Orchid Classics' 2020 release, Not Now, Bernard and Other Stories, is a collection of musical presentations of three children's books, a celebrated poem, and a pair of curiosities that defy easy categorization. Narrated by actor and comedian Alexander Armstrong, and performed by Tom Hammond and the Orchestra of the Swan, the selections abound with lively playing and vivid scene painting, which in most cases should entertain not only young children but the entire family. The settings of the children's books -- Not Now, Bernard and Isabel's Noisy Tummy by David McKee, along with The Knight Who Took All Day by James Mayhew -- feature tuneful scores by Bernard Hughes, a composer with concert works and film scores to his credit, who has a special knack for illustrating these stories with humor in an eclectic array of styles. John Ireland's sentimental chamber treatment of Edgar Allan Poe's Annabel Lee introduces a poignant mood to this otherwise high-spirited album, and Judith Weir's Thread!, in which the narration is a translation of the Latin text woven along one edge of the Bayeux Tapestry, depicts the Norman conquest of England with a variety of strange yet evocative effects played by an octet. The sole purely instrumental piece, Malcolm Arnold's Toy Symphony, Op. 62, pits a small chamber group against an assortment of noisemakers, with results reminiscent of Leopold Mozart's Toy Symphony. A loosely programmed album with no heavy classics, Not Now, Bernard is delightful fare for kids and fans of British light music. ~ Blair Sanderson, Rovi

1		Part 1
2		Part 2
3		I. Allegro
4		II. Allegretto
5		III. Vivace
6		Part 1
7		Part 2
8		Part 3
9		Annabel Lee
10		Part 1
11		Part 2
12		Part I
13		Part II
14		Part III

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