Concerto for Group and Orchestra

Concerto for Group and Orchestra is an extremely ambitious record from early Deep Purple, the first to show a genuine, large-scale meeting point between a rock band and an orchestra. Composed by keyboardist Jon Lord, it is a monumental live work performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall. The epic in three movements attempts to confront and fuse the solemn style of classical music with the rough energy of a rock band head-on. The way Ritchie Blackmore’s guitar and Ian Paice’s drums powerfully assert themselves within the grand sound of the orchestra is stunning. For its time, it was an extremely experimental, bold challenge. It is an important work that clearly shows the broad musical ambition and inquiry Deep Purple held before establishing its hard-rock direction. Jon Lord’s deep classical background gave great influence to the band’s later musicality as well. As a forerunner of one grand experiment — the fusion of rock and orchestra — it is a historically intriguing record.