Rock 'n' Roll in Four Movements

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BBC Radio 4 Extra - Rock 'n' Roll in Four Movements

Stuart Maconie on rock musicians who combined symphony and pop music in the 60s and 70s

Stuart Maconie on rock musicians who combined symphony and pop music. With Rick Wakeman, Roy Wood and Ivan Hewett. From 2012.

When Rock 'n' Roll began, it was music of rebellion, fighting against the strait-laced world of classical music. Then along came Jon Lord…

Lord combined the forces of Deep Purple with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in ‘Concerto for Rock Group and Orchestra’. It premiered in 1969 at London’s Royal Albert Hall under the baton of Malcolm Arnold. 

From that point until the arrival of Punk in the late seventies, rockers like The Nice, Emerson Lake and Palmer and Rick Wakeman embraced this hybrid genre. Rick Wakeman in particular became known for his elaborate stage shows which matched the ambition of his music. 

Stuart Maconie talks to Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson about the genre's excesses. We hear from Roy Wood about the early days of the Electric Light Orchestra. And the late Jon Lord, in his last ever recorded interview, talks about his passion for writing classical music, inspired by his early experiment with the genre.

Stuart Maconie feels some of it was actually very good. However, classical music critic, Ivan Hewett, is pleased that the genre was largely killed off by Punk. Although, in his view, there are better examples where classical and pop sensibilities are successfully combined, by the likes of Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead and Damon Albarn.

Producer: Nick Holmes

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2012.

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