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“Ebony Concerto” (1945)
Work suggested by ... Sir Andrew Davis
Composer ... Igor Stravinsky
“Stravinsky's Ebony Concerto
is an important example of a jazz-influenced,
symphonic work.”
Premiering on March 25, 1946, at New York's Carnegie Hall, composer Igor Stravinsky's Ebony Concerto for clarinet and jazz band was written shortly after the end of World War II and represents a highly celebrated work from his neo-classical period. Written specifically for clarinetist Woody Herman and his orchestra, Stravinsky described his stylistic approach to the piece as "a jazz concerto grosso with a blues slow movement."
During this period in his renowned, international career, Stravinsky's 1940 emigration to America brought about his increasing immersion in the world of commercial music, while also spending much of his time in California, moving largely in émigré circles, surrounded by friends such as Szigeti, Rubinstein, Rachmaninoff, and others. From his home in West Hollywood (1941), Stravinsky had been composing numerous works for Broadway, radio, and film, including his Scherzo á la russe for a 1944 broadcast of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, as well as the Broadway dance-revue Scènes de ballet that same year, and various film-music sketches that would eventually result in his Symphony in Three Movements (1945).
By the time of his collaboration with Stravinsky, clarinetist Woody Herman had become world renowned for both his instrumental abilities and his transformative role at the forefront of the American big band era. During their 1946 Carnegie Hall performance, the Woody Herman Orchestra consisted of numerous, gifted instrumentalists, and their performances included the world premieres of both Stravinsky's Ebony Concerto and the extended work Summer Sequence by celebrated, American composer Ralph Burns.
By the time Stravinsky had gained his full, U.S. citizenship, in 1945, he had long-since embraced the defining spirit at the heart of the American experience, and continued to be influenced by its literature, music, and philosophy, throughout his lifetime. In a discussion with his long-time associate and friend Robert Craft, the Russian-born Stravinsky stated "Ebony Concerto is my contribution to the blues, and the flute, harp and clarinet music of the slow movement of my Symphony in Three Movements is my gift to boogie-woogie."
About Igor Stravinsky:
(b Oranienbaum, Russia, 5/17 June 1882; d New York, 6 April 1971). Russian composer, later of French (1934) and American (1945) nationality. One of the most widely performed and influential composers of the twentieth-century, Stravinsky displayed an inexhaustible desire to learn and explore all forms of art, literature, and human experience. While never losing touch with his Russian origins, and spanning orchestral, dramatic, choral, ballet, piano, and chamber works, his music consistently reflected the diversity of the modern age.
About Sir Andrew Davis:
(b Ashridge, England, 2 Feb 1944). English conductor. One of Britain's foremost conductors, Sir Andrew Davis was appointed CBE in 1992 and was knighted in 1999. As Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1989 to 2000, and currently serving as its first-ever Conductor Laureate, his distinguished tenure was the longest since its founder Sir Adrian Boult. Highly regarded for his distinction in the field of opera, he became Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Lyric Opera of Chicago in September 2000.
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