Such Sweet Thunder

Occupation

Such Sweet Thunder (dedicated to the Shakespearean Festival, Stratford, Ontario) - so the full title - is a jazz album by Duke Ellington, recorded in five recording sessions of 7 August 1956 to 3 May 1957 and released on Columbia Records in year 1987. This contains a the " Shakespearean Suite".

The album

Such Sweet Thunder ( originally called " Shakespearean Suite") belongs to Black, Brown and Beige ( with Mahalia Jackson 1958), the Far East Suite (1966 ), the New Orleans Suite ( 1970) and the African- Eurasian Eclipse (1971 ) of the most important recordings of extended suites of bandleader since the comeback of the Duke Ellington orchestra in 1956 at the Newport Jazz Festival.

Since its UK tour in 1933, where he visited William Shakespeare's birthplace, to Duke Ellington dealt with the idea of ​​writing a longer Suite to the work of the English poet. His acclaimed performance at the Stratford Shakespearean Festival in Canada (Ontario) in July 1956 led him to the first ideas of the suite " Such Sweet Thunder" while he is just another work, the suite " A Drum Is A Woman " busy. On April 28, 1957, the finished work has been performed in public at a concert in New York's " Town Hall ". The title of the suite is based on a line of text from Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream (A Midsummer Night's Dream) in the first scene of the fourth act: I never heard so musical a dischord, seeking sweet thunder.

The plan was the suite of Ellington and Billy Strayhorn as twelve -part work in the form of portraits of Shakespeare characters, the tragic, heroic and comic figures such as Cleopatra VII ( the Ellington the title track dedicated ), Julius Caesar, Hamlet ( Madness in Geat Ones ), Lady Macbeth, Henry V ( Sonnet to Hank Cinq ) or " Puck " ( Up and Down, Up and down) from the Midsummer Night's Dream. Even though Ellington claimed to have dealt long with the work of the poet, it doubted his biographer JL Collier; he has the impression that Ellington ( and Strayhorn's ) skills were rather superficial, there were many parts of the suite before, and they have in the best way associated with the work of Shakespeare and his characters Ellington and Strayhorn. Nevertheless, a work of impressive quality was. Especially the - by the impressive solo by Johnny Hodges - ballad " Star-Crossed Lovers ," the play about Romeo and Juliet, became a jazz standard. John Edward Haase commented the suite in his study of the work of Ellington: Ellington As Shakespeare wrote only for his troops.

For the special " Centennial Edition", which was issued to Ellington's centennial in 1999, the CD from the 35 -minute original LP was extended with additional material that had arisen at the five recording sessions to twice its length. Originally both mono and stereo versions of the individual parts of the suite were taken.

Effective history

Richard Cook and Brian Morton draw in their Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD from the album with the highest rating of four stars.

The title

Title of the album

Additional tracks on the CD edition from 1999

  • "The Star -Crossed Lovers" (also: "Pretty Girl") ( Ellington, Strayhorn ) - 4:15
  • "Circle of Fourths " ( Ellington, Strayhorn ) - 1:47
  • " Suburban Beauty" ( Ellington ) - 2:56
  • " A-Flat Minor" ( Ellington ) - 2:33
  • " Café au Lait " ( Ellington, Strayhorn ) - 2:49
  • "Half the Fun " (Alternate take) ( Ellington, Strayhorn ) - 4:08
  • " Suburban Beauty" (Alternate take) ( Ellington ) - 2:56
  • " A-Flat Minor" ( Outtake ) ( Ellington ) - 3:49
  • " Café au Lait " (also called " Star-Crossed Lovers" ) ( Outtake ) ( Ellington, Strayhorn ) - 6:21
  • "Pretty Girl" ( Ellington, Strayhorn ) - 8:54

Literature / Sources

  • Richard Cook & Brian Morton The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD 6th edition. ISBN 0-14-051521-6
  • Stanley Dance: liner notes to " The Private Collection Volume 1 - Studio Sessions, Chicago 1956 "
  • Hans Ruland: Duke Ellington - His life, his music, his records. Gauting, Oreos ( Jazz Collection ) 1985
  • Phil Shaap: Liner notes to SuchSweetThunder (1999)

Comments

  • Album ( Jazz )
  • Album 1957
  • Duke Ellington Album
Record label Genre Stratford (Ontario) Antony and Cleopatra Julius Caesar (play) Henry V (play) Jazzstandard Richard Cook (journalist)
753288
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