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Music reflects culture. From whatever era and in whatever form,
whether J.S. Bach's compositions for organ, the pentatonic tones
of China's zheng, or panpipes from the Andes, music is a product
of the culture. Ellington's music, too, reflects a particular
time and society-- twentieth-century America and the social issues
of the day. Just as Ellington the artist painted with musical
colors, so his pieces often carried titles using color both artistically
and racially: Black and Tan Fantasie, Black, Brown, and Beige,
Black Beauty.
Created in the climate of the Harlem Renaissance, these pieces
were played to white crowds at the Cotton Club, a nightclub featuring
dancing and production numbers against a decor of jungle-motif
murals. One coloristic style popularized here became known as
"jungle-style" music, recognized by its driving rhythms and unusual
sounds produced by muted brass.
Drawing from the life around, the compositions reflected sounds
of the cars, trains, streets, and bustling city life. Harlem
Airshaft conveys the life clustered around the backs of Harlem
tenement buildings, an area that Ellington referred to as "one
big loudspeaker."
The audio clips used in the lessons require the RealPlayer software, which can be acquired free from
Real Networks web site.
 Click
here to listen to Harlem Airshaft.
In the mid 1940s, Ellington's work moved away from dance band
music and became increasingly serious. Post-war society, too,
changed its focus away from club dancing and towards young family
life.
In 1963, Ellington toured Jordan, Pakistan, India, Ceylon, Iraq,
Iran, and Lebanon for the U.S. State Department as an ambassador
of goodwill, the same year Martin Luther King marched for civil
rights in Washington D.C. From these travels, Ellington and Billy
Strayhorn wrote Isfahan. The following year, Ellington toured
Japan, resulting in Ad Lib on Nippon.
Click
here to listen to a section from Come Sunday.
By the 1960s, The Concert of Sacred Music, an oratorio-like piece
including 1943's Come Sunday, was performed by Ellington's group
in American and British churches. The warm reception by audiences
given to this oratorio encouraged him to compose Second Sacred
Concert in 1968 and Third Sacred Concert in 1973.
Think about Duke Ellington's life and work. When you are ready,
answer the questions below.
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