Joachim Brügge’s love for the string orchestra lies deep in his heart. Famous models such as Dvořák, Grieg, and Tchaikovsky have influenced his compositions for strings, but Brügge’s special affinity is for American masters – and first and foremost for Samuel Barber.

Barber’s Adagio became an international hit, and here the Salzburg Chamber Soloists led by the marvelous violinist Lavard Skou-Larsen show that Brügge’s music operates on the same high level.

Along with the American aspects, Brügge also offers homage to Bach and Brahms. His “Variations on B-A-C-H” is a bow to the grand old master of counterpoint, and the cycle with the fugue “Hommage à BACH” ends very classically.

On this CD, Brügge shows that even the jazzy side of American music is not foreign to him. “Take Five” appears in what is an entirely new tonal guise, and in “They Long To Be Close To You” he turns to yet another hit, which in the exemplary performance by the Salzburg Chamber Soloists seems to have originally been written for strings. Produced in the finest SACD technique, the music breathes in three-dimensional sound.