When my
record company invited me to record this
album of 16 'Classic' pieces of music to
celebrate the tenth anniversary of my first
release in the U.K. (Song for Adeline), my
producer and I needed to clarify the word 'Classic'
before making our selection. To my delight,
the English dictionary defines the word as 'recognised
excellence' which of course allowed me to
include modern composers, such as Max
Steiner, Paul Williams, Harold Arlen etc,
thus nearly half of this album which
includes beautifully structured contemporary
music featured in films and television, all
of which are classics in their own right.
I saw a video recording of a TV show of
Nigel Kennedy playing a rock version of
Spring, from Vivaldi's Four Seasons which
inspired the medley of the four seasons on
the last track of this album. Transposing a
work written for violin did at first pose
some questions, but Antonio Vivaldi, like
his contemporary J S Bach were among the
first 17th and 18th century composers to
introduce dynamic vitality and rhythm into
their compositions, making therefore the
transposition possible; I'm convinced that,
had there been today's percussion
instruments in their day, then Vivaldi and J
S Bach most certainly would have used them!
Here then are sixteen beautiful melodies
supported by the prestigious and excellent
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and I hope you will
enjoy them as much as I have in recording
them.
Richard Clayderman, 1990
