Black, Brown and Beige

Black, Brown and Beige is a multi-movement work composed by Duke Ellington orchestra piece. It is considered his most celebrated work and one of the milestones of jazz music.

The piece

Black, Brown and Beige is an orchestral suite of well forty-five minutes duration, which was written for a big band line-up. Ellington described it as "a tone - parallel to the history of the American Negro" ( " sounding parallel to the history of the American Negro ").

The three sets bear the title "Black ", " Brown" and " Beige". The work is to be assigned by the instrumental ensemble and the style of jazz music, but structurally reminiscent of a symphony.

Formation

Duke Ellington began in late 1942 to work on the music for Black, Brown and Beige. But he had already planned in the late 1930s to write a work which should process the history of African Americans. In the Duke Ellington Collection of the Smithsonian Institution is a 39 -page script titled " Boola " which tells the story of an African told in verse form that arrives on a slave ship in the New World.

This project has begun never completed Ellington. But it was the source of inspiration for his most important large -scale work Black, Brown and Beige. So the titles of some parts of this work come just as the text in the part of The Blues from the Boola script.

Structure of the Suite ( 1943)

1 Work Song 2 Come Sunday 3 Light

4 West Indian Dance 5 Come Sunday 6 The Blues

7 A View from Central Park 8 Cy Runs Skirt Waltz 9 Interlude - Cy Runs Skirt Waltz 10 Sugar Hill Penthouse 11 Finale

Effect

Duke Ellington has the piece on January 23, 1943 premiered at his first concert at Carnegie Hall in New York with his Orchestra. Previously, it was advertised as Ellington's first symphony.

Black, Brown and Beige was a great success with the public, the reactions of the critics have been mixed. In the trade magazine Metronome was stressed that the suite deepened the possibilities of Ellington's band staff, Ellington's incredibly supported ambitions as a composer, with its wealth of beautiful melodies, fresh, expressive arrangements for the wind and his non-compliant rhythmic drive. Paul Bowles, at that time critic of the Herald Tribune, whilst accepting Ellington's claim, that it was in Black, Brown and Beige to art music, but came to the conclusion that the attempt to merge the jazz forms with art music was " disappointing " is assumed. Other critics denied the other hand, even that it had ever acted in the performance of Ellington and his orchestra at a concert. Even John Hammond was of the view that the so Ellington Jazz " devastated ". According to Ted Gioia 's work, despite some shortcomings (such as too many tempo changes and melodies in the last part ) is a milestone in the work of Ellington.

Although Black, Brown & Beige been characterized by some critics as a masterpiece, Ellington has be discouraged by negative reviews seem to, so he has never performed the suite after two concerts in Boston and Cleveland as a whole again. Individual parts of the various sentences, such as " Work Song " and " Come Sunday ", but he has played in various combinations.

As Ellington in December 1944 occurred for the second time at Carnegie Hall, he has the piece cut to more than half; only six sets have been performed, which came mainly from the first two parts Black and Brown and is best worked through were ( Claudia Roth Pierpont thought that the third part, Beige, was still in the development process, since Ellington here the night before the premiere was hand created; beige Ellington himself had also been critical to the states in today's Harlem ).

On the first gramophone recording (RCA 2115524-2 ) was listening to the same selection in even only 18 minutes. 1958 advanced recording was released, in which the first six parts of the suite are interpreted by the Duke Ellington Orchestra, recreating a new part 23rd Psalm; the gospel singer Mahalia Jackson contends the vocal parts. The album, which also contained two more pieces, track 360 and Blues in Orbit, has been published under the title Black, Brown and Beige.

The premiere in 1943 was not recorded by Ellington's former record company RCA Victor, as the length of the piece would have represented an effort, which was then subject to classical music. Employee technicians at Carnegie Hall but had made ​​a private recording, which was finally published in 1977.

Disco Graphical Notes

• Duke Ellington - Carnegie Hall Concerts January 1943 ( Prestige Records )
• Duke Ellington and His Orchestra - Black, Brown & Beige (The 1944-1946 band Recordings) (RCA Victor )
• Duke Ellington - Carnegie Hall Concerts December 1944 ( Prestige )
• Duke Ellington and His Orchestra Featuring Mahalia Jackson - Black, Brown And Beige (Columbia, 1958)
• Claude Bolling Black, Brown & Beige (Milan, 1993)