen | Score
