On this pioneering album the full resources of a Symphony Orchestra are emulated with the uniquely powerful GDS and Synergy Digital Synthesizers. Predating samplers, and in many ways still superior to that now omnipresent technology, these instruments combined additive and complex FM/PM modulation, with great flexibility. Carlos developed a surprisingly realistic library of most existing acoustic instruments plus many novel hybrids and extrapolated timbres that also sound "real." The two orchestral suites on this album comprise the debut performance and introduction of the aptly named LSI Philharmonic.

This CD is a hodgepodge of various tunes from Bach to Beatles supposedly requested by listeners after "The Well-Tempered Synthesizer" was released. The result may only only be mildly interesting to the occasional listener, but to followers of electronic music, it's like rediscovering a lost gem.

Wendy Carlos released this on the Telarc label in 1992 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of her classic recording, Switched-On Bach. That recording, remarkably futuristic in 1967, is still a major milestone in the history of e-music. (It is also, alas, long since unavailable.) Carlos' mastery of the synthesizer in the '60s and her transcriptions of classical music were extremely instrumental in moving electronic music from its strict avant-garde classification to an acceptable and accessible form of musical expression. These are beautiful recordings, too. Given the composing and the performing talent, it is difficult to imagine anything else. This CD comes with a 28-page booklet full of wonderful technical, historical, and biographical data. It all comes back, however, to the music. This performance is damn near perfect. Carlos' meticulous attention to detail and her production skills serve this project well.

Wendy Carlos is an American composer and keyboardist best known for her electronic music and film scores. The same year Carlos finalized the score for A Clockwork Orange, the composer recorded a double album named Sonic Seasonings; it was a complete turn away from the majestic synthesizer soundscapes and classical inspirations that had marked the movie score. Instead, Carlos recorded large amounts of environmental passages to produce a work that cycled through the four seasons. Beginning with bird calls and a thunderstorm to mark "Spring," Carlos phrases the synthesizers only in terms of the nature sounds heard…