Sarabande

Sarabande was recorded from September 3 to 6, 1975 at the Stadthalle in Oer-Erkenschwick near Dusseldorf, using Dieter Dierks' mobile recording studio, remixed by Martin Birch at Musicland in Munich and mastered at Kendun Recorders in Burbank. It was produced by Lord and Birch, with Tony Edwards overseeing the project. The orchestra was the Philharmonia Hungarica, conducted by Eberhard Schoener, and the band was Lord on Hammond organ, piano, clavinet and synthesizers, Andy Summers on guitar, Paul Karass (also spelled Karas) on bass, Pete York on drums and Mark Nauseef on percussion. Every movement is named after a dance form, following a baroque suite. Wikipedia dates its release to October 1976 and MusicBrainz to November 1976, and a promotional single of "Bouree" appeared in the UK on August 27, 1976.

In 2010 Lord performed the whole suite live for the first time, in Budapest on September 18, then in Sofia on October 30 and Essen on November 15, re-orchestrating "Aria" and "Caprice" and rearranging the finale. AllMusic gives the album three stars.