Driving through the Welsh mountains this last weekend with the most beautiful woman in the world, and listening to a Jon Lord CD, I began to think about which genre of music Jon Lord belongs, or should belong, if he belongs anywhere at all.

The CD in question is Pictured Within and was recorded and released back in 1998, and on first hearing might be considered to be a rock album for no other reason than Jon Lord was, is, the keyboard player with Deep Purple. But on second and third hearing, and in my case 40th hearing, the very personal music of Jon Lord can only sit within the classical category for the very simple reason that it uses all the musical ammunition available to the classical composer thereby creating a depth of emotional feeling that today is only found, for instance, in the work of such contemporary composers as John Tavener ( most obviously in The Protecting Veil), and John Adams, whose haunting piece, Harmonium, is probably, for such musicians as Jon Lord, a hugely influential source of creative possibilities.

Pictured Within uses a very simple format of piano, solo cello (very Tavener), solo violin and voice, backed by a small orchestra consisting of a handful of strings, a couple of French horns and a soprano saxophone. What Lord creates out of this small gathering is a huge earth shattering sound ( most notably in the title piece) that at other times, in the pieces ‘Mountain - sunset’, and ‘A Different Sky’, are also little more than whispers.

As with the aforementioned Tavener and Adams Jon Lord proves the point that contemporary music can be accessible and inclusive.

Buy Pictured Within by Jon Lord.

Steve Newman