April (song)
| April | |
|---|---|
| Deep Purple | |
| publication | 1969 (album version) |
| length | 12:10 |
| Genre (s) | Classical - rock - Suite |
| text | Ritchie Blackmore , Jon Lord |
| music | Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord |
| Label | Harvest , Tetragrammaton |
| album | Deep Purple |
April (English for 'April') is a song by the British hard rock band Deep Purple , which was first released in 1969 on their third studio album Deep Purple . Text and music were written by Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord . April is a three-piece classic - rock - Suite with orchestral accompaniment and shows some resemblance to the Five Bridges Suite of English progressive rock band The Nice .
Emergence
The title April was created in 1968 or 1969 during the tour for the album The Book of Taliesyn , released in 1968 . The song was an attempt by Jon Lord to combine classical and hard rock.
music
The song begins with a brief introduction to the organ by Jon Lord. Ritchie Blackmore then plays a calm melody on the acoustic guitar. After a while the organ starts playing softly and Ian Paice plays the timpani in the background. At the end of this first part the high lead guitar also kicks in. Everything is still without singing. After about five minutes, the four-minute second part is played by a chamber orchestra. The instruments used were: two flutes, two oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets, two violins, viola and two cellos. The third part is introduced by drums and shortly afterwards the guitar, the other instruments and then the vocals set in. This part is a rock song typical of Deep Purple, in which singer Rod Evans talks about the month of April; the first words “April is a cruel time” quote the beginning of TS Eliot's famous poem The Waste Land (“April is the cruelest month”). The song ends, supported by the organ, with a guitar solo by Ritchie Blackmore and slowly fades out after twelve minutes.