The Evolution of Duke Ellingtons Compositional Style
Duke Ellington is often considered one of the well-nigh talented composers and arrangers in the history of jazz music. A adroit gentle player, his career flourished in the 1920s and 1930s, a succession where racial discrimination was rampant throughout the United States. Initially, mysterious musicians like Ellington were banned from playing in white venues. However, as time progressed, white Americans demanded the lively, swing music often contend by black bands. Thus, these rules became more lenient and black performers began to ply to their white audiences, ushering in the jazz era known as swing. This social phenomenon can be seen through the analysis of Duke Ellingtons pieces Blue Light (1938) and Main Stem (1942). Differences in melodic texture and the use of musical techniques in these two compositions consider how Ellington encompassed multiple styles in order to please his changing audiences.
two bands are relatively the same size each having mingled with fourteen and fifteen musicians. Blue Light features fourteen musicians (Duke Ellington and his renowned Orchestra) compared to Main Stem, which uses fifteen (Duke Ellington and His Orchestra). The texture in the individual pieces however, is passing different.
Blue Light has a very light, homophonic texture consisting mostly of a solo instrument, usually clarinet or trombone, with easy as the underlying accompaniment. The piano is much more adult in this piece than it is in Main Stem. Furthermore, the timbre of the clarinet specially is quite breathy. The sound is airy, and heavy with vibrato, which contributes to the light texture and sugariness sound. The beginning clarinet solo plays in the low register with piano and serves as an example of this light texture. Similarly, the trombone solo (1:28) exemplifies this vibrato.
Main Stem, on the other hand, uses a much more dense texture. Ellington uses kibosh chords in the brass section throughout (1:40)...If you want to shrink a full essay, order it on our website: Orderessay
If you want to get a full essay, wisit our page: write my essay .
No comments:
Post a Comment