''Concerto for Group and Orchestra'' is a live album by

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Originally formed as ...

and the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

conducted by Malcolm Arnold, recorded at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

, London, in September 1969. It consists of a concerto composed by

Jon Lord John Douglas Lord (9 June 194116 July 2012) was an English orchestral and rock composer, pianist, and Hammond organ player known for his pioneering work in fusing rock with classical or baroque forms, especially with the British rock band Deep ...

, with lyrics written by

Ian Gillan Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945) is a British singer who is best known as the lead singer and lyricist for the rock band Deep Purple. He is known for his powerful and wide-ranging singing voice. Initially influenced by Elvis Presley, Gillan ...

. This is the first full length album to feature

on vocals and

Roger Glover Roger David Glover (born 30 November 1945) is a Welsh bassist, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the member of the hard rock bands Deep Purple and Rainbow. As a member of Deep Purple, Glover was inducted into the Rock and R ...

on bass. It was released on vinyl in December 1969. The original performance included three additional Deep Purple songs, "

Hush Hush may refer to: Film and television * ''Hush'' (1921 film), starring Clara Kimball Young * ''Hush'' (1998 film), starring Gwyneth Paltrow * ''Hush!'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film directed by Ryosuke Hashiguchi * ''Hush'' (2005 film), starring ...

", "Wring That Neck", and "

Child in Time "Child in Time" is a song by English rock band Deep Purple, taken from their fourth studio album, ''Deep Purple in Rock'', released in 1970. The track is loosely inspired by the Cold War and runs over ten minutes. History and characteristics ...

"; these were included on a 2002 release. This was the last Deep Purple album distributed in the US by Tetragrammaton Records, which went defunct shortly after. The 1969 performance was among the first combinations of rock music with a full orchestra, predating works such as '' Procol Harum Live: In Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra'' (1972),

Rick Wakeman Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist best known as a former member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his solo albums released in the 1970s. Born and raised ...

's ''

Journey to the Centre of the Earth ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' (french: Voyage au centre de la Terre), also translated with the variant titles ''A Journey to the Centre of the Earth'' and ''A Journey into the Interior of the Earth'', is a classic science fiction novel ...

'' (1974), ''

Caravan and the New Symphonia ''Caravan and the New Symphonia'' is a record by Caravan recorded on 28 October 1973 at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane and originally released in 1974 on UK Decca's subsidiary Deram. Bringing the band and The New Symphonia Orchestra together ...

'' (1974),

Mike Oldfield Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

's ''

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'' (1979),

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

's '' S&M'' concert (1999) and

Stewart Copeland Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is a Scottish-American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the English rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with th ...

's ''Orchestralli'' (2004). The original score for the concerto was lost in 1970; however, it was performed again in 1999 with a recreated score, and has been performed several times since.

Original 1969 Royal Albert Hall performance

The piece was first performed and recorded on 24 September 1969 in the

, London, by

and The

, conducted by Malcolm Arnold. The programme consisted of:

Concerto

''Concerto for Group and Orchestra'' is split into three movements. ; ''First movement (Moderato – Allegro)'': After an extended orchestral introduction, the group and orchestra work as separate blocks, trying to get dominance over the main theme and working as antagonists to each other. There are

cadenza In music, a cadenza (from it, cadenza, link=no , meaning cadence; plural, ''cadenze'' ) is, generically, an improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist or soloists, usually in a "free" rhythmic style, and of ...

s for electric guitar and clarinet. ; ''Second movement (Andante)'', with lyrics sung by

: This movement is based around two tunes that are played in various different arrangements by the orchestra and the group, individually and together. After a combined pop / blues version of the second tune, there is an organ cadenza followed by a quiet ending by the orchestra. ; ''Third movement (Vivace – Presto)'': Apart from

Ian Paice Ian Anderson Paice (born 29 June 1948) is an English musician, best known as the drummer and last remaining original member of the rock band Deep Purple. He is often cited as one of the greatest drummers of all-time. He remains the only membe ...

's drum solo, the music combines the orchestra and group together in a "free for all". The movement alternates between 6/8 and 2/4 time signatures. The ''Concerto'' was first performed at the Albert Hall in London on 24 September 1969 with

and The

conducted by Malcolm Arnold. It was performed at second time at the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018. The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...

on 25 August 1970, with the

Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra The Los Angeles Philharmonic, commonly referred to as the LA Phil, is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the ...

conducted by

Lawrence Foster Lawrence Foster (born October 23, 1941) is an American conductor of Romanian ancestry. He is currently the artistic director and chief conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and the music director of the Marseille Opera and th ...

, after which the score was lost.

Releases

''Concerto for Group and Orchestra'' was released on vinyl in December 1969 in the United States (

Tetragrammaton The Tetragrammaton (; ), or Tetragram, is the four-letter Hebrew theonym (transliterated as YHWH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left (in Hebrew), are ''yodh'', '' he'', '' waw'', and ...

) and in January 1970 in the United Kingdom (

Harvest Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most l ...

). 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 "

". In 2002 EMI released special edition

DVD-A DVD-Audio (commonly abbreviated as DVD-A) is a digital format for delivering high-fidelity audio content on a DVD. DVD-Audio uses most of the storage on the disc for high-quality audio and is not intended to be a video delivery format. The st ...

SACD Super Audio CD (SACD) is an optical disc format for audio storage introduced in 1999. It was developed jointly by Sony and Philips Electronics and intended to be the successor to the Compact Disc (CD) format. The SACD format allows multiple au ...

and two-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.

Track listing

1999 Royal Albert Hall performances

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 Lord with the assistance of Paul Mann and

Marco de Goeij Marco de Goeij (born 1967 in Gouda) is a Dutch composer, known for having reconstructed the lost musical score for Jon Lord's ''Concerto for Group and Orchestra'' in 1999. De Goeij studied classical guitar at the Utrecht School of the Arts, g ...

by listening to the recording and watching the video of the 1969 performance. Performers were: *The

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

, 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 Kick Horns are a UK horn section based in London. They have worked prolifically as session musicians with a wide variety of performers, and have also recorded as an ensemble. The Kick Horns were established in the 1980s by Simon C. Clarke and Ti ...

#''Concerto for Group and Orchestra'' (Jon Lord with lyrics by Ian Gillan), performed by Deep Purple and The London Symphony Orchestra ##"First Movement: Moderato – Allegro" (19:23) ##"Second Movement: Andante" (19:11) ##"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 A 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 ''In Concert with The London Symphony Orchestra'' (also cited as ''In Concert with The London Symphony Orchestra Conducted by Paul Mann'') is a live album and DVD by the British hard rock band Deep Purple, recorded on 25–26 September 1999 ...

''.

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 The George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra ( ro, Filarmonica George Enescu) is a musical institution located in Bucharest, Romania. Founded on 7 May 1868 under the supervision of Eduard Wachman, the Romanian Philharmonic Society had as purpose t ...

, in Japan with the

New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra The is a symphony orchestra based in Tokyo, Japan. It was founded in 1972 with Seiji Ozawa as honorary conductor laureate. The Philharmonic's primary concert venue is the Sumida Triphony Hall. From 2003 to 2013 its music director was Chri ...

, all conducted by Paul Mann.

40th anniversary performance

On 24 September 2009 Jon Lord joined the RTÉ Concerto Orchestra in the

National Concert Hall The National Concert Hall (NCH) (An Ceoláras Náisiúnta) is a national cultural institution, sometimes described as "the home of music in Ireland". It comprises the actual concert hall operation, which in various chambers hosts over 1,000 ...

, Dublin, Ireland to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first performance of ''Concerto for Group and Orchestra.'' 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.

Further performances

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

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 Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmon ...

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 Steve J. Morse (born July 28, 1954) is an American guitarist, best known as the founder of the Dixie Dregs and as the lead guitarist of Deep Purple from 1994 to 2022. Morse has also enjoyed a successful solo career and was briefly a member of ...

(guitar in the 3rd movement),

Steve Balsamo Steve Balsamo is a Welsh singer and songwriter, best known for playing the lead role in the London production of ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' during the mid-1990s. He performs as a member of several bands and is also a successful songwriter. He is ...

, Kasia Łaska, and

Bruce Dickinson Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer who has been the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1981 to 1993 and 1999–present. He is known for his wide-ranging operatic vocal style and energetic stag ...

(vocals),

Brett Morgan Jerome Morgan (November 1944 – 1 November 2007), better known as Barry Morgan, was a British drummer for Blue Mink, CCS and other bands. He was the owner of Morgan Studios. Personal life and career Morgan was born in London, England in Novembe ...

(drums), and

Guy Pratt Guy Adam Pratt (born 3 January 1962) is a British musician. He is best known for his prolific work as a session bass player, working with artists including Pink Floyd (also David Gilmour and Nick Mason), Roxy Music (also Bryan Ferry), Gary Moo ...

(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 in 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.

Reception

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:

Ritchie Blackmore's views

In a 1979 interview with ''Sounds'' magazineSounds, December 15, 1979 Blackmore said:

Personnel

: keyboards *

Ritchie Blackmore Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist and songwriter. He was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968, playing jam-style hard rock music that mixed guitar riffs and organ sounds. He is prolific in creating guita ...

: guitar *

: vocals *

: bass *

: drums *

: orchestral instruments * Malcolm Arnold: conductor

Charts

;Original album (1969) ;Reunion performance (1999) ;Jon Lord's studio version (2012)

References

External links

1969 performance (& recording)
Vincent Budd, The Gemini Man: an Introduction to the Orchestral Works of Jon Lord, 2003, Gnosis Press {{DEFAULTSORT:Concerto For Group And Orchestra Compositions by Jon Lord Group and Orchestra, Concerto for Deep Purple video albums Live albums recorded at the Royal Albert Hall 2003 video albums 1969 live albums Live video albums Warner Records live albums Harvest Records live albums Deep Purple live albums Polydor Records live albums Tetragrammaton Records live albums Albums produced by Jon Lord Albums produced by Ritchie Blackmore Albums produced by Ian Gillan Albums produced by Roger Glover Albums produced by Ian Paice Albums conducted by Malcolm Arnold Classical crossover albums Lost musical works