Ray Conniff's fourth studio album, Concert in Rhythm, delved into the field of "serious" music to create pop-oriented adaptations of classical compositions. The idea, judging from Conniff's statements over the years, was not to bring greater sophistication to pop music, but to make the classics more palatable to a lay audience. The roughly contemporaneous 101 Strings album, Back Beat Symphony, made a similar attempt but with more overt rock elements, whereas Conniff kept his rhythm section at a subtle level and achieved perhaps his purest blend of voices and instruments, particularly on "Theme From Swan Lake Ballet." Tchaikovsky is a favorite source of material for this album, but Conniff also leans on Rachmaninoff and popular adaptations of classical pieces, such as "The Lamp Is Low," a 1939 hit for Tommy Dorsey based on Ravel's "Pavanne for a Dead Princess." Conniff cheekily inserts his "Theme From Ray Conniff Suite" amid the classics, and closes with Schubert's "Serenade," bringing up the drums and chorus to a more typical level. The Top Ten success of Concert in Rhythm prompted a sequel, 1960's Concert in Rhythm, Vol. 2.
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