 | The Ellington Century Subjects: Jazz -- History and criticism; Jazz -- Analysis appreciation; Ellington Duke 1899–1974 -- Criticism and interpretation; Music -- 20th century -- History and criticism; Esteemed composer and musician Schiff (George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue) flexes his authorial muscles once again with a self-confessed "bundle of love letters" to the late, great jazz pianist and big band leader Duke Ellington. In true jazz fashion, Schiff exults, "I allowed myself to be disorderly and intuitive, as if I were improvising." But Schiff is nevertheless rather methodical in walking the reader through Ellington's groundbreaking sound-counting bars, tapping tempos, expounding on transitions, and always reveling in the music. A gifted painter in his youth and an artist in every sense, "Ellington called many of his compositions tone parallels' or portraits'; his music linked sounds and images." Schiff compliments this notion with quotations from Copland, Schoenberg, Rilke, Rimbaud, and Zola to contextualize and highlight the "complex web of sensory associations" and ultimately conceive a "jazz panorama" made up of the technical elements of Ellington's unique style. Dissecting the form of perhaps his most famous "mood" composition, "Mood Indigo," Schiff addresses the "syntax" and "imagery" of the piece; evoking "love, tears, the railway." Always musically rather than autobiographically focused (even links to Kandinsky are made on artistic terms, not social), Schiff plainly argues the accessibility of Ellington's "Symbolist aesthetic." Drawing parallels with the sophisticated, calculated compositions of Debussy, while still acknowledging the juxtaposition of improvisation and "Arcane modernism," Schiff's ode to Ellington is a joy. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. Schiff David : David Alan Schiff is R.P. Wollenberg Professor of Music at Reed College. He is a composer, journalist whose articles have appeared in publications including the New York Times and the Atlantic, and the author of George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue and The Music of Elliot Carter. |
