When the word ‘composer’ pops up in conversation, most of our minds immediately wander to the Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall rather than considering the realms of rock or pop music.
Of course, every musician is a composer to some degree, even if their creations are never played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in a prestigious building. A song is a song, whether it’s written out by hand as a score, knocked up in ProTools in a teenager’s scruffy bedroom, or made in a studio collectively by a band.
Which leads us nicely on to the subject of Deep Purple’s Ritchie Blackmore, a man who is unashamedly a rock musician through and through, but he’s always worn his love of classical music on his sleeve. As his work developed over the years, this deep-rooted appreciation for the genre has been sewn into every lick that he’s ever produced.
When Blackmore uses the term composer, we’ve got to take into account his love of classical music and understand that this is a bloke who wouldn’t bandy around such a word without giving it excess thought.
During an interview with Sounds in 1979, he shared, “At 16, I didn’t want to know about classical music: I’d had it rammed down my throat. But now I feel an obligation to tell the kids ‘look, just give classical music a chance’.”
“The only music that ever moves me is very disciplined classical music, which I can’t play.” _Ritchie Blackmore
On the subject of rock giants with a penchant for all things classical, it feels generally good practice to loop back around to the great Paul McCartney when trying to settle a debate. (This is a rule I think we all should abide by.) In a post on his website in 2024, McCartney explained how he used Bach as a musical inspiration to write ‘Blackbird’, and also said of his love of Mozart: “With Mozart, I often remember something he’s supposed to have said: ‘I use the notes that love each other’. I’m paraphrasing, but that’s the sentiment. And I agree! In a great chord certain notes love each other. So that’s my main Mozart inspiration.”
While McCartney’s subconscious use of classical music as an inspiration is lost on many who hear his work, Blackmore hears it loud and proud. He considers McCartney to be one of the greats when it comes to the art of composition.
In 1987, McCartney’s career was in a strange place. He was too young to be a legend, but too old to be viewed as a contemporary star. Fighting his corner was Blackmore, who told Metal Hammer: “I was reading the Melody Maker the other day and there was this stuff about Paul McCartney. They were just crucifying him; the best composer we’ve had in the past hundred years.”
“They were saying that he had too much money and he was overweight with this horrible wife. I can imagine them saying the same thing about Beethoven in his day,” he continued.
Almost four decades later, Blackmore’s once controversial opinion is now widely accepted. While nobody would be mad enough to call his back catalogue classical music in the traditional sense, it will continue to soundtrack lives for hundreds of years to come, and McCartney’s name will likely be revered in the same way as the likes of Beethoven or Bach are today.In 1987, McCartney’s career was in a strange place. He was too young to be a legend, but too old to be viewed as a contemporary star. Fighting his corner was Blackmore, who told Metal Hammer: “I was reading the Melody Maker the other day and there was this stuff about Paul McCartney. They were just crucifying him; the best composer we’ve had in the past hundred years.”
“They were saying that he had too much money and he was overweight with this horrible wife. I can imagine them saying the same thing about Beethoven in his day,” he continued.
Almost four decades later, Blackmore’s once controversial opinion is now widely accepted. While nobody would be mad enough to call his back catalogue classical music in the traditional sense, it will continue to soundtrack lives for hundreds of years to come, and McCartney’s name will likely be revered in the same way as the likes of Beethoven or Bach are today.