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IgnorantRockFan
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« on: 23:03:09, 27-04-2007 » |
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I suspect it will interest few people here, but this is a concert I will do everything in my power to attend. From the Deep Purple Appreciation web site ( http://www.deep-purple.net/related-news/jon-lord.htm): Jon Lord is busy writing a classical piece to celebrate Durham University’s 175th anniversary. The Durham Concertos will be performed (and recorded) in October 2007 inside Durham Cathedral by The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.
The event will (later amended to "should") be open to the public with tickets available towards the end of the summer. Durham really seem to be making a big thing of this, their executive committee has a "vision for the Jon Lord composition to act as a catalyst, raising the University’s international profile in key markets." (Traditionally Universities used to achieve this by providing top quality tuition rather than operating as a marketing company but hey, what do we know?).
According to the local paper, The Northern Echo, Lord was approached to write the music by the university's vice-chancellor, Sir Kenneth Calman, the Government's former chief medical officer. A university spokeswoman has added: "The work has been specifically composed for Durham University by Jon Lord. We don't know yet if Jon Lord himself will be performing.
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Allegro, ma non tanto
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IgnorantRockFan
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« Reply #1 on: 11:14:34, 08-09-2007 » |
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I finally have tickets for this! (Phew!) A world premier by my favourite living composer, and right in my back yard  Saturday 20 October 2007, 7.30pm Durham Cathedral Durham Concerto - Jon Lord Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (Vasily Petrenko) Jon Lord - Hammond Organ Kathryn Tickell - Northumbrian Pipes Matthew Barley - cello Ruth Palmer - violin Tickets £12 £10 £8 £3 (restricted view) Box Office: Tourist Information Centre Millennium Place Durham DH1 1WA 0191 384 7641 touristinfo@durhamcity.gov.uk Thinking of the shape of Durham Cathedral, I wouldn't risk a £3 ticket  I can't believe how cheap the tickets are! Last time I saw Jon Lord perfom (2002, his farewell concert with his old band Deep Purple) the booking fees were more than these ticket proces  I know Lord is almost unknown (and untested) as a classical composer, but I honestly thought the University would be milking this as a high-profile event for corporate sponsors and other VIPs. |
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Allegro, ma non tanto
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harmonyharmony
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« Reply #2 on: 12:14:40, 08-09-2007 » |
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From what I've heard, the genesis of this project has been rather interesting.
Funding was rushed through for the commission at the highest levels, completely bypassing any involvement from the music department, and no-one's really defined what the 'key markets' alluded to in the press release actually are. It seems that this was Kenny C's last big idea and it was going to happen no matter what, but it is surprising that they haven't milked it a little more and they are incredibly cheap tickets (especially compared to some concerts in the cathedral recently). Maybe the university is heavily subsidising the concert to get as many people in the building as they possibly can (I think that the £3 tickets might be the student price). I won't be going and, all things being equal, won't even be in Durham at the time but I hope that you enjoy it.
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'is this all we can do?' anonymous student of the University of Berkeley, California quoted in H. Draper, 'The new student revolt' (New York: Grove Press, 1965) http://www.myspace.com/itensemble |
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Don Basilio
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« Reply #3 on: 13:38:54, 08-09-2007 » |
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I don't know much about rock music, but I know a lot about cathedrals  Durham is glorious. Any rate I am sure you will enjoy it. All the best. |
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To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh: a time to mourn, and a time to dance
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IgnorantRockFan
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« Reply #4 on: 11:19:20, 10-09-2007 » |
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Very curious, Harmonyharmony. The whole business of picking such an obscure composer as part of a "profile raising" initiative always seemed a bit funny. Even with my limited knowledge of contemporary music, I can think of many better known names they could have picked. (And that's not even considering the very able composers within the University's music department -- which would surely be a good advertisment in itself!) I wondered if the people who commissioned Lord's work think that his rock background will attract young people to the university? If so, they've sorely misjudged it. The days that Jon Lord was a cool name among young people are thirty years behind us. But I'm not complaining. I get to attend the premier of one of his classical works, something I never thought I would have the chance of. And he will be performing it himself -- the first time I've seen him in concert since 2002. And as an added bonus I will see the divine Kathryn Tickell live for the first time Don Basilo -- I don't know much about cathedrals but Durham is a magnificant building which I have visited on many occasions. I don't think I have ever been in a more impressive building. I have no idea how it sounds but I'm looking forward to finding out |
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Allegro, ma non tanto
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HtoHe
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« Reply #5 on: 12:21:41, 10-09-2007 » |
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The days that Jon Lord was a cool name among young people are thirty years behind us.
I've no doubt you're right IRF, but they might not be aiming specifically at young people. I remember reading many years ago that new bands were finding it hard to get published and promoted because the recording companies were finding it easier to transfer old stuff to CD, give it an impressive label like 're-mastered', and sell it again to the people who had already bought it once on vinyl. And, of course, instead of saving up their pocket money for weeks or doing without food as they did to buy the original LP, they were now on decent wages and could buy a Burnt Weeny Sandwich for the same price as a pizza and with the same unconsidered impulsiveness. That sector of the market will certainly remember who Jon Lord is. |
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harmonyharmony
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« Reply #6 on: 12:27:03, 10-09-2007 » |
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Very curious, Harmonyharmony. The whole business of picking such an obscure composer as part of a "profile raising" initiative always seemed a bit funny. Even with my limited knowledge of contemporary music, I can think of many better known names they could have picked. (And that's not even considering the very able composers within the University's music department -- which would surely be a good advertisment in itself!)
I wondered if the people who commissioned Lord's work think that his rock background will attract young people to the university? If so, they've sorely misjudged it. The days that Jon Lord was a cool name among young people are thirty years behind us.
I don't think that young people are the 'key market' that the university is aiming at. I think that it's probably an attempt to grab industrial self-made-men types who otherwise might not be interested in the university. |
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'is this all we can do?' anonymous student of the University of Berkeley, California quoted in H. Draper, 'The new student revolt' (New York: Grove Press, 1965) http://www.myspace.com/itensemble |
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Kittybriton
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« Reply #7 on: 15:05:29, 10-09-2007 » |
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The lineup looks particularly interesting: Hammond organ (no Monty-Python gags please), Northumbrian pipes, cello and violin. I shall be expecting a detailed report. This is one of those moments when I really feel the distance, never mind the fact that I seldom travelled more than thirty miles for a recital when I was on home turf.
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Click me -> About meor me -> my handmade storeNo, I'm not a complete idiot. I'm only a halfwit. In fact I'm actually a catfish. |
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IgnorantRockFan
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« Reply #8 on: 21:57:43, 25-09-2007 » |
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In today's Journal (the up-market one of Newcastle's two daily papers) there is a half-page article about The Durham Concerto under the headline "Lord of the music performs world premier". "This is a sensational piece of music. Jon has used the medium of music to evoke the feeling, culture and history of Durham and the North-East of England." "It consists of six movements arranged into three parts - morning, afternoon and evening. Morning describes the cathedral at dawn then the town coming to life. Afternoon starts with a movement representing the monks carrying St Cuthbert's body from Lindisfarne, and concludes as the composer contemplates the view from Prebends Bridge. The last section, Evening, captures the high spirits of a student dance and a Miner's gala." Bill Bryson, travel writer, university chancellor [he is?  ] and champion of Durham said: "The prospect of a musician like jon Lord performing an original concerto in a breathtaking space like Durham Cathedral is terribly exciting, not just for the university but for music fans everywhere." |
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Allegro, ma non tanto
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harmonyharmony
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« Reply #9 on: 22:20:45, 25-09-2007 » |
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I didn't know that students round here had 'dances' nowadays. They all seem to be 'bops' and 'balls'. I take it he's also referring to the annual Miner's Gala rather than 'a Miner's gala' as if they happen all the time. Not sure I'd like a musical description of Durham coming to life in the morning. Grim.
I know I shouldn't preempt a premiere, just because I think that the programme sounds a bit wet, and I do hope from the university's point of view that it achieves what they were looking for. I would have liked something that expressed the anger and resentment of the collapse of industry rather than what appears, on the surface at least, to be a rather glib portrayal of the Gala. It does strike me that it's very much a 'tourist's view' of Durham, not something expressing the 'feeling, culture and history of Durham and the North-East of England', but what do I know?
Bill Bryson is the chancellor (and will be giving me my PhD next summer).
He has been for just over a year now.
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'is this all we can do?' anonymous student of the University of Berkeley, California quoted in H. Draper, 'The new student revolt' (New York: Grove Press, 1965) http://www.myspace.com/itensemble |
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aaron cassidy
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« Reply #10 on: 22:23:50, 25-09-2007 » |
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Bill Bryson is the chancellor (and will be giving me my PhD next summer).
He has been for just over a year now.
Wait, what, .... really?? How very odd. |
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martle
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« Reply #11 on: 09:21:59, 26-09-2007 » |
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Bill Bryson is the chancellor (and will be giving me my PhD next summer).
He has been for just over a year now.
Wait, what, .... really?? How very odd. Chancellors (as opposed to Vice-Chancellors, who do the real work) can be any old celeb you fancy, Aaron. Ours is Sir Richard 'Dickie' Attenborough - a lovely man. |
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Green. Always green.
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harmonyharmony
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« Reply #12 on: 13:53:52, 26-09-2007 » |
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The last one here was Peter Ustinov.
I was a bit miffed that they appointed Jean Luc Picard as chancellor of Huddersfield after I graduated...
It would have been nice to have degrees from Poirot, Picard, and... well I was hoping for Gandalf but Bryson will have to do.
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'is this all we can do?' anonymous student of the University of Berkeley, California quoted in H. Draper, 'The new student revolt' (New York: Grove Press, 1965) http://www.myspace.com/itensemble |
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IgnorantRockFan
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« Reply #13 on: 14:56:59, 26-09-2007 » |
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I would have liked something that expressed the anger and resentment of the collapse of industry rather than what appears, on the surface at least, to be a rather glib portrayal of the Gala. It does strike me that it's very much a 'tourist's view' of Durham, not something expressing the 'feeling, culture and history of Durham and the North-East of England', but what do I know? I must admit, that was my initial thought when I read the piece in the paper. But on reflection, that's almost certainly what the commission asked for... Feel good" music to present the region in a good light. Papering over the warts as it were. And to be honest, that will probbaly make for a more enjoyable evening than a piece full of doom and gloom. Yes there is a place for the heavy, gloomy pieces, but I would rather come out of a concert hall feeling uplifted, I think. But I really have no idea what to expect from the music. Mr Lord has never dissappointed me before, but I think this will be a bit different from anything else he's done. I'm trying to go without any preconceptions and I'll just see what I find... |
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Allegro, ma non tanto
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harmonyharmony
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« Reply #14 on: 15:02:59, 26-09-2007 » |
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But I really have no idea what to expect from the music. Mr Lord has never dissappointed me before, but I think this will be a bit different from anything else he's done. I'm trying to go without any preconceptions and I'll just see what I find...
Good for you. I don't have a real issue with him or with the music, but the way it's being whored out to the media as something that's more significant than it actually is. But this is HE and that's kind of the name of the game, isn't it? |
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'is this all we can do?' anonymous student of the University of Berkeley, California quoted in H. Draper, 'The new student revolt' (New York: Grove Press, 1965) http://www.myspace.com/itensemble |
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