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Abstract
Perfect Strangers: Inter-Scene Engagement in Concerto for Group and Orchestra: This dissertation investigates Concerto for Group and Orchestra (CfGaO), a pioneering 1969 event in which rock and classical music scenes intersected through Deep Purple’s collaboration with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Malcolm Arnold’s baton. Composed by the band’s Jon Lord, CfGaO represents a formative attempt to unify rock and classical music within a live, interdependent framework at London’s Royal Albert Hall, a setting steeped in classical tradition. The study employs musicological and social psychological frameworks to unpack how scene members—musicians, critics, and audiences—negotiated genre contracts in real-time, spanning rehearsal to reception. In analyzing CfGaO’s composition, its mixed critical reception, and subsequent influence on rock-classical fusion, this work situates CfGaO as a catalyst that expanded the possibilities for crossover in popular music. Ultimately, this study underscores the concert’s reflection of musical identity, inviting deeper discourse on the interplay between genre, culture, and social identity.