Concerto for Group and Orchestra
| Concerto for Group and Orchestra | ||||
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| Live album by Deep Purple & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra | ||||
| Released | December 1969 (US) January 1970 (UK) |
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| Recorded | 24 September 1969 | |||
| Genre | Classical crossover, progressive rock | |||
| Length | 59:26 | |||
| Label |
Tetragrammaton (US) Harvest (UK) Polydor (Canada) |
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| Producer | Deep Purple | |||
| Deep Purple live albums chronology | ||||
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| Concerto for Group and Orchestra | ||||
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| Video by Deep Purple & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra | ||||
| Released | 4 April 1970 (TV), 6 May 2003 (DVD) | |||
| Recorded | 24 September 1969 | |||
| Genre | Classical crossover, progressive rock | |||
| Length | 52:30 The Best of Both Worlds | |||
| Label | Eagle Vision | |||
| Deep Purple video chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
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.
The Concerto for Group and Orchestra displays some characteristics of the concerto grosso, sinfonia concertante, and concerto for orchestra genres:
The piece was first performed and recorded on 24 September 1969 in the Royal Albert Hall, London, by:
The programme consisted of:
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.
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.
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