Pieces in a Modern Style

Pieces in a Modern Style
Pieces in a Modern Style
Studio album by William Orbit
Released	1995
Recorded	1995
Genre	Electronic classical; classical crossover; ambient;
Length	60:10
Label	WEA; Warner Music UK (Europe); Maverick (US);
Producer	William Orbit
William Orbit chronology

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	62/100^[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[2]
Entertainment Weekly	C–^[1]
The Daily Telegraph	^[3]
Dotmusic	^[4]
The Independent	^[5]
Mojo	^[1]
NME	6/10^[6]
Q	^[1]
Rolling Stone	^[7]

Pieces in a Modern Style is the sixth album by electronic instrumentalist William Orbit. He is credited as arranger, programmer, producer, and performer of the album. It was released in 2000 by WEA and Warner Music UK in Europe and Maverick Records in the United States. Barber's "Adagio for Strings" was the first single from the album; however, the version played on radio and television was a remix by Ferry Corsten. The album is a fusion of classical music, electronica, ambient music and chill out music and contains no vocals. The "Adagio" single reached number four on the UK Singles Chart in December 1999.

The second single was "Pavane pour une Infante Défunte". This again had a different arrangement to the album version, but this time was done by Orbit himself. The single reached number 31 on the UK Singles Chart in May 2000.

The album was originally released in May 1995 on Orbit's N-Gram Recordings label, credited to Orbit alias The Electric Chamber. This version is not widely available, as it was withdrawn from sale almost immediately when Arvo Pärt objected to its inclusion of his compositions "Fratres" and "Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten". The version issued on 22 February 2000 replaced these pieces with works by Beethoven, Vivaldi, Handel and Mascagni, and reached number two on the UK Albums Chart.

A Deutsche Grammophon 2000 release Pieces In The Original Style: Bohemia (Catalogue number 463 450-2) featured the original versions of the tracks on this CD, which included contributions from Anne-Sophie Mutter, Yo-Yo Ma, Gidon Kremer and Mark Seltser; conductors included Leonard Bernstein, Giuseppe Sinopoli and Herbert von Karajan.

In 2010 a follow-up, entitled simply Pieces in a Modern Style 2, was released.

Track listing

Samuel Barber – "Adagio for Strings" – 9:34
John Cage – "In a Landscape" – 2:57
Erik Satie – "Ogive Number 1"^[8] – 6:44
Pietro Mascagni – "Cavalleria Rusticana" – 3:19
Maurice Ravel – "Pavane pour une Infante Défunte" – 6:11
Antonio Vivaldi – "L'Inverno" – 3:57
Ludwig van Beethoven – "Triple Concerto" – 5:32
Georg Friedrich Händel – "Xerxes" – 4:42
Henryk Górecki – "Piece in the Old Style 1" – 5:06
Henryk Górecki – "Piece in the Old Style 3" – 5:49
Ludwig van Beethoven – "Opus 132" – 6:14

Limited edition EP also contains:

"Adagio for Strings" (Ferry Corsten Mix) – 6:33
"Adagio for Strings" (ATB Mix) – 7:35

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2000)	Peak positions
Australian Albums (ARIA)^[9]	33
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[10]	91
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[11]	54
Scottish Albums (OCC)^[12]	4
UK Albums (OCC)^[13]	2
US Billboard 200^[14]	198
US Top Classical Albums (Billboard)^[15]	4

Year-end charts

Chart (2000)	Positions
UK Albums (OCC)^[16]	84

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Metacritic Review
^ AllMusic review
^ "The Daily Telegraph London, Greater London, England - Sat, 15 Jan 2000, Page 164". The Daily Telegraph. 15 January 2000. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
^ Kane, James (17 January 2000). "WILLIAM ORBIT - PIECES IN A MODERN STYLE (WARNER)". Dotmusic. Archived from the original on 3 March 2000. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
^ Perry, Tim (15 January 2000). "The Independent 2000 Album Reviews". The Independent. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
^ Cigarettes, Johnny (4 March 2000). "William Orbit - Pieces In A Modern Style (WEA)". NME. Archived from the original on 4 March 2000. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
^ Zacharek, Stephanie. "Album Review: William Orbit - Pieces in a Modern Style". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2 October 2007. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
^ Although titled "Ogive Number 1", this track is actually an arrangement of the second of Satie's four Ogives. Compare, for example, Orbit's arrangement with either the published sheet music or the midi files linked from Ogive (music).
^ "Australiancharts.com – William Ørbit – Pieces in a Modern Style". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
^ "Dutchcharts.nl – William Ørbit – Pieces in a Modern Style" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
^ "Offiziellecharts.de – William Ørbit – Pieces in a Modern Style" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
^ "William Orbit Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
^ "William Orbit Chart History (Top Classical Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
^ "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2000". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 August 2020.

[MC-1] Metacritic Review

[2] AllMusic review

[3] "The Daily Telegraph London, Greater London, England - Sat, 15 Jan 2000, Page 164". The Daily Telegraph. 15 January 2000. Retrieved 20 June 2025.

[4] Kane, James (17 January 2000). "WILLIAM ORBIT - PIECES IN A MODERN STYLE (WARNER)". Dotmusic. Archived from the original on 3 March 2000. Retrieved 20 June 2025.

[5] Perry, Tim (15 January 2000). "The Independent 2000 Album Reviews". The Independent. Retrieved 20 June 2025.

[6] Cigarettes, Johnny (4 March 2000). "William Orbit - Pieces In A Modern Style (WEA)". NME. Archived from the original on 4 March 2000. Retrieved 20 June 2025.

[7] Zacharek, Stephanie. "Album Review: William Orbit - Pieces in a Modern Style". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2 October 2007. Retrieved 28 December 2015.

[8] Although titled "Ogive Number 1", this track is actually an arrangement of the second of Satie's four Ogives. Compare, for example, Orbit's arrangement with either the published sheet music or the midi files linked from Ogive (music).

[ac_Australia_William_Ørbit-9] "Australiancharts.com – William Ørbit – Pieces in a Modern Style". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 December 2018.

[ac_Netherlands_William_Ørbit-10] "Dutchcharts.nl – William Ørbit – Pieces in a Modern Style" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 December 2018.

[ac_Germany_William_Ørbit-11] "Offiziellecharts.de – William Ørbit – Pieces in a Modern Style" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 6 December 2018.

[ac_Scotland_-12] "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 July 2025.

[ac_UK2_William_Orbit-13] "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 July 2025.

[ac_Billboard200_William_Orbit-14] "William Orbit Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.

[ac_BillboardClassical_William_Orbit-15] "William Orbit Chart History (Top Classical Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 19 July 2025.

[16] "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2000". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 August 2020.

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v t e William Orbit
Studio albums	Orbit Strange Cargo Strange Cargo 2 Strange Cargo III Strange Cargo Hinterland Pieces in a Modern Style Hello Waveforms My Oracle Lives Uptown Pieces in a Modern Style 2
Compilation albums	The Best of Strange Cargos
Singles	"Barber's Adagio for Strings" "Ravel's Pavane Pour Une Infante Défunte" "Feel Good Time" (Pink featuring William Orbit)
Related articles	Bassomatic Guerilla Records Torch Song
Related categories	Albums Albums produced Song recordings produced Songs written

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