Ludovico Einaudi's album becomes first classical album in charts for over 20 years

For the first time in 23 years, a classical music album has entered the top 15 UK album charts. Ludovico Einaudi's album Elements debuted at number 12 in the charts this week, beating pop artists such as Taylor Swift and Scouting For Girls.

Elements becomes the highest charting modern classical album since Henryk Gorecki's Symphony of Sorrowful Songs reached number six in 1992. Einaudi, who is the grandson of former Italian Premier Luigi Einaudi, and has trained under the avant-garde composer Luciano.

He said: "As a composer, it is a great thrill for me to have an album in the top 15 of the pop charts. I'm delighted that listeners have embraced the sound of Elements and hope they continue to enjoy my music."

The composer has created music for a various films and television shows including producing the BAFTA nominated soundtrack to Shane Meadows' This is England series. More recently, he has composed the soundtrack for the BBC one drama Doctor Foster.

Einaudi has previously enjoyed mainstream success and has sold over 1.8 million records. He is the world's most streamed classical composer and his latest album has even enjoyed airplay on Radio 1, according to Music Week.