Working Classical might just be the perfect outlet for the composing skills of Sir Paul McCartney. Here, the former Beatles (and, let's not forget, Wings) member scales things down from his previous classical-music endeavours--the overweight works Liverpool Oratorio and Standing Stone. In the hands of the Loma Mar Quartet chamber group and the London Symphony Orchestra, McCartney's shorter compositions sound all the more intimate (and effective). Album opener "Junk" is a simple waltz dating from the composer's days with the Fab Four, performed here by the Quartet with short-but-sweet results. "A Leaf" is another waltz motif, this one performed with a full orchestra. McCartney pop favourites "Warm and Beautiful", "Somedays", "She's My Baby", and "The Lovely Linda" all get chamber-music treatments that bring out their compositional beauty. And, while influences seem to range from Jan&畭cute;cek to Morricone, there's no doubting that McCartney knows how to write a convincing ditty--pop or otherwise. --Jason Verlinde