Jon Lord (1941-2012) is an icon in rock music, his image known to millions, with albums he played on selling nearly 70 million copies and having downloads of close to 900 million.

He co-founded Deep Purple in 1968 and played with legends like George Harrison, David Gilmour, Ritchie Blackmore, Rick Wakeman and Tony Iommi and with musical luminaries like Anni-Frid Lyngstad of ABBA, Andy Summers of The Police and composers and conductors, Sir Malcolm Arnold and Eberhard Schoener. His is one of the defining success stories in music: a rock musician who legitimately became a celebrated orchestral composer.

Lord redefined how rock and classical co-exist with the landmark Concerto for Group and Orchestra in 1969. He did unique work on the ubiquitous rock standard, “Smoke on the Water”, as well as other Deep Purple classics like “Highway Star”, “Child in Time” and “Burn”. Exploring the sounds and textures he created became a research challenge, but also a labour of love.