Concerto for Group and Orchestra

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Concerto for Group and Orchestra
Live album by Deep Purple

Publication
(s)

December 1969 (US), January 1970 (UK)

admission

first time September 24, 1969

Label (s) Tetragrammaton Records (USA), Harvest Records (GB)

Format (s)

LP , CD , DVD

Genre (s)

Rock , Progressive Rock , Classical

Title (number)

6th

running time

59:26 (CD), 52:30 (DVD)

chronology
- Concerto for Group and Orchestra Made in Japan
(1972)

Concerto for Group and Orchestra is a concerto written by Jon Lord with lyrics by Ian Gillan and first performed and recorded in 1969 by the English rock band Deep Purple . It was released in December 1969 as the band's first live album on Tetragrammaton Records (USA) and Harvest Records in Great Britain . Since the scores had been lost, it was performed again in 1999 with a reconstructed score.

The 1969 performance was one of the first combinations of rock music with a large orchestra , but after Ars Longa Vita Brevis by The Nice (1968), and was groundbreaking for other rock / orchestral performances such as Procol Harum Live in Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (1972) and Rick Wakeman's Journey to the Center of the Earth (1974).

history

The concerto was first performed on September 24, 1969 by Deep Purple with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Malcolm Arnold at the Royal Albert Hall . On August 25, 1970, the Concerto was performed again with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Lawrence Foster in the Hollywood Bowl - after which the scores were lost. On September 25 and 26, 1999, it was performed again with a reconstructed score, again at the Royal Albert Hall. On May 6, 2003, a music video / DVD of a TV broadcast from 1970 was released. In 2012, a studio version of the concert with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra was released .

Musical form

The concerto is divided into three movements and shows similarities with the concerto grosso , the sinfonia concertante and the orchestral concert . In the first movement, Moderato-Allegro , the band and orchestra work as individual units after an extensive orchestral introduction, each trying to dominate the main theme and acting like antagonists to one another. The second movement, Andante, is based on two themes that the orchestra and the group play individually and together in various arrangements. With the singing of Ian Gillan, the band increasingly integrated into the orchestral sound. In the third movement, Vivace-Presto , the sounds of the band and orchestra interweave more closely and the differences between the two almost completely disappear. Apart from a drum solo by Ian Paice , this movement is played alternately in 6/8 and 2/4 time.

Track list

Original performance

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

On the 1969 album, only the Concerto for Group and Orchestra was released. The recordings of Hush , Wring That Neck and Child in Time from the Royal Albert Hall can be found on the 1977 compilation Powerhouse .

reviews

In an interview for Huddersfield Hospital Radio in 1970, shortly after the performance at the Royal Albert Hall, Arnold commented positively 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. "

“What I notice about Deep Purple is their tremendous musical integrity. It's so refreshing in a commercial world. I loved working with them. They are thorough musicians. You're not trying to prove anything. They just like to play with a symphony orchestra every now and then. They are not trying to prove any deep philosophical problem. They just want to write music that is fun. "

Whereas Ritchie Blackmore's retrospective reflection in a 1979 interview with Sounds magazine was less positive:

“一 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 favorite. But I respected them too much, and we just weren't in the same caliber. 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. "

“I wasn't interested in classical music back then. I was very, very moody and just wanted to play very, very loud and jump around a lot. I couldn't believe we were playing with orchestras. We were always overwhelmed when we played with them. We started in 1968 - that's my opinion - as a relatively competent band that had a lot to say but said everything at the same time. In 1969 we went into classical music because it was Jon Lord's big deal to write a concerto for group and orchestra. He was very sincere, but I didn't like playing it and I didn't respect the fact that we were playing it. The orchestra was very condescending towards us and I didn't like playing with them so it was one big bad luck on stage. But Jon was happy with it, and so was management, because we had a press perspective, which I resented.
In 1970 I said, “Right, we're going to do a rock and roll LP. If that doesn't work out, I'll be playing in orchestras for the rest of my life ”because Jon wasn't that into hard rock. Fortunately it worked out so that I no longer had to play with orchestras.
I love orchestras, chamber music - solo violin is my favorite. But I respected them too much, and we just weren't of the same caliber. I had played for 15 years back then and sat next to a dedicated violinist who had been playing for 50 years just to give the press a perspective - that's insulting. So it started and ended very abruptly. "

Trivia

Some bars of the third movement of the Concerto for Group and Orchestra are used as background music in the 91st Tatort episode from 1978.

Individual evidence

  1. http://www.thehighwaystar.com/rosas/jouni/discos/live06.html
  2. ^ Nathan Beaudry: Episode # 7 - Concerto for Group and Orchestra. In: The Deep Purple Podcast. June 10, 2019, accessed on May 12, 2020 .
  3. ^ Concerto for Group and Orchestra at discogs
  4. Powerhouse at discogs
  5. Vincent Budd: Malcolm Arnold and Jon Lord: 'Concerto for Group and Orchestra' and 'Gemini Suite'. In: MusicWeb International. The Malcolm Arnold Society, July 1997, accessed May 12, 2020 .
  6. ^ Sounds, December 15, 1979