Jon Lord arr. Paul Mann
(version for String Orchestra by Paul Mann, 2016)
Jon Lord prefaced the original version for string quartet with the following programme note:
In an abandoned ballroom in a small town somewhere in the heart of Spain, a lone man, far advanced in years, but still proud of bearing, walks slowly onto the dusty dance floor.
He stands for a while, gazing into his past.
Then, with only a slight hesitation, he begins to dance.
As he grows more sure, he dances in memory of long ago and far away, and of loves won and lost.
The dance ends, and with a wistful smile and a stiff bow to the ghosts,
he walks out into the night.
Jon had intended to make a version for string orchestra but, one way and another, it never materialised. With Martin Anderson’s extraordinary project to commission and record works for string orchestra in memory of his partner Yodit Tekle, who died of cancer on 24 April 2015, I feel sure that Jon, as a friend of Martin’s and proud patron of Toccata Classics, would have wanted to contribute. I have therefore tried to bring to this arrangement the spirit that Jon himself would have brought, had he still been here. —Paul Mann
Paul Mann, a long-time friend and musical collaborator of Jon Lord’s, is currently embarked upon the editing of Lord’s complete works for his publishers Schott and De Haske (Hal Leonard/EMI Music). This version of Zarabanda Solitaria appears by kind permission of the Estate of Jon Lord.