The Durham Concerto is a composition of British composer and organist Jon Lord. Jon Lord has devoted himself since 2004 when Deep Purple left music for the direction of classical music. The work is written on behalf of the University of Durham on the occasion of their 175th anniversary.
Lord had visited Durham before and was impressed by the local cathedral, high above the Wear River. When it became apparent that Lord received the assignment, he took the idea of writing a composition that shows one day from the life of the Durhammers. The composition consists of three main segments, each subdivided into two parts: Afternoon Evening
The road from Lindisfarne is about the journey of the physical remains of Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, for which the cathedral was actually built. Now only a stone monument reminds us of this saint.
The concerto has been written for violin, cello, Hammond organ, Northumbrian smallpipes and symphony orchestra. The listed instruments do not act as actual solo instruments, but usually rise above the orchestra and then fall back in there. The rock musician Lord is little noticeable, only in two fragments there are rocky elements (with percussion), but for the rest this concerto fits in the neoromantic music flow. A melodic musical sketch, but could also be a symphonic poem.
The university was believed to be the invited orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra was enabled to take care of the premiere; The RLPO is one of England's top orchestras. The composer had to be present to play the Hammond organ party. Source and discography
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