This orchestral suite (Enoch plate 1733) is drawn from Chaminade’s ballet Callirhoë.
I. Prélude (from Callirhoë No. 1 Prelude)
II. Pas du Voile (from Callirhoë No.5 Pas des Écharpes (Scarf Dance) and Callirhoë No.6 Pas du Voile)
III. Scherzettino (from Callirhoë No. 10 Scherzetto with an introductory 32 measures)
IV. Pas des Cymbales (Despite frequent claims that Op. 36 Pas des Cymbales was extracted from Callirhoë, no corresponding movement appears in the published piano score of the ballet. The connection may have been inferred by later bibliographers from the title of the orchestral Suite d’orchestre, Callirhoë, rather than from contemporary documentary evidence.)

The complete suite was premiered on November 23 and 30, 1890 at the Concerts Colonne in Paris. It was warmly received and even entered the bandstand repertoire. Audiences were especially charmed by the third movement, Scherzettino, which was encored at its premiere. While some critics noted its resemblance to Saint-Saëns’s Le Rouet d’Omphale, Callirhoë was widely recognized as a testament to Chaminade’s artistry. However, some of the praise was tinged with the gender biases of the era, as illustrated by a review in the Parisian periodical Gil Blas: “The ideas have a feminine side that contrasts delightfully with the composition, which shows a masculine sureness of hand.”

In 1903, Georges Auvray orchestrated some of the pieces from Callirhoë for orchestra (Enoch plate 5252) called Suite d’orchestre.
I. Introduction and Danse Orientale (No. 19 Scène Pastorale + No. 15 Danse Orientale)
II. Pas des echarpes (No. 5 Pas des echarpes + No. 6 Pas du Voile)
III. Danse de Callirhoë (No. 14 Variation)
IV. Andante (No. 12 Andante)
V. Valse (No. 16 Le Corps de Ballet)