Bilse, Benjamin: Waltzes Marches & Polkas (CPO Audio CD)

WDR Rundfunkorchester Köln
dir: Christian Simonis

Benjamin Bilse (1816-1902) was famed for being a conductor of the Bilse Orchestra in Berlin, before moving onto the Berlin Philharmonic. He was also a very gifted composer and composed a selection of rousing marches, sprightly polkas, and yearning waltzes, a selection of which are featured on this disc.

He was on very close terms with the Prussian royal family and some of his martial titles certainly owed their composition to these ties. Works such as the Storm March-Galop and Bombs and Grenades show him to be the equal of the Viennese Waltz King Johann Strauss, his Prussian counterpart.