Comparison Of Duke Ellington And Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Duke Ellington and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, The Nutcracker Suite (Objective Review)

Ellington/Strayhorn/Tchaikovsky | Nutcracker Suite Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) was a Russian composer best known for 1812 Overture and The Nutcracker. Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, written in 1892, was based on E. T. A. Hoffmann’s The Nutcracker and The Mouse, written in 1816. The ballet is a regular staple of the holiday season, with many dance companies, both big and small, taking the opportunity to perform The Nutcracker.

Duke Ellington (1899-1974) was one of the greatest jazz musicians of our time, acting as a pianist, bandleader, and composer. Along with this, Ellington is widely known for being one of the originators of the big band genre.

He often worked with Duke Ellington, with Strayhorn writing a significant amount of Ellington’s repertoire (Colburn School). Strayhorn spent a lot of time in Hillsborough, North Carolina with his grandmother, who he said was his primary influence during his childhood. Strayhorn composed the classic theme of the Duke Ellington Orchestra, “Take the ‘A’ Train”.

The Nutcracker Suite by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn was released in 1960, creating Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker in a new, jazzy interpretation. Melody is defined as a succession of pitches in rhythm. The melody is usually the most memorable, creating an ear worm for listeners. The Nutcracker Suite has nine different movements, meaning that there are many melodies throughout the suite. One very recognizable melody to any listener would be that of Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies, or in this case, Sugar Rum Cherry. From right around the ten-minute mark in the piece to just after the eleven-minute mark listeners can hear the main melody of the piece. At 12:40 in the piece short segments of this melody are repeated, fading out in a decrescendo to end the movement. In each movement it was easy to tell which original movement a melody was from, because Ellington and Strayhorn kept the intentions of the orginal melodies while changing the tones of the countermelodies and

Throughout a piece the dynamic level can change, either very suddenly for effect, or with the use of crescendos and decrescendos. Throughout the piece the band uses different dynamic levels and orchestration to emphasize the main melody compared to the solos and background bits. The band was typically very loud when playing the main Sesame Street melody or leading into the main melody. The band’s use of dynamics to convey the main themes was very powerful, because it definitely drew attention back to what was happening.

Tempo is the musical time of a piece. Tempo indicates the speed of the piece, typically listed as bpm, or beats per minute. Tempo can range from fast to slow, with each tempo range having a different name. It can also change throughout the piece with the use of accelerandos and ritardandos. along with sudden adjustments and gradual movements for effects. Throughout Sesame Street the band kept a fast, upbeat tempo that I would imagine having people moving and grooving to the sweet jazz