The Orchestral Tubular Bells is an orchestral version of Mike Oldfield's album Tubular Bells, arranged by David Bedford and recorded in 1974 by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring Oldfield himself playing the guitar. Excerpts from the album were featured in the 1979 NASA film, The Space Movie. It peaked at #17 on the UK Albums Chart in 1975.

In 2000 it was reissued by Virgin as a HDCD. With the exception of this record and Exposed, Oldfield's other 1970s albums have been reissued by Mercury Records.

The main difference between Tubular Bells and the orchestrated version is that Oldfield does not perform the majority of instruments himself; he only plays an overdubbed guitar. All of the melodies from Tubular Bells are the same, although transferred to different instruments. Vocal chords were not performed as vocals and there is no 'Master of Ceremonies' reading out the instruments at the end of part one.

Oldfield himself was not happy with Bedford's orchestrated interpretation of his work, which he stated in his autobiography, Changeling. In 1975 New Musical Express described the album as a logical extension of the piece.

The Orchestral Tubular Bells was performed and recorded live at the Barking Town Hall in September 1974 by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. This was shown on a British television station, BBC Two, with Steve Hillage (of Gong) playing guitar. Oldfield later added his playing to the album by overdubbing his acoustic guitar at Worcester Cathedral.

...
Wikipedia