Jon Lord with the sheet music for “Pictured Within” in front of him. Keyboardist Magnus Johansen in the background.
About to begin the rehearsals for another number, Jon Lord sits at the grand piano with the sheet music in front of him. Keyboardist Magnus Johansen in the background.
In this photo the focal plane also is on the sheet music itself, so at least I (having access to the full size files and being able to zoom in to 100 %) can read what it says.
“Pictured Within“.
As conductor and friend Paul Mann writes on the notes for the score on the official Jon Lord page:
“Edward Elgar dedicated his Enigma Variations, a series of musical character sketches, ‘to my friends pictured within’, and it is from this that Jon took the title of his 1997 album.
The intensely elegiac nature of the album as a whole taps into that same peculiarly English vein of melancholy which Jon so loved about his great musical ancestor. As with its companion, Evening Song, Pictured Within contains clear references to Enigma’s most celebrated movement, Nimrod, and while the motivic resemblances may be subconscious, it is certainly no coincidence that Jon chose to reflect Elgar’s paean to the love of friends and family in his own very personal music.”
The album for which “Pictured Within” was the title track was released in 1998. Jon was still a member of Deep Purple, but none knew at the time that he had recorded his final studio album with the band. “Pictured Within” was Jon’s first work involving orchestral music since “Sarabande“ in 1976 and his first solo album since “Before I Forget” from 1982.
The album being mainly instrumental, the title track and two songs written with and sung by Sam Brown were the exceptions. The title track reflects the contemplative nature of the music.
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