Concerto for Group and Orchestra

The Concerto for Group and Orchestra is a concerto composed by Jon Lord, with lyrics written by Ian Gillan. It was first performed by Deep Purple and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Arnold on 24 September 1969 and released on vinyl in December 1969. After the score was lost in 1970, it was performed again in 1999 with a recreated score. The 1969 performance was the first ever combination of rock music and a complete orchestra and paved the way for other rock/orchestra performances such as Metallica's S&M concert and Roger Waters's The Wall – Live in Berlin performance.

Musical Form

The Concerto for Group and Orchestra displays some characteristics of the concerto grosso, sinfonia concertante, and concerto for orchestra genres:

First movement (Moderato – Allegro): After an elaborate orchestral introduction the Group and the Orchestra work as separate blocks, trying to get dominance over the main theme – this opposition of a group of soloists against an orchestra is quite "concerto grosso" style.
Second movement (Andante), with lyrics sung by Ian Gillan: Here the group integrates more with the sound of the orchestra while still clearly on top of the orchestral texture, giving a sinfonia concertante look and feel.
Third movement (Vivace – Presto): Apart from Ian Paice's drum solo, the music is so tightly knit that the distinction between the group and the orchestra is almost lifted: in a way the group becomes part of an extended orchestra, with one elaborate "solo" passage, by an instrument that is no soloist throughout the movement, giving a concerto touch: this is more or less what is understood by the Concerto for Orchestra genre.

Original 1969 Royal Albert Hall Performance

Performance

The piece was first performed and recorded on 24 September 1969 in the Royal Albert Hall, London, by:

Deep Purple
- Jon Lord: keyboards
- Ritchie Blackmore: guitar
- Ian Gillan: vocals
- Roger Glover: bass
- Ian Paice: drums
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Malcolm Arnold

The programme consisted of:

No.	Title	Performer(s)	Length
1.	"Symphony No. 6, Op. 95" (Malcolm Arnold) 1st Movement: Energico (9:19) 2nd Movement: Lento (8:52) 3rd Movement: Con Fuoco (7:02)	The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra	25:13
2.	"Hush" (Joe South)	Deep Purple	4:42
3.	"Wring That Neck" (Ritchie Blackmore, Nick Simper, Jon Lord, Ian Paice)	Deep Purple	13:23
4.	"Child in Time" (Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Lord, Paice)	Deep Purple	12:06
5.	"Concerto for Group and Orchestra" (Jon Lord, with lyrics by Ian Gillan) First Movement: Moderato-Allegro (19:23) Second Movement: Andante (19:11) Third Movement: Vivace-Presto (13:09)	Deep Purple with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra	51:43
6.	"Parts of the Concerto's "Third Movement" (Given as an encore.)		5:53

Releases

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[1]

The Concerto for Group and Orchestra was first released on vinyl in December 1969 in the United States (Tetragrammaton) and in January 1970 in the United Kingdom (Harvest). These releases contained only the "Concerto", with the second movement broken in two-halves. Copies of the original US editions are rare as Tetragrammaton went bankrupt while the album was still being issued. In the following year, the Concerto became the only Tetragrammaton release to be reissued by Warner Bros., Deep Purple's new US label.
On 4 April 1970, the Concerto was shown on British television as The Best of Both Worlds.
The 1990s saw a CD release including the songs "Wring That Neck" and "Child in Time".
In 2002 EMI released special edition DVD-A, SACD and 2-CD sets of Concerto for Group and Orchestra, featuring the entire program of music played that night.
In 2003, a video recording of this concert was released on DVD. However, four and a half minutes of the 1st Movement are missing in this video, as it was taken straight from the BBC's 4 April 1970 broadcast of the event (see above). The edit was in the original BBC broadcast.

1970 Los Angeles performance

The Concerto was performed one more time, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Lawrence Foster at the Hollywood Bowl on 25 August 1970, after which the score was lost.

Malcolm Arnold's views

In an interview for hospital radio in Huddersfield in 1970, shortly after the Royal Albert Hall performance, Arnold provided a positive take on the experience.

"What strikes me about Deep Purple is their tremendous musical integrity. This is so refreshing in a commercial world. I loved working with them. They're thorough musicians. They're not trying to prove anything. They just like to play now and again with a Symphony Orchestra. They're not trying to prove any deep philosophical problem. They just want to write music that's enjoyable.^[2]

Ritchie Blackmore's views

In a 1979 interview with Sounds magazine,^[3] Blackmore said:

"I was not into classical music then. I was very very moody and just wanted to play very very loudly and jump around a lot. I couldn't believe we were playing with orchestras. We kept getting lumbered playing with them. We started off in '68- this is my opinion- as a relatively competent band with a lot to say but saying it all at the same time as each other.

"in '69 we went into the classical stuff because it was Jon Lord's big thing to write a concerto for group and orchestra. He was very sincere. But I didn't like playing it or respect the fact that we were doing it. The orchestra was very condescending towards us, and I didn't like playing with them, so it was one big calamity onstage. But Jon was happy with it and management was happy with it because we had a press angle, which I resented very much.

"In 1970 I said, 'right, we're going to make a rock and roll LP. If this doesn't succeed I'll play in orchestras for the rest of my life', because Jon wasn't too into hard rock. Luckily it took off, so I didn't have to play with orchestras any more.

"I love orchestras, chamber music—unaccompanied violin is my favourite. But I respected them too much, and we just weren't in the same calibre. I'd been playing 15 years at the time, and stuck next to some dedicated violinist who's been playing for 50 years just to give an angle to the press—it's insulting. That's why it started and ended very abruptly."

1999 Royal Albert Hall performances

Performance

On 25 and 26 September 1999, thirty years after its initial performance, the Concerto was again performed in front of a live audience in the Royal Albert Hall. To make this performance possible, a new score was created by Marco de Goeij by listening to the recording and watching the video of the 1969 performance.

Performers were:

Deep Purple:
- Jon Lord: organ
- Steve Morse: guitar
- Ian Gillan: vocals
- Roger Glover: bass
- Ian Paice: drums

Guest vocalists:

The Steve Morse Band
- Dave LaRue: bass
- Van Romaine: drums

The Kick Horns
- Simon Clarke: alto and baritone saxophones, flute
- Roddy Lorimer: trumpet and flugelhorn
- Tim Sanders: tenor and soprano saxophones

The London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Paul Mann

The programme consisted of:

Four Scottish Dances (Malcolm Arnold), performed by the London Symphony Orchestra
"Pictured Within", performed by Jon Lord and Miller Anderson
"Wait A While", performed by Jon Lord and Sam Brown
"Sitting in a Dream", performed by Roger Glover and Ronnie James Dio
"Love Is All", performed by Roger Glover and Ronnie James Dio
"Via Miami", performed by Ian Gillan
"That's Why God Is Singing the Blues", performed by Ian Gillan
"Night Meets Light", performed by The Steve Morse Band
"Take It off the Top", performed by The Steve Morse Band
"Wring That Neck", performed by Ian Paice & The Kick Horns
Concerto for Group and Orchestra (Jon Lord, with lyrics by Ian Gillan), performed by Deep Purple and The London Symphony Orchestra
1. "First Movement: Moderato-Allegro" (19:23)
2. "Second Movement: Andante" (19:11)
3. "Third Movement: Vivace-Presto" (13:09)
"Ted the Mechanic", performed by Deep Purple and The London Symphony Orchestra
"Watching the Sky", performed by Deep Purple and The London Symphony Orchestra
"Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming", performed by Deep Purple and The London Symphony Orchestra
"Pictures Of Home", performed by Deep Purple and The London Symphony Orchestra
"Smoke on the Water", performed by the evening's entire ensemble

Releases

The recording of the concert was released on a double CD as Live at the Royal Albert Hall. A cut recording of the performance was also released on DVD, entitled In Concert with the London Symphony Orchestra.

2000–2001 Tour

Encouraged by the success of the 1999 performances, Deep Purple took the Concerto on tour, first performing it in South America with local orchestras, then in Europe with the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, in Japan with the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, all conducted by Paul Mann.

40th Anniversary Performance

On the 24th of September 2009 John Lord joined the RTÉ Concerto Orchestra in the National Concert Hall, Dublin, Ireland to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first performance of Concerto for Group and Orchestra.^[4]^[5] Also performed, were pieces from Jon Lord’s solo career and a number of Deep Purple songs including an orchestral version of Child In Time.^[4]

Further Performances

The score of the concerto having been recreated, groups and orchestras across the world were free to perform it:

Dates	Venue	Performers
January 2003 (3 performances)	Sydney Opera House, Australia for the Sydney Festival	George and The Sydney Symphony Orchestra
March 2003 (2 performances)	Perth, Australia	Jon Lord, George and The Western Australian Symphony Orchestra
July 2006	Henley Festival, England
7 October 2007	Malcolm Arnold Festival, Northampton, England	Jon Lord and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
7 October 2007	This festival in memory of the late Malcolm Arnold also included Arnold's Symphony No. 6 and Lord's Masque, a work dedicated to Arnold.
27–29 March 2008 (3 performances)	Adelaide, Australia	Jon Lord and The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
11–12 March 2009 (2 performances)	Bratislava, Slovakia	Jon Lord and The Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
2 May 2009	São Paulo, Brazil	Jon Lord and Orquestra Sinfônica Municipal de São Paulo
1 September 2009	Plovdiv, Bulgaria	Jon Lord with singers Doogie White and Kasia Łaska, Darin Vasilev (guitar), Ivaylo Zvezdomirov (bass), Venko Poromanski (drums) and Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Nayden Todorov
5 November 2009	Bucharest, Romania	Jon Lord and Rousse Orchestra
16 May 2010	Newark, Delaware, United States	Brian Stone and the University of Delaware Symphony Orchestra
16 June 2010	Liverpool, United Kingdom	Jon Lord and The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
28 April 2011	Palermo, Italy	Jon Lord and The Vincenzo Bellini Symphony Orchestra
6 June 2011	Mulhouse, France	Jon Lord with singers Steve Balsamo, Kasia Łaska and Patrick Rondat (guitar), Patrice Guers (bass), Steve White (drums) and the Orchestre Symphonique de Mulhouse. Musical direction by Gwennolé Rufet.

2012 studio version

In October 2012, a studio version of the Concerto for Group and Orchestra was released. The recording features the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Paul Mann. The soloists are Jon Lord (organ), Darin Vasilev (guitar in the 1st movement), Joe Bonamassa (guitar in the 2nd movement), Steve Morse (guitar in the 3rd movement), Steve Balsamo, Kasia Łaska, and Bruce Dickinson (vocals), Brett Morgan (drums), and Guy Pratt (bass). The orchestral parts were recorded at the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool on 1 and 2 June 2011. The band parts were recorded in August and October 2011 and also on May 2012. The album was mixed at Abbey Road Studios in late May 2012. According to Paul Mann, Jon Lord heard the final master of the recording a few days before his death on 16 July 2012.

Charts

Original album (1969)

Year	Chart	Position
1970	Germany	22
1970	United Kingdom	26

Reunion performance (1999)

Year	Chart	Position
1999	Germany	32
	Switzerland	65
	Netherlands	86

Jon Lord's studio version (2012)

Year	Chart	Position
2012	Germany	37

References

↑ Eder, Bruce. Concerto for Group and Orchestra at AllMusic
↑ http://www.musicweb-international.com/arnold/lord.htm
↑ Sounds, December 15, 1979
1 2 "40th Concerto anniversary in Dublin". Jon Lord - The Official Website. 2009-06-17. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
↑ RTÉ. "RTÉ - Orchestras". www.rte.ie. Retrieved 2016-06-22.

External links

Vincent Budd, The Gemini Man: an Introduction to the Orchestral Works of Jon Lord, 2003, Gnosis Press

Deep Purple

Ian Paice Roger Glover Ian Gillan Steve Morse Don Airey Jon Lord Ritchie Blackmore Rod Evans Nick Simper Glenn Hughes David Coverdale Tommy Bolin Joe Lynn Turner Joe Satriani

Studio albums	Shades of Deep Purple The Book of Taliesyn Deep Purple Deep Purple in Rock Fireball Machine Head Who Do We Think We Are Burn Stormbringer Come Taste the Band Perfect Strangers The House of Blue Light Slaves and Masters The Battle Rages On... Purpendicular Abandon Bananas Rapture of the Deep Now What?!

Live albums	Concerto for Group and Orchestra Made in Japan Made in Europe Last Concert in Japan Deep Purple in Concert Live in London Nobody's Perfect Scandinavian Nights In the Absence of Pink: Knebworth '85 Gemini Suite Live Come Hell or High Water King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents: Deep Purple in Concert California Jamming Mk III: The Final Concerts Live at The Olympia '96 Total Abandon: Australia '99 In Concert with The London Symphony Orchestra Live at the Rotterdam Ahoy This Time Around: Live in Tokyo Live in Paris 1975 Inglewood: Live in California Space Vol 1 & 2 Perks and Tit Live in Europe 1993 Live at Montreux 1996 Live in Montreux 69 Live in Denmark 1972 Live at Montreux 2006: They All Came Down to Montreux Live at Montreux 2011 Phoenix Rising Live in Verona

Compilation albums	Purple Passages Mark I & II 24 Carat Purple Powerhouse The Deep Purple Singles A's and B's When We Rock, We Rock, and When We Roll, We Roll The Mark II Purple Singles Deepest Purple: The Very Best of Deep Purple The Anthology Knocking at Your Back Door: The Best of Deep Purple in the 80's Smoke on the Water: The Best Of 30: Very Best of Deep Purple Smoke on the Water Shades 1968–1998 The Very Best of Deep Purple Days May Come and Days May Go Smoke on the Water & Other Hits The Soundboard Series Listen, Learn, Read On Winning Combinations: Deep Purple and Rainbow The Early Years The Platinum Collection BBC Sessions 1968–1970

Singles	"Hush" "Kentucky Woman" "River Deep – Mountain High" "Black Night" "Strange Kind of Woman" "Fireball" "Never Before" "Smoke on the Water" "Burn" "Perfect Strangers" "Knocking at Your Back Door" "Call of the Wild" "Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming" "Any Fule Kno That" "Vincent Price"

Other songs	"Child in Time" "Highway Star" "Lazy" "Mandrake Root" "Maybe I'm a Leo" "Mistreated" "Soldier of Fortune" "Space Truckin'" "Speed King" "The Mule" "Vavoom: Ted the Mechanic" "When a Blind Man Cries"

Video albums	Concerto for Group and Orchestra Live in Concert 72/73 Live in California 74 Deep Purple Rises Over Japan Come Hell or High Water Bombay Calling Live at Montreux 1996 Total Abandon: Australia '99 In Concert with the London Symphony Orchestra Classic Albums: Deep Purple – The Making of Machine Head Live at Montreux 2006 Around the World Live History, Hits & Highlights '68–'76 Phoenix Rising Live at Montreux 2011 Live in Verona

Concert tours	Shades of Deep Purple Tour The Book of Taliesyn Tour Deep Purple European Tour In Rock World Tour Deep Purple Secret Mexican Tour Deep Purple Secret USA Tour Rapture of the Deep tour The Songs That Built Rock Tour Now What? World Tour Deep Purple World Tour 2016 The Long Goodbye Tour

Related bands	The Artwoods The Outlaws The Flower Pot Men Episode Six Trapeze Zephyr James Gang Dixie Dregs Captain Beyond Warhorse Ian Gillan Band Gillan Rainbow Blackmore's Night Whitesnake Coverdale•Page Paice Ashton Lord Black Sabbath Gary Moore Yngwie Malmsteen Hughes Turner Project Living Loud WhoCares

Related articles	Discography Members Deep Purple Tribute Funky Junction John Coletta Montreux Jazz Festival Purple Records Re-Machined: A Tribute to Deep Purple's Machine Head Rock Aid Armenia Green Bullfrog Martin Birch

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