New. King of Kings - JS Bach Orchestral Transcriptions
BBC Philharmonic, Sir Andrew Davis, Martyn Brabbins
Awards:
-
Presto Recording of the Week, 1st August 2025
Writing about his arrangement of Messiah, Davis commented that "everything I have done instrumentally stems from the enormous respect, even awe, which I feel towards this supreme masterpiece",...
New. King of Kings - JS Bach Orchestral Transcriptions
BBC Philharmonic, Sir Andrew Davis, Martyn Brabbins
Purchase product
Awards:
-
Presto Recording of the Week, 1st August 2025
Writing about his arrangement of Messiah, Davis commented that "everything I have done instrumentally stems from the enormous respect, even awe, which I feel towards this supreme masterpiece",...
About
Sir Andrew Davis was a talented keyboard player as a child and teenager, and after study with Peter Hurford, at St Albans, he spent four years at the University of Cambridge as organ scholar at Kings College, under Sir David Willcocks. It was this period of his life that sparked his love for and appreciation of the organ works of J.S. Bach, which remained a lifelong passion. Sir Andrew made all the transcriptions on this album for the BBC Philharmonic, and four of them were recorded in November 2023. Sadly, Sir Andrew died before the final recording sessions for the album could take place (September 2024): we are immensely grateful that he completed the arrangements, and very thankful to Martyn Brabbins for completing the recording with the sense of style, love, and affection that Sir Andrew would have admired.
Contents and tracklist
Spotlight on this release
Awards and reviews
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Presto Recording of the Week1st August 2025
1st August 2025
Writing about his arrangement of Messiah, Davis commented that "everything I have done instrumentally stems from the enormous respect, even awe, which I feel towards this supreme masterpiece", and it's abundantly clear that the same level of appreciation and esteem exists for these great organ works by Bach. The key principle behind all of Davis's choices lies in illuminating the majesty of Bach's music, and indeed the entire album makes for a fitting tribute to not only a fine conductor but also a master orchestrator.
24th July 2025
Modest these pieces may be, but they are a touching memorial to a fine, much missed conductor.