Concerto by hand

An exclusive insight into the 1999 drafting of Jon‘s reconstructed Concerto for Group and Orchestra.

Buried in storage for more than 13 years, conductor Paul Mann‘s draft of the first movement has recently come to light, documenting in vivid detail the process that followed Marco de Goiej‘s famous reconstruction during which composer and conductor spent the spring and summer of 1999 working on the long-lost score in preparation for the 30th anniversary performances at London’s Royal Albert Hall in September 1999.

Photos and captions by Paul Mann. Click on photos to see large versions.

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1. The second page of the first movement, showing the re-voicing of the wind parts in Paul’s hand, and Jon’s notation of the horn parts. (Jon has marked nos. I-IV here to distinguish from the places where the horns were doubled, as per Malcolm Arnold’s original suggestion.):

2. Detail showing the extent to which Jon and Paul worked together. The pencil marks are Jon’s, the ink marks are Paul’s:

3. One of the bars that was removed from the score in the rather ruthless process of tightening the Concerto’s structure. Some of these cuts were restored in the studio recording.:

4. Fiddling with detail, and deciding on the meter:

5. More revisions based on Marco’s original:

6. An entirely rewritten page in Paul’s hand:

7. Non digital cut-and-paste:

8. Jon’s question “French Horn” answered by Paul writing the part in:

9. More cut and paste:

10. Paul’s note to Jon – Marco originally had the flute on what Ian Paice famously described as the “silly” tune:

11. One of Paul’s (“rather cheeky”) notes to the composer, suggesting a cut, referring to the passage where Jon quotes Holst’s Jupiter:

12. …and the bars that Jon agreed to cut:

13. And Jon’s note to Paul about woodwind parts, with Paul’s reply alongside:

14. Jon’s note to himself about violins:

15. Part of Marco’s original (and very brave) attempt to transcribe one of Ritchie’s guitar solos. Not of course included in the final version:

16. Another rejected page:

17. Rewriting the clarinet cadenza:

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