Hamburger Concerto

Hamburger Concerto is the fourth studio album by the Dutch progressive rock band Focus, released in April 1974. It peaked at #20 on the UK charts.[2] The title track is based on Variations on a Theme by Haydn by Johannes Brahms. The composition also incorporates the first two verses of the Dutch Christmas carol O Kerstnacht, schoner dan de dagen at around 15 min.

This article is about the album by Focus. For a work by the composer Ligeti, see Hamburg Concerto.

Hamburger Concerto
Studio album by Focus
Released	April 1974 (1974-04)
Recorded	January–March 1974
Studio	Olympic Sound Studios
Genre	Progressive rock, instrumental rock
Length	40:06
Label	Polydor, Atco
Producer	Mike Vernon
Focus chronology
At the Rainbow (1973) Hamburger Concerto (1974) Mother Focus (1975)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Track listing

Vinyl release, 1974

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Delitæ Musicæ"	Jan Akkerman	1:12
2.	"Harem Scarem"	Thijs van Leer	5:51
3.	"La Cathedrale de Strasbourg"	van Leer	4:59
4.	"Birth"	Akkerman	7:46

Side two

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Hamburger Concerto I. Starter (Trad. arr. by van Leer) II. Rare (Akkerman) III. Medium I (van Leer, Akkerman) IV. Medium II (Akkerman) V. Well Done (van Leer) VI. One for the Road (Akkerman)"	20:20

CD release, 1988

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Delitæ Musicæ"	Jan Akkerman	1:13
2.	"Harem Scarem"	Thijs van Leer	5:52
3.	"La Cathedrale de Strasbourg"	van Leer	4:59
4.	"Birth"	Akkerman	7:46
5.	"Hamburger Concerto I. Starter (Trad. arr. by van Leer) II. Rare (Akkerman) III. Medium I (van Leer, Akkerman) IV. Medium II (Akkerman) V. Well Done (van Leer) VI. One for the Road (Akkerman)"		20:19
6.	"Early Birth"	Akkerman	2:54
Total length:			43:08

Personnel

• Thijs van Leer – Hammond organ, flute, piano, harpsichord, moog, ARP synthesizer, recorder, mellotron, non-lexical vocables, vocals, accordion, pipe organ
• Jan Akkerman – guitar
• Bert Ruiter – bass guitar
• Colin Allen – drums

References

1. "allmusic ((( Hamburger Concerto > Overview )))". www.allmusic.com. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
2. "Focus - Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 January 2016.