The Paulus-Orchester Stuttgart hosts many of its recordings for free downloading, including significant, complete works by Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, and more.

Mendelssohn is considered the greatest child prodigy after Mozart, and his “Scottish” symphony (finished in 1842) is regarded as one of his most important works. Unlike most composers of his day writing a Scottish work, he wrote the piece not based on traditional Scottish folk songs, but on how his time in Scotland made him feel. His 5th Symphony (”Reformation”) honors the 300th anniversary of the Reformation, and concludes with Luther’s own “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.” Like Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s St. Paul (1836) is an oratorio, an ensemble work for orchestra, vocal soloists, and chorus - an opera without acting or scenery. Like Mendelssohn’s more famous oratorio, Elijah (1846), St. Paul is heavily influenced by Bach but is much larger and fuller than anything Bach could conceive in his day.

Mozart’s 10th Piano Concerto is here adapted for orchestra and is a typically cheerful, melodic Mozart work.

Poulenc’s Gloria is his religious choral work in the vein of his predecessors but perhaps more lighthearted, and is a summary of all his techniques gained up to that time. Unfortunately, this recording suffers from some distortion during the louder parts.

Reger’s Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Mozart is an embodiment of his “absolute” music in the tradition of Bach through Beethoven.

Tchaikovsky’s Suite #4 in A Major certainly less memorable than the melodies of The Nutcracker, but still a catchy, quick-moving piece.

The files (MP3s of varying bitrates) are messily presented for download on hidden pages at the performer’s German website, but I’ve linked directly to them below.

Update:: The web site for the Paulus-Orchester Stuttgart has been redesigned. The above mentioned music MP3 are No longer available