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 King’s College, under Sir David Willcocks. It was this period of his life that sparked his love for 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. He died before the final recording sessions for the album could take place the following September, but Martyn Brabbins stepped in to complete the recording of Davis’s completed arrangements.
King of Kings: Bach Orchestral Transcriptions
The late Sir Andrew Davis was a jovial and energetic presence in Chicago for many years as music director of Lyric Opera. This poignant tribute takes us back to his earliest days as an organist when he began a lifelong love of Bach’s music. Davis’s imaginative orchestrations of organ works show an incredibly delicate and transparent touch, and the BBC Philharmonic brings out all the vibrant colors of his arrangements.
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