Kreisler String Orchestra - 226

An album of modern classical works performed by The Kreisler String Orchestra, originally released on CD (FACD 226) by the Factory Classical label in 1989.

The bulk of the album is taken up with two works by Benjamin Britten, namely his Simple Symphony (1933-4) and Variations on a Theme by Frank Bridge (1937). As writer Stuart Huggett notes, the accessibility of the former served as a sensible choice to open the Factory Classical project, its four movements easy enough on the ear for non-classical consumers to engage with. Playful Pizzicato carries a similar bucolic reverie as the theme from The Archers, and Frolicsome Finale that of a 50s Hollywood Western.

The Frank Bridge variations serve to expand new listeners' understanding of the potential of a string orchestra further, running through a range of moods, from frantic to romantic. Separating the Britten works is the intense repetition of Cartoon, a 1984 piece by Serbian composer Zoran Eric, the Kreisler's most challenging but rewarding piece, while the album ends on a gentle farewell with Wir Wandelten from Brahms' Opus 86 of 1884.

1. Simple Symphony: Boisterous Bourree
2. Simple Symphony: Playful Pizzicato
3. Simple Symphony: Sentimental Sarabande
4. Simple Symphony: Frolicsome Finale
5. Cartoon
6. Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge: Introduction and Theme
7. Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge: Adagio
8. Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge: March
9. Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge: Romance
10. Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge: Aria Italiana
11. Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge: Bouree Classique
12. Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge: Weiner Waltz
13. Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge: Moto Perpetuo
14. Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge: Funeral March
15. Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge: Chant
16. Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge: Fugue and Finale
17. Wir Wanderlten