The MARK’S VINTAGE VINYL page features something from Mark’s collection of recordings from over the years. Most of it is on vinyl – hence the name – though there will be a few entries from his CDs (remember those?).
Bach Brandenburg Concertos, by Württemberg Chamber Orchestra
- Released in 1977 by Murray Hill Records, a discount record label that reissued earlier released music from other labels.
- I own around 100 or so classic music albums. Maybe 30 or so were inherited from my father – my first listen to classical music was from his collection of random music. I just loved the big sound that came from orchestras.
- In the early-70s, I got hooked on synthesizer music (prog rock from Yes, Pink Floyd, Emerson Lake & Palmer, etc). I then discovered that there was this innovative record released in 1968 called Switched-On Bach, by Walter Carlos (now known as Wendy Carlos – she took her earnings from her successful electronic music career and became a woman). Switched-On Bach brought synthesizer music to the masses – it sold over a million copies, reaching #10 on the Billboard Album chart, and it won two Grammy awards.
- By 1977, I was ready to start buying classical music albums, and my favorite piece on Switched-On Bach was Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major. So…I found this inexpensive album of all of his Brandenburg Concertos, and I bought it – the first classical album that I ever purchased.
- While not from this release, I found a clip on YouTube of the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra with the same conductor, Jörg Faerber performing the Concerto No. 3 – here’s the first movement. Ahhh….Bach. The master of Baroque music!