The English string orchestra tradition goes back a long way–at least to Purcell and Handel, and even farther if you count the viol music of Byrd and his contemporaries. This very fine disc from Naxos celebrates some of this genre’s more notable 20th century incarnations. English composer John Rutter has made a very successful career writing accessible, stylish, tuneful works most of which are for chorus with sacred texts. But he also has written many secular works, from folksong arrangements for voices to pieces such as this little-known instrumental Suite from 1973, itself a very adept setting of four folksongs that skillfully acknowledges the string orchestra styles of 20th century composers such as Butterworth, Bridge, and Britten while retaining the characteristic Rutter playfulness and signature rhythmic energy. The disc continues with Charles Wilfrid Orr’s charming little recollection, A Cotswold Hill Tune, which sounds exactly as you would think–gentle, nostalgic, with a friendly lilt. And so it goes. The whole program is filled with light-hearted, slightly sentimental, warmly colored, eminently accessible works in a medium that’s hard to resist. String orchestras just sound so right, as if formed by some heavenly dispensation; and the English seem to have understood the medium–or just took to it–better than most national groups. So here we have a delightful program that should appeal to almost anyone who enjoys heart-warming music that just may conjure memories of childhood, of happy summer nights, or of any well-loved time long gone. David Lloyd-Jones and his Royal Ballet Sinfonia–“the only regularly contracted ballet orchestra in Britain”–deliver articulate, technically competent, and musically satisfying performances, captured in spacious, full-bodied sound.
