Jon Lord: Durham Concerto meets Hammond Organ

Former member of iconic Rock band Deep Purple, Jon Lord, is about to release the recording of his classical composition “Durham Concerto” at the end of the month. “Durham Concerto” had been premiered to extremely positive reviews and a frenetic audience reaction on October 20th of last year and will now find a permanent home with record company Avie. The piece is a six-movement musical description of a day at Durham, commissioned by Durham University to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the renowned institution. Jon Lord has been working on “Durham Concerto” intermittently for six years, using the impressive Durham Cathedral as inspiration to speed up the process in the deciding stages: “When I first went to Durham, I was speechless. There is something about the space which is awe inspiring.” The set will follow Jon Lord’s 2004 work “Beyond the Notes” on EMI and, of course, his classic “Concerto for Group and Orchestra”, performed with his colleagues of Deep Purple all the way back in 1970.

“Durham Concerto” is decidedly more than just a Rock musician’s stab at trying to be “serious”. For one, Jon Lord has not discovered his love for orchestral music as a late hobby to keep the Post-Deep Purple era from being boring: “Classical music is something I have held in my heart since I was a young boy. “I had always written music and I started to play the classical piano at the age of six.”, Jon Lord said in advance of the release of the “Durham Concerto” album, “Rock and roll snapped my head around and indeed has defined my career, but it never stopped me from loving classical music.” And secondly, “Durham Concerto” will feature a rather unusual line-up for a classical record.

Next to the Mischa Damev conducting the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, “ Durham Concerto” offers solo contributions by Ruth Palmer (violin); Matthew Barley (cello); Kathryn Tickell (Northumbrian Pipes) and, of course, Jon Lord himself on Hammond organ. The official Jon Lord site offers the link to an insightful interview with the composer courtesy of Metal Express Radio, in which he stresses the many different moods and ideas to be found on “Durham Concerto”.

Jon Lord’s “Durham Concerto” will hit record stores on Janury 28th.

Homepage: Jon Lord
Homepage: Avie Records
By Tobias Fischer, published 2008-01-11

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