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Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Feb. 13 2008, 09:54 Wow! I hadn't bargained for this! Jon Lord (of Deep Purple fame) has written this thing called the Durham Concerto. There's a website about it here, where you can listen to a few short samples as well as read about the project. The samples, while giving a vaguely useful taster, don't do justice to the whole work. My copy of the CD arrived this morning. I put it in the player and oh my, oh my. This is just fabulous. I've listened to dawn rise over Durham Cathedral, I've heard the great old city come awake, and I've travelled the road from Lindisfarne with tears in my eyes. The wonderful Kathryn Tickell is one of the soloists (Northumbrian pipes), and her playing reaches back through centuries - no, millenia - and brings what she finds there fully into the present, bang up-to-the-minute. There are times when it's a bit Vaughan Williams-ish, and a bit Malcolm Arnold-ish, but that's not surprising. It's old, and it's new, and it's unblushingly romantic in places. It's full of the atmosphere of that lovely, mysterious part of the country, it's pulsing with life, and it's one of the best things I've heard for ages and ages. If the samples on the site sound at all like your kind of thing, then don't hesitate. Go buy one. You can get it on Amazon here. Back to top

moonchildhippy Group: Members Posts: 1807 Joined: Dec. 2004 Posted: Feb. 13 2008, 13:20 I wants it My Precioussss, oh I just slipped into Gollum mode there. Why is there so much new music I'd like to own, and it has to come out when I'm a bit short (of cash, not talking about height here), Is 5 foot 4 short, I dunno, depends who I'm standing next to       . -------------- I'm going slightly mad, It finally happened, I'm slightly mad , just very slightly mad If you feel a little glum to Hergest Ridge you should come. I'm challenging  taboos surrounding mental health "Part time hippy" I'M SUPPORTING OUR SOLDIERS BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!! Back to top

Ugo Group: Members Posts: 5495 Joined: April 2000 Posted: Feb. 13 2008, 17:38 I'm rather familiar with Jon Lord's classical (?) stuff from his previous solo albums, i.e. Pictured within, the Gemini Suite and his previous one, Beyond the notes. I love all of 'em. This one, as I gather from what you (Alan) wrote, is a bit more 'classical' than the others, however, from what I hear on the website, it sounds very, very, very, very nice. It reminds me a bit of some other 'pop-classical' recent hybrids, such as Paul McCartney's Standing Stone, rather than Vaughan Williams or Malcolm Arnold. Anyway, especially considering that Mr. Lord is playing the Hammond organ in there (what else?? ) I think it's really a must-buy, for me. On second thought, guess what I'm telling you? I'm orderin' it right now! -------------- Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Feb. 14 2008, 10:16 Quote (Ugo @ Feb. 13 2008, 22:38) It reminds me a bit of some other 'pop-classical' recent hybrids, such as Paul McCartney's Standing Stone, rather than Vaughan Williams or Malcolm Arnold. Well, they're the only reference points I have, Ugo, and I'm not saying you could mistake it for VW or MA - you couldn't,  even though there are distinct echoes of both from time to time. I haven't sought out the 'rock-classical' hybrids till now, so I have nothing else to compare this with. I've ordered a copy of 'Standing Stone' though, on the basis of your comment - so I'll soon have increased my experience of such things by 100%. How's that for progress? Back to top

Ugo Group: Members Posts: 5495 Joined: April 2000 Posted: Feb. 14 2008, 16:05 I guess I was a little bit wrong in calling Macca's work a 'pop-classical' hybrid, as it's not... it's contemporary classical music written by a pop composer, just like Music of the Spheres. But the similarities between MotS and SS (and the Durham Concerto, for that matter) end there. SS is much more 'classically structured',  i.e. it has four movements, each one featuring an introduction, some themes, a development, a recapitulation and a coda (although the duration of the various parts varies), while MotS has none of this. I think that a true pop-classical hybrid is Lord's previous album, Beyond the notes, which features lots and lots of 'pop' piano and Hammond organ. As the mighty 1970s-ish instrument is also prominently featured in the Concerto [as far as I can gather from the info on the website!], I guess it's more pop-oriented than SS. Have you any idea of whether the Durham Concerto is 'classically' structured into the typical three movements? -------------- Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Feb. 14 2008, 16:15 Quote (Ugo @ Feb. 14 2008, 21:05) Have you any idea of whether the Durham Concerto is 'classically' structured into the typical three movements? Well, it's not structured as one would expect a concerto to be structured (unless one thinks of something like Corelli's concerti grossi), because it has 6 separate 'sections'. But this is very specific programme music: there is a deliberate theme of a day passing at or around Durham, centred on the cathedral, underlying the music. Each section is supposed to evoke a particular part of the programme. It's not like any rock music I've ever heard. I'd describe it as a piece of classical music with a programmed 6-section structure, and the unusual addition of Northumbrian pipes and organ. Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Feb. 19 2008, 15:46 Quote (Ugo @ Feb. 13 2008, 22:38) from what I hear on the website, it sounds very, very, very, very nice. It reminds me a bit of some other 'pop-classical' recent hybrids, such as Paul McCartney's Standing Stone, rather than Vaughan Williams or Malcolm Arnold. Well, Ugo - I've now listened to Standing Stone, and it's so different to Durham Concerto that I hardly know where to start. First off, I stand by what I said about being reminded of Vaughan Williams and Malcolm Arnold in places. In particular, the way Jon Lord uses the solo violin is often very like VW. The cadences (if that's the right word) seem very familiar, very English. In fact I'd go so far as to say that Durham Concerto stands quite firmly in that quasi-mystical, folk-rooted English tradition - the same tradition that often causes me to link Mike Oldfield with VW, for instance. Also, the more I listen, the more exquisitely constructed it seems to be. It runs the whole spectrum of feeling and yet keeps itself on a tight rein, always this side of self-indulgence. I don't hear anything similar in Paul McCartney's piece. In fact, where Durham Concerto is a wonderful, restrained, yet deeply romantic achievement, Standing Stone seems like a bloated, over-ambitious failure smacking of self-indulgence. Where Jon Lord knows how to get the perfect expression from each instrument, McCartney fails almost every time it matters, and has to fall back on the wordless choir to cover his back. The overuse of the wordless vocals by the choir really get me down in Standing Stone - it's as if he only knows one way of trying to convey a vaguely mystical feeling of awe; but after he's done it a dozen times it totally loses its impact (not that it ever had much in the first place) and creates not awe, but yawns. If only someone had said to him - look Paul, don't try to get the whole of human history into a single piece of music; lower your sights a bit, edit what you've done to half the length, and only use the choir once, and make it count - then it might be worth a bit of something. So, for me - these two pieces of music are just not in the same league. Back to top

Ugo Group: Members Posts: 5495 Joined: April 2000 Posted: Feb. 19 2008, 18:17 OK, Alan, fair enough. The comparison I made was based only on the few short excerpts from the Durham Concerto that I heard on the website. Maybe it's closer to Macca's previous classical work (The Liverpool Oratorio) than to Standing Stone, which, I admit, is a bit bombastic. But both of those pieces were commissioned to Macca - he basically wrote what he was asked to. If he wrote more of what he really felt, maybe the end results would've been slightly better - but I'm not the one to judge, since I'm biased towards Sir Paul's writing, either 'pop' or 'classical'. -------------- Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Feb. 20 2008, 02:56 Quote (Ugo @ Feb. 19 2008, 23:17) I'm biased towards Sir Paul's writing Well, he's surely one of the greatest melodists of our times - perhaps of any times - so I share your admiration. But in the far future Standing Stone, I suspect, will be long forgotten when people are still listening to Eleanor Rigby. I bet you anything you like that Durham Concerto will blow you away, by comparison. Back to top

Dirk Star Group: Members Posts: 1331 Joined: Sep. 2007 Posted: April 27 2008, 18:11 Well being a Durham lad myself,as well as a fan of some of Kathryn Tickell`s solo work.And on the basis of Alan`s glowing recommendation here of course.I decided to buy this album when I saw it in hmv today.(Priced 16 bloody pounds anarl`the thieving gits)..Now normally I don`t like to comment on a work on it`s first couple of hearings.But honestly as Alan himself says here.."Wow!" I`ve had a bit of an emotional time of it here these past few days worrying about my 17 year old daughter.I don`t really want to go into the details here but we managed at least to talk to each other at length about it today.Suffice to say I did`nt even make it to the end of the first track earlier this evening and I was in bits listening to it.Somehow or other I managed to keep some kind of self composure to listen to the rest of it,but I`ve absolutely no idea how?The whole thing is truly breathtaking start to finish,I`m completely blown away by it all.I put it on again in fact straight away but I had to turn it off.It`s just too much for me at the moment I can`t handle it.I`ll have to go away and watch Bargain Hunt or something just to get me back into numb mode for a while,Im bloody exhausted. Anyway Alan I have to say that Macca`s Standing Stone album had a very similar kind of effect on me as this album oddly enough.However I do agree with you that this album is a much more fully realised concept.And I dare say Mr Lord sounds like he knows his way around the orchestra a lot more than the guy with the permanently arched eyebrows.There are sections of Standing Stone for instance where you just know he`s trying to cover all those in vogue classical bases a little bit.And some sections do sound a little dis-jointed and clumsy no doubt about it.That said though a good deal of it is as moving and breathtaking as this album I feel.But then I`m a bit of a sucker for all that choral stuff anyway,what can I say? All I can say I suppose is thanks so much for this recommendation.Absolutely fantastic stuff.Oh yes and Dougie Maclean`s Perthshire Amber album reminds me of this a little bit.Not quite as grand and complex but there are a number of celtic and orchestral similarities I felt.In fact screw Bargain Hunt I`m going to listen to Dougie,to see if I`m not just imagining it all. Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: April 28 2008, 04:48 Quote (Dirk Star @ April 27 2008, 23:11) The whole thing is truly breathtaking start to finish,I`m completely blown away by it all.I put it on again in fact straight away but I had to turn it off.It`s just too much for me at the moment I can`t handle it. I loved reading about the sheer intensity of your response, here, Mick! I felt like that too, when I first listened to it. It just cuts straight through to something quintessentially rooted here on this island. It's modern, but it encompasses the historical at the same time - obviously Kathryn Tickell's pipes add to that sense of timelessness. What worried me quite early on was that I knew I was at risk of overplaying it, so I've tried to space out my playings. I was probably too harsh about Standing Stone in my comments above, and you're right to remind me that there are some good things in it. I suspect most of my impatience with it would disappear if it were edited down to about half its length. Back to top

Dirk Star Group: Members Posts: 1331 Joined: Sep. 2007 Posted: April 29 2008, 04:16 Quote (Alan D @ April 28 2008, 04:48) Quote What worried me quite early on was that I knew I was at risk of overplaying it, so I've tried to space out my playings. I think that`s probably good advice for me.I`m absolutely terrible for playing an album to death that I immediately fall in love with.I have played it twice more already though,and I have to say the effect was exactly the same.I did at least manage to stay in control of my emotions unlike before.But I think part of that was down to my wife being in the house this time around.Can`t have the missus`s seeing me reduced to a big girl`s blouse.I`m bad enough when they give Bernard Cribbins that shovel in The Railway Children. Quote It just cuts straight through to something quintessentially rooted here on this island. It's modern, but it encompasses the historical at the same time I really wish I could speak about classical music with the same kind of reference points as yourself,but I know exactly what your saying there.You know sometimes I can hear a piece of classical music and I could`nt even tell you what century it was wrote let alone who`d be responsible for it.But there`s a definite timeless and almost genre-free effect to this music that seems to cut straight to the soul.This might sound weird but sometimes I can be sat listening to classical/orchestral music.And I`ll sometimes get this little voice in my head saying.."who the hell are you trying to kid?"..But at no point whatsoever did I ever get that feeling listening to this album.I don`t think I`ve ever experienced an hour of music go by so quickly in fact.And yet still leave me feeling so completely exhausted at the same time. That said I did pick up on the Vaughan Williams referance you made earlier.I can certainly hear something of the old Thomas Tallis theme going on there,in the way the orchestra surges and sweeps you along.And little things I did`nt really fully get first time around as well.Like the short sections of music featuring just the hammond and the pipes which just sound better and better every time I hear them now.And the best part is I`m absolutely convinced there`s many more discoveries in store for me. Quote I was probably too harsh about Standing Stone in my comments above, and you're right to remind me that there are some good things in it. I suspect most of my impatience with it would disappear if it were edited down to about half its length. The sad thing is the two classical albums McCartney has put out since that one just did`nt seem to scale the same emotional heights for me as Standing Stone.Despite the fact that he seemed to show a lot more self restraint and discipline in composing them.It is a shame really that he did`nt show that kind of editorial control earlier.As I`m not entirely sure that his heart is really in that side of his work anymore.Of course I am really itching to start making comparisons between this album and Music Of The Spheres.But i`m gonna` have to stop myself...For the time being at least anyway.   Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: April 29 2008, 04:58 Quote (Dirk Star @ April 29 2008, 09:16) This might sound weird but sometimes I can be sat listening to classical/orchestral music.And I`ll sometimes get this little voice in my head saying.."who the hell are you trying to kid?".. I recognise that insidious little voice very well. I think what happens is that often when we're listening (or reading, or looking at art), our attention drifts and we become detached from the music temporarily - so instead of attending to the music, we're suddenly attending to ourselves instead; and what we find are all sorts of pointless little thoughts buzzing around. So we think 'well, obviously I'm not really enjoying this music. I'm fooling myself'. And of course at that moment we're right. We're not enjoying the music because we're no longer attending to it. The answer, I'm sure, is to brush aside the little voice and focus on the music again. That voice will keep coming back, like the heads of the Hydra, but we just keep hacking away. Obviously there may come a time when we decide this particular music isn't to our taste and we're backing a loser. But the potential rewards of persevering, in my experience, are so great that it's well worth being persistent. Quote I did pick up on the Vaughan Williams referance you made earlier.I can certainly hear something of the old Thomas Tallis theme going on there,in the way the orchestra surges and sweeps you along. Yes, and the way the solo violin is used, too - there are certain sequences of solo violin that make me think of VW. Quote And little things I did`nt really fully get first time around as well.Like the short sections of music featuring just the hammond and the pipes which just sound better and better every time I hear them now. One of my favourite bits is where the city is waking up, and the Hammond organ suddenly comes in with a jazzy, 'street music' feeling that is so different to everything else in the piece - so it jolts, and makes me realise that this is Durham here and now, a living city, not just a historical entity. Quote Of course I am really itching to start making comparisons between this album and Music Of The Spheres.But i`m gonna` have to stop myself...For the time being at least anyway. That occurred to me too. Because they were released very close together in time, there's a natural temptation to compare them. But they're completely different, aren't they? Composed under very different impulses, and in very different ways. Back to top

Dirk Star Group: Members Posts: 1331 Joined: Sep. 2007 Posted: April 29 2008, 07:20 Quote (Alan D @ April 29 2008, 04:58) Quote But the potential rewards of persevering, in my experience, are so great that it's well worth being persistent. I think that can be very true yes.It`s just sometimes in my own case I can often question why I`m listening to a certain type of music in the first place.And then all sorts of semi style-conscious self doubts creep into it as well.And just to top it all off I`ll get my wife and kids coming into the room from time to time to give me that.."what the hell is he listening to now?" look.But absolutely none of that would`ve dis-suaded me from enjoying this album from the off-set.But more to the point I guess.None of that happened anyway..And at one time yesterday they were all in the very same room without so much as an eyebrow raised...Bloody phillistines... Quote Yes, and the way the solo violin is used, too - there are certain sequences of solo violin that make me think of VW. Well I`m gonna have to listen out for that now because I have`nt really picked up on that yet.That whole comparison you made of this music being deep rooted to the country I certainly found myself though no question.Very like VW as you say yourself of course."Music that is redolent of the soil."..I can`t remember who said that now(I think it was directed at Delius actually)But I`ve always really liked that  expression,it says just about everything you need to know almost.Over the past few years I`ve become fascinated by a lot of Egyptian,Arabic and East European music.And all the great wonders and mysteries that kind of music holds for me I suppose.But this kind of music say something different does`nt it.It`s like feeling a part of the whole mystery itself somehow.It`s probably more than that actualy,but I`ll just have to keep it in check a little bit here in case I start to go overboard.It`s certainly present in a lot of Mike Oldfield`s work of course.And it even carries over for me into almost all of my favourite artists from popular culture as well:such as The Kinks,The Who,XTC,Squeeze,Robyn Hitchcock etc..I did`nt intentionaly track these dudes out with a list of requirements,it just happened that way naturaly for me.And yet curiously enough a lot of those people are more successful outside of their own country of course?..I have a feeling this album is going to stay with me for a very long time. Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: May 15 2008, 03:56 Inspired by John Lord's concerto, we made a pilgrimage to Durham yesterday. I'd been there once, a very long time ago, but had almost no memory of it. So off we went, playing the Durham concerto (what else?) in the car (it makes a terrific accompaniment to the crossing of  the Pennines). I must say, the Durham Concerto has been a marvellous preparation for the trip. The music is so inspired by an awareness of the historical significance of the place, that we arrived at the cathedral determined to be impressed - and impressed we were. I'm not terribly susceptible to church architecture as a rule, but Durham is extraordinary with its tiers of rounded arches, curling up and over and nestling into each other everywhere, and yet with everything remaining solid and rooted. The pillars look as though they've been there from the beginning of all things. And then there's St Cuthbert's shrine - his last journey from Lindisfarne so memorably portrayed by John Lord in the third movement of the concerto. And the remains of the Venerable Bede are here too. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the whole idea of saintly relics, but there's no denying how the centuries roll back in this place. All in all, another example of how music can transform everything, change our perceptions, and nudge us into trying something different. Back to top

Dirk Star Group: Members Posts: 1331 Joined: Sep. 2007 Posted: May 15 2008, 06:03 Nice to hear you were impressed with your visit to the cathedral Alan.Me and the wife were in Durham a week last monday.It was a scorching hot day so we decided to walk down by the river with our dog Sally.We sat directly opposite the cathedral for a while and admired the view.Munching on Burger King..   Just like a couple of tourists ourselves in fact for all we live only a few miles away.A number of years ago Durham Cathedral came third in a poll of the world`s most impressive/beautiful buildings.Rather ashamedly I can`t remember which two buildings were ahead of it now.Although I`m guessing the Taj Mahal will probably have been one? The city of Durham itself is something of a strange place though I`ve always felt.You don`t hear too much of the north east accent there for a start.Mainly due to a combination of the city`s university and the kind of affluent folk that live there I suppose.Also as a shopping centre it`s fairly grim to say the least.Even worse than Sunderland,and that`s saying something.And a night out in Durham???..OMG they`ve built up this brand new complex of soulless mind-numbingly boring bars recently over there that is just the absolute pits imo.The actual city centre itself which is slightly away from that area is often all but deserted sometimes at night.Kind of eerie in fact when I was over there a few weeks ago.Still there`s a few canny little bars on the outskirts of the town,often with live music etc.It`s just knowing where to go/checking out live dates and such. Still it`s a very pleasent walk down the river.And a visit to the Cathedral is certainly worth the trip over alone.Anyway you certainly nudged me into trying something different,regarding Mr Lord`s concerto.And I`m mighty glad you did too.   Back to top

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