As Lord wrote in the liner notes, on this classical-rock fusion album, recorded in Deep Purple's dying days, "The theme behind the music on this album is that of a baroque dance suite; a form of music which was brought to its highest level by Bach.
The title of each track is the name of a dance used in one of these dance suites, and I have tried to use the same tempo and feel as an original Sarabande, Gigue etc." The wholly instrumental work includes both some purely orchestral/symphonic passages and some fusiony rock chunks, as well as parts where the two forms merge to some extent.
Among the rock section, Lord's keyboards are supported by ex-Spencer Davis Group drummer Pete York and a pre-Police Andy Summers on guitar.
German composer and conductor Eberhard Schoener conducts the Philharmonica Hungarica Orchestra.
The 1999 CD reissue (Purple 305) has extensive historical liner notes.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FantasiaJon Lord | Jon Lord | Play | 03:32 | 8 MB | 16 MB |
| 2 | AriaJon Lord | Jon Lord | Play | 03:48 | 8 MB | 13 MB |
| 3 | GigueJon Lord | Jon Lord | Play | 11:10 | 25 MB | 58 MB |
| 4 | BoureeJon Lord | Jon Lord | Play | 11:07 | 25 MB | 51 MB |
| 5 | PavaneJon Lord | Jon Lord | Play | 07:45 | 17 MB | 27 MB |
| 6 | Sarabande | Jon Lord | Play | 07:25 | 16 MB | 38 MB |
| 44 mins | 102 MB | |||||
| 44 mins | 205 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin Birch | Engineer, Producer, Remixing |
| 2 | Michael Bryan | Illustrations |
| 3 | Mike Bryan | Illustrations |
| 4 | Vince Budd | Liner Notes, Sleeve Notes |
| 5 | Fin Costello | Cover Photo, Photography |
| 6 | Tony Edwards | Management, Production Overseer |
| 7 | Paul Karas | Bass |
| 8 | Kosh | Original Sleeve Design |
| 9 | Jon Lord | Arp Odyssey, Arp Pro Soloist, Clavinet, Composer, Keyboards, Organ, Organ (Hammond), Piano, Piano (Grand), Primary Artist, Producer, Score, Synthesizer, Synthesizer Strings |
| 10 | Hans Menzel | Assistant Engineer |
| 11 | Mark Nauseef | Bongos, Claves, Congas, Crotale, Cymbals, Drums, Flexatones, Gourd, Guiro, Maracas, Percussion, Sleigh Bells, Tambourine, Timbales, Wood Block |
| 12 | Mike Philips | Technical Advisor |
| 13 | Simon Robinson | Design, Research |
| 14 | Eberhard Schoener | Conductor |
| 15 | Andy Sommers | Guitar |
| 16 | Andy Summers | Guitar |
| 17 | Stuart Wicks | Personal Assistant |
| 18 | Pete York | Drums, Gong, Shaker, Sleigh Bells |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |