The Similarities Between Classical Music and Ellingtons...

One of the greatest tragedies in the 20th century can be seen in the debasing of the Jazz genre as a unworthy equal to it’s predecessor, European Classical music. This can be seen in various statements about Jazz, such as Boris Gibalin commit, â€Å"The â€Å"Jazz Mania† has taken on the character of a lingering illness and must be cured by means of forceful intervention.†1 This conflict can be traced through out the history of Jazz, as Classical composers have relatively disregarded this new type of music. Before Duke Ellington’s Cotton Club performances, Jazz play on the radio was delegated for late night audience only. This sub-culture treatment has led many critics to disregard the Jazz movement as a dance craze, or unsuccessful†¦show more content†¦Complete artistic improvisational is only accomplished by the single performer, but â€Å"Yet the moment a group or a collective improvisational steps in some relatively simple and more or less in flexible convention becomes essential if mere chaos is to be kept at bay.†3 This is why Duke Ellington’s Orchestra played such an integrate role in his development of musical scores. It is here that we see the originality of Duke Ellington, for in his tailoring a piece around the performer, he created the impression of pure interpretations within the framework of structure. As Duke once said, â€Å"Another theory they hold is that there is such thing as a unadulterated improvisation without any preparation or anticipation. It is my firm belief that there has never been anyone who has blown even two bars worth listening to who didn’t have some idea what he was going to play, before he started†4 This is an important aspect to bear in mind for this argument, for the mistake that Classical critics make is this distortion of the improvisational aspect to such extremes that one would believe that no compositional writing takes place. While obviously some improvi sation happens in Jazz assembles, it is not that extreme, and in Ellington’s case this improvisation of certain musicians was actually written in the piece. â€Å"Ellington work is centered on the interplay between written and improvised music.†5 As one can see both types of composers utilize their musicians toShow MoreRelatedThe Similarities Between Classical Music and Ellingtons Jazz2455 Words   |  10 Pagesdebasing of the Jazz genre as a unworthy equal to its predecessor, European Classical music. This can be seen in various statements about Jazz, such as Boris Gibalin commit, The Jazz Mania has taken on the character of a lingering illness and must be cured by means of forceful intervention.1 This conflict can be traced through out the history of Jazz, as Classical composers have relatively disregarded this new type of music. Before Duke Ellingtons Cotton Club performances, Jazz play on the radioRead MoreEssay on Charles Mingus in the 1950s3762 Words   |  16 PagesMingus in the 1950s Charles Mingus is one of the most original and influential jazz composers of the twentieth century. He created the second-largest volume of jazz work after Duke Ellington (McDonough 20), and is the first African-American composer to have his work acquired by the Library of Congress (Harrington B1). Mingus is known for his unusual style of composing and playing, which attempted to reconcile jazz improvisation with orchestration, in order for the final composition to conform most