Italy • Switzerland • Germany • France
Music by various composers

The Places - Most of the places visited reflect a spirit of calm and tranquillity, although the glimpse of Venice dwells briefly on carnival revellers. Other scenes range from the Bavarian Chiemsee and the Swiss Engadin to the marshy tracts of the Camargue in the South of France, with its wild horses.

The Music - The music matches the reflective mood of the scenes shown. Included are movements from Mozart’s famous Eine kleine Nachmusik and Symphony No. 40, and from Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, with Pachelbel’s ingenious Canon. From Tchaikovsky comes a Mélodie, a composition that formed part of a thank-you letter to his hostess and patron, whom he was never to meet face to face, and from Debussy the popular Clair de lune. The recording ends with Fauré’s Sicilienne, familiar in so many forms and transcriptions.