Composer and synthesist Alex Wurman has released a new album, The Classical Synthesizer, that’s a rare treat for fans of the ‘switched on’ category of electronic realizations of classical music.

Wurman is best known for his soundtracks for films like Anchorman, March of the Penguins & Talladega Nights & the TV Series Patriot.

But he’s also the son of composer Hans Wurman, who released a series of ‘switched on’ or ‘classitronica’ type albums in the late ’60s and early ’70s. The Classical Synthesizer is a tribute to his father and his father’s synth work.

The Classical Synthesizer features fairly ‘straight’ electronic realizations of classical works. While the arrangements are in the tradition of composer/synthesists like Wendy Carlos, Tomita & Hans Wurman, they’re less focused on the novelty of synth sounds than the original generation of ‘switched on’ albums, and more focused on bringing electronic sounds into the classical tradition.

Points of comparison are the music of the Will Gregory Moog Ensemble and Craig Leon’s Bach To Moog. So you won’t hear any synthesized whistling, but more of an emphasis on subtle orchestration and expressive performance.

Here’s what Alex Wurman has to say about the new album:

“This album has been a long time in the making, mostly because it’s a tribute album to my father, Hans Wurman. His pioneering of the Moog Modular System synthesizer (serial number two), left an indelible mark on my musical career. The sound of his albums, and the study of classical music permeated my style as a film composer (March of the Penguins, Anchorman), and as artist in general.

This album was created with vintage synthesizers only. No samples. I read and played every line of music on the orchestral scores one at a time, paying close attention to dynamics and the original intent of the composer. This required inventive solutions to performance parameters to achieve the detail. On occasion, my dear friend Katherine Liner singing beautifully, and my real acoustic piano gave extra depth to the sound. This was a practice also used by my father.

Creating this album was certainly a labor of love, and the experience of making it was extremely pleasurable. I hope you enjoy!”

You can preview Alex Wurman’s The Classical Synthesizer below. It’s available via Bandcamp: