This collection of works for string orchestra combines two of Britten's first masterpieces, Simple Symphony and the Frank Bridge Variations, with the even earlier Elegy for Strings - recorded here for the first time - and Two Portraits, composed between the ages of 14-16. Directed by the Norwegian violinist Terje Tonnesen, the Swedish string ensemble Camerata Nordica performs this program with an engaging directness and striking virtuosity - qualities which no doubt contributed to the team being entrusted by the Britten-Pears Foundation with making the world premiere recording of the Elegy, as well as giving it's first public performance during the 2013 BBC Proms.