Великие композиторы всех времен. Дюк Эллингтон

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Выполнила студентка ИОМК им. Ф. Шопена
2 курс. Отделение Музыкальное искусство эстрады

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(1899-1974)

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Family
His father, James Edward, was a
butler and served in the White
House for a while.
His mother was deeply
religious and played the piano
well, so religion and music
played a big role in his
upbringing.
The boy was surrounded by
prosperity, peace and parental
love. His mother gave him
piano lessons.

4.

The school where the
musician studied
specialized in applied
arts. Edward has
mastered the art of a
poster artist. In 1917,
Edward quit his job as a
poster artist and took
up music. Ellington
began playing in jazz
orchestras, unofficially
studying piano skills
with famous
Washington musicians.

5.

Edward assembled his first band in 1919. The band included
saxophonist Otto Hardwick and drummer Sonny Greer,
trumpeter Arthur Whetsall. One day, the owner of a New York
bar heard their performance. He offered the guys to perform
with him for several years, and the owner of the bar
guarantees them an audience and a good reward. Kennedy and
the company agreed and in 1922 began performing at Barron's
Bar in Harlem as the "Washingtonians" quartet. They were
invited to perform at
other venues.
The success gave the
quartet members the
opportunity to get to
know the local public
both creative and
influential people.
To match the New Yorkers,
Kennedy began to dress in
bright and expensive
clothes, for which he
received the playful
nickname Duke from his
comrades

6.

Career
In 1926, Edward met Irwin Mills, who
later became his manager. In 1927,
Ellington and his team moved to the
Cotton Club jazz club in New York,
where he performed before the first
concert tour of the country. During
this time period, such compositions
as Creole Love Call, Black and Tan
Fantasy and The Mooche were
written.
In 1931, the first tour of the Ellington
Jazz Ensemble took place. A year later,
Duke performed with the orchestra at
Columbia University.
It is believed that this period of the
musician's life was the peak of his
career, because it was then that he
wrote his legendary works «It Don't
Mean a Thing» and «Star-Crossed
Lovers.»

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In fact, Duke became the progenitor of the
swing genre, writing the compositions
Stormy Weather and Sophisticated Lady in
1933. In 1933, Ellington and his musicians
embarked on the first European tour, the
main event of which was a performance at
the London Palladium Concert Hall.
Inspired by the success of the European tour,
the musicians set off on a new one, this time
first in South America and then in the USA. At
the end of the tour, Ellington wrote a new hit
song, Caravan. in 1935, Duke's mother died,
but the jazzman managed to overcome the
crisis by writing the song Reminiscing in
Tempo

8.

In 1936, Ellington first wrote the music for Sam Wood's
motion picture A Day at the Races. A year later, new
musicians joined Duke's team in the person of tenor
saxophonist Ben Webster and double bassist Jimmy
Blanton. In 1942, Ellington wrote the music for the film
"Cabin in the Clouds", and in January of the following
year he assembled a full concert hall in New York
Nevertheless, in 1956 he managed to make a
spectacular return to jazz by performing at
the Newport Genre Festival. After the
concert, the composer's photo appeared on
the cover of Time magazine, and the record
label Columbia Records signed a new
contract with him. The release of Ellington at
Newport became the best-selling album in
Ellington's creative biography.

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Later, together with arranger William
Strayhorn and new performers, Ellington
delighted listeners with such compositions as
Lady Mac and Madness in Great Ones, based
on the works of William Shakespeare. The
sixties became the second peak in the
musician's career-during this period, Duke
was awarded eleven Grammy Awards in a
row. A star was installed in his honor on the
"Walk of Fame" in Hollywood
and in 1969, Ellington received the Order of
Duke Ellington's Star on the Walk of Fame
Freedom. The award was presented to him
by US President Richard Nixon himself.
In 1971, the musician and his orchestra came
to the USSR and held a successful concert

10.

Personal life
The musician's personal life was as intense as
his creative career. Duke got married quite
early, at the age of nineteen, on July 2, 1918.
His childhood friend Edna Thompson
became his wife. A year later, the couple had
a son, who was named Mercer. Later, he
continued his father's business — he became
interested in jazz and headed a big band. The
couple's second child died in early childhood.

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Duke could not be called
an exemplary family
man: he led a rather
frivolous lifestyle, it was
even rumored that the
composer flirted with
the wives of the
musicians of his
orchestra. Edna's
patience snapped, and
the couple broke up.
However, they never got
a divorce, moreover, they
were able to maintain
friendly relations, and
Ellington supported his
former sweetheart for
the rest of his life.

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The Death of Duke Ellington
In 1973, the composer was diagnosed with lung cancer. The following year, he
contracted pneumonia and fell ill. All together, it was the cause of death. On May 24,
1974, the jazzman died. He was buried three days later at New York's oldest Woodlawn
Cemetery, located in the Bronx.
Ellington was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize, and in 1976 a center named
after him was established at St. Peter's Lutheran Church.

13.

1940 — The Okeh
Ellington
1944 — Black, Brown
& Beige
1952 — This Is Duke
Ellington And His
Orchestra
1957 — In A Mellotone
1959 — Festival
Session
1964 — The Great
London Concerts
1964 — One O'Clock
Jump
1968 — And Mother
Called Him Bill
1972 — The
Ellington Suites

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interesting facts
Despite the fact that Ellington paid
attention to his appearance, there were
times when he simply could not control
his insatiable appetite. Therefore, his
assistants began to call him "The Fat
Man»
Ellington composed not only jazz music,
but also spiritual music.
In his youth, Duke was really interested
in baseball. But speaking of baseball, he
got his first job selling peanuts at
Washington Senators games.
Duke Ellington has won the Grammy
Award 11 times. He was also a Knight of
the Legion of Honor. The musician
posthumously received the Pulitzer Prize.
The musician's favorite composers were
Debussy and Ravel.

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Thank you for your attention