![]() ![]() Third, the second variation literally repeats the melodic theme, thus functioning as a sort of internal recapitulation and thereby suggesting a fusing of variation with rondo form. Second, the variation movement begins and ends in the same key (which would be normal for most composers, but not Stravinsky, who only adheres to this practice in one other composition, the Sonata for Two Pianos). Īmongst Stravinsky's compositions using variation form, the concerto is unusual for several reasons. The final variation, marked "Vivo", features the solo clarinet in one last virtuoso display. ![]() The finale is a theme and variations with a coda. The second movement is a blues in F minor, turning to F major at the end. The first movement is a sonata-allegro in B ♭ major with a second subject in E ♭ major. Movements Ī typical performance lasts about eleven minutes. Stravinsky's original plan was to include an oboe as well, but this instrument did not survive into the final version of the score. The horn and harp were additions to the normal make-up of the Herman band. The Ebony Concerto is scored for solo clarinet in B ♭ and a jazz band consisting of two alto saxophones in E ♭, two tenor saxophones in B ♭, baritone saxophone in E ♭, three clarinets in B ♭ (doubled by first and second alto and first tenor saxophone players), bass clarinet in B ♭ (doubled by second tenor saxophone), horn in F, five trumpets in B ♭, three trombones, piano, harp, guitar, double bass, and drum set. "After the very first rehearsal, at which we were all so embarrassed we were nearly crying because nobody could read, he walked over and put his arm around me and said, 'Ah, what a beautiful family you have.'" Instrumentation Instead, he "wrote pure Stravinsky", and the band did not feel at all comfortable with the score initially. Herman found the solo part frighteningly difficult, and did not feel that Stravinsky had really adapted his writing to the jazz-band idiom. In February 1946 the composer chose Walter Hendl, assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic, to conduct the premiere at Carnegie Hall the following month, but Stravinsky himself first rehearsed the band-backstage at New York's Paramount Theatre, where they were appearing at the time. The score of the first two movements was delivered to Herman on November 22, 1945, and the finale followed on December 10. Stravinsky withdrew from the agreement until his lawyer, Aaron Sapiro, convinced him that no offense had been intended. The project nearly foundered when a publicity story was published in September 1945, claiming a "collaboration" between Stravinsky and Herman. If he had not previously heard them, he now listened to recordings of the Herman band, and went so far as to consult a saxophonist in order to learn how the instrument is fingered. Once having accepted the commission, Stravinsky decided to create a jazz-based version of a concerto grosso, with a blues as the slow movement. Hefti had not, but pretended he had done so, and he embellished his story by claiming, "I played him the records, and he thinks they're great." The rumor quickly spread, and within two days the publisher Lou Levy of Leeds Music had arranged for Herman to contact Stravinsky (who probably had never heard the Herman band up to that point), and this led to the commission of the concerto. Hefti and his trumpeter colleague, Pete Candoli, were both great fans of Stravinsky's music, so after Hefti returned to the band after six months spent in California working in the film industry, Candoli wanted to know if he had met the great man. However, according to Herman's trumpeter and arranger Neal Hefti, this story may be somewhat embroidered. ![]() ![]() The official blurb published with the score says that Stravinsky had been so impressed with recordings of the Herman band, such as "Bijou", "Goosey Gander", and " Caldonia", that, when asked, he agreed to write a piece for them with a solo clarinet part for Herman. The composer explained that his title does not refer to the clarinet, as might be supposed, but rather to Africa, because "the jazz performers I most admired at that time were Art Tatum, Charlie Parker, and the guitarist Charles Christian. The title was originally suggested to Stravinsky by Aaron Goldmark, of Leeds Music Corporation, who had negotiated the commission and suggested the form it should take. Although traces of jazz elements, especially blues and boogie-woogie, can be found in his music throughout the 1920s and 1930s, it was only with the Ebony Concerto that Stravinsky once again incorporated features of jazz into a composition on a far-reaching scale. Stravinsky's engagement with jazz dates back to the closing years of the First World War, the major jazz-inspired works of that period being L'histoire du soldat, the Ragtime for eleven instruments, and the Piano-Rag-Music. ![]()
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