A new album has paired up some of the world’s biggest DJs with some of the best-known pieces of classical music. Re:works makes use of the Decca Classical catalogue, and features remixes by Kate Simko, Mr Scruff, Henrik Schwarz, Starkey, Fort Romeau, Patrice Bamuel and Martin Buttrich.
Simko’s remix of Schubert was recently played on BBC Radio 1 by legendary DJ Pete Tong, while clubs across Europe have already featured Re:works tracks this summer. It continues a trend of blending classical and contemporary that events like the Electric Proms have pushed for a number of years.
Featured composers on the album include Bach, Beethoven, Rachmaninov, Satie and Reich. The new interpretations range from ones that are easily recognisable to totally offbeat creations that take the music to a totally new place. An example of the latter is Mr Scruff’s 13-minute version of Reich’s Six Pianos, described by Decca as ‘gleefully idiosyncratic,’ while Simko takes a more straight approach to Schubert’s Schwanengesang.
Re:works is out on 15 July on Decca Records. An EP that features some of the album tracks was released on 17 June.