The artist most often mentioned when discussing
William Orbit's classical crossover albums is Wendy Carlos, whose synthesizer pieces of Bach piqued many a college student's interest during the early '70s. But on
Pieces in a Modern Style 2,
Orbit's second edition in a series that also includes 2000's original, he sounds like his closest inspiration is Tomita, the Japanese synth maestro who focused less on interpreting the classical canon than conveying the emotion and feel of these pieces, in a manner that struck classical fans as dumbing down the classics, but showed non-classical listeners a little bit of what's special about the form.
Orbit's style here is close to Tomita's, with Casio synth of the late-'70s variety burbling arpeggios in the background while synth-strings play the basic melody of the piece. ~ John Bush