In the 1990s, Donald Fraser scored a hit with his orchestral arrangement of Marin Marais' baroque classic The Bells of Genevieve which reached the Top 5 of Billboard's Classical Chart and remains a radio evergreen to this day. Numerous commissions for arrangements followed for musicians such as The King's Singers, Yehudi Menuhim and the English Chamber Orchestra. In 2016, AVIE released Don's large-scale orchestration of Edward Elgar's Piano Quintet and choral version of Sea Pictures, which charted in the Top 10 of the UK Specialist Classical Chart. Don now returns to the art of arranging smaller scale, classic works by John Dowland, Henry Purcell, Antonio Vivaldi and others, including new versions of his own "Amen" from A Christmas Symphony which was written for and premiered by soprano Jessye Norman, a new remix of The Bells of St. Genevieve and orchestrations of four Elgar art songs that evoke the album's title, Songs for Strings.

Tracklist:

The Queen’s Hall (Arr. For String Orchestra By Donald Fraser)
Time Stands Still (Arr. For String Orchestra By Donald Fraser)
Ground In C Minor, Zd. 221 (Arr. For String Orchestra By Donald Fraser)
Crucifixus (Arr. For String Orchestra By Donald Fraser)
6 Fugues: V. Fugue In G Minor (Arr. For String Orchestra By Donald Fraser)
Concerto For 2 Cellos In G Minor, Rv 531: II. Largo (Arr. For String Orchestra By Donald Fraser)
Lord Lovat’s Lament (Arr. For String Orchestra By Donald Fraser)
Nuage Gris, S. 199 (Arr. For String Orchestra By Donald Fraser)
Canon (Arr. For String Orchestra By Donald Fraser)
À La Manière De Borodine, M. 63/1 (Arr. For String Orchestra By Donald Fraser)
Pleading, Op. 48 (Arr. For String Orchestra By Donald Fraser)
A Child Asleep (Arr. For String Orchestra By Donald Fraser)
Queen Mary’s Lute Song (Arr. For String Orchestra By Donald Fraser)
Epilogue For Strings
Sonnerie (The Bells Of St. Genevieve) (Arr. For String Orchestra And Electronics By Donald Fraser)

UPC: 822252239126
Label: Avie
Release Date: 9.7.18
Format: CD

Elgar / Ravel - Songs for Strings (CD)