Duke Ellington, Black, Brown And Beige, And Its Importance

667 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Racism in music

Black, Brown and Beige
Black, Brown and Beige is a Jazz symphony composed by Duke Ellington that first premiered in 1943. This symphony holds great importance to the black community, because it was written in a tone about the Negro journey in America. It is one of the longest works composed by Duke Ellington with three parts. In this composition he targets racial identity in the African American community, and also gives a spiritual sense to the music by featuring Mahalia Jackson; a popular gospel singer at the time. The purpose and intent of Black, Brown and Beige was to create a work in remembrance of the struggles of African Americans in the United States, because up until the 1940's music from the black community was not saved on a wide basis.1
Black, Brown and Beige was premiered at Carnegie Hall on January 23, 1943. It was not well received by critics, it was noted that most were ill-equipped to assess the complete Black, Brown and Beige after only one hearing. 2 The compilations of Black, Brown and Beige were considered the largest of his career as a musician. Over three hours long, Black, Brown and Beige was often not played in it's entirety. Duke Ellington said, "Next we play a very short sketch from Brown, which is the second section of Black, Brown and Beige. We thought we wouldn't play it in it's entirety tonight, because it represents an awfully long and very important story."3 At this same performance of Brown, Duke Ellington mentioned that the story was not a very popular story and he would wait to perform the whole piece again when he felt the story was more widely known.4 After Duke Ellington received negative comments from the first performance at Carnegie Hall and the repetition in Boston a few days later, he...

... middle of paper ...

...ance", which he made as a tribute to the deeds of free Haitians who helped Americans in Savannah. The next dance is the, "Civil War", and it features the celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation the title of the song is, "Emancipation Celebration". It is a mixture of joy and surprise about the final end of slavery. The last dance is, "The Spanish-American War", and it features a song called, "The Blues". It is about the homecoming of heroes and romantic love triangles.12
Finally the last section of this symphony is Beige. Beige is about the stereotypes of the people who live in Harlem. People were considered to just singing, dancing and responding to Tom Tom's.13 The reality was that people trying to find a way to support themselves and there were more churches than the common belief about several brothels in Harlem, and African Americans were very educated.14

Show More
Related

  • The Harlem Renaissance: The New Negro Movement

    1679 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Poetry, like jazz, is one of those dazzling diamonds of creative industry that help human beings make sense out of the comedies and tragedies that contextualize our lives” This was said by Aberjhani in the book Journey through the Power of the Rainbow: Quotation from a Life Made Out of Poetry. Poetry during the Harlem Renaissance was the way that African Americans made sense out of everything, good or bad, that “contextualized” their lives. The Harlem Renaissance, also known as the Black Renaissance or New Negro Movement, was a cultural movement among African Americans. It began roughly after the end of World War 1 in 1918. Blacks were considered second class citizens and were treated as such. Frustrated, African Americans moved North to escape Jim Crow laws and for more opportunities. This was known as the Great Migration. They migrated to East St. Louis, Illinois, Chicago 's south side, and Washington, D.C., but another place they migrated to and the main place they focused on in the renaissance is Harlem. The Harlem Renaissance created two goals. “The first was that black authors tried to point out the injustices of racism in American life. The second was to promote a more unified and positive culture among African Americans"(Charles Scribner 's Sons). The Harlem Renaissance is a period

    Read More

  • Degrees of Transcendence: Opposing Views by McKay and Hughes on the Consumption of Art

    1724 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...ce taking place within a limited audience, allowing it to grow and develop to eventually define the culture of the New Negro. The transcendent quality of the blues, featured in the poem by Langston Hughes, may be placed in opposition to McKay as there is undeniable value in shared experience. While the nature of blues music within the poem is undeniably black and meant to connect black people, the poem presents music as something that is important for expression and formulation of identity as a dynamic community. The two poems, in their depiction of the performances, propose different solutions to the black condition of isolation. While McKay suggests that the strength to counter oppression and alienation is present in the hidden capacity of the individual, Hughes presents a man who is kept alive through struggle and persistence fueled through a communal tradition.

    Read More

  • History of the US Since 1865

    941 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jazz music’s roots go deeper than most people could ever begin to imagine. Whether it is the influencing of other styles of music, the broadening of other media forms, or even the molding and shaping of the atmosphere of entire cities, jazz usually has a part in it. And with an impressive career spanning over 50 years, countless hits that are being replicated in numerous forms even today, and the pivotal part that he played in the Harlem Renaissance , it is almost impossible to talk about anything jazz related without mentioning Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington.

    Read More

  • Duke Ellington

    550 Words  | 2 Pages

    Edward Kennedy Ellington, American jazz composer, orchestrator, bandleader, and pianist, is considered to be the greatest composer in the history of jazz music and one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century. He composed over 2000 works and performed numerous concerts during his musical career. A compilation of some of his most popular music is collected on a CD called "The Popular Duke Ellington."

    Read More

  • Jazz historiography

    788 Words  | 2 Pages

    The issue of race is central to all discourses of jazz. Alongside race goes the problem of representation, or, who gets to play what for whom and under what circumstance. Problems of representation abound from the beginning of jazz history, usually centered on white representation of black music and culture from a negative vantage point. Iconic examples of this phenomenon include the 1917 release of

    Read More

  • Rebranding African American Identity: 1920-1936

    1055 Words  | 3 Pages

    This essay will examine what was new about the new negro from 1920-1936. During the years 1920-1936 African Americans began to rebrand themselves and change their image. African Americans wanted to create an image of themselves that was more positive, educated, and cultured, with an emphasis on African culture, hence began the Harlem Renaissance and the New Negro movement.

    Read More

  • Langston Hughes And The Harlem Renaissance

    634 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ss, representing the truth of the times. The majority of the problems influence only the one dreamer, however, the ending suggests that, when despair is everywhere, it may "explode" and cause social and political uprising. “Harlem” brings to light the anxiety between the need for Negro expression and the opposition to that need because of society’s subjugation of its black populace. His lines confront the racist and unjust attitude common in American society before the civil rights movement of the 1960s. it expresses the belief that black wishes and dreams were irrelevant should be ignored. His closing rhetorical question—“Or does [a dream deferred] explode?”—is aggressive, a testimony that the inhibition of black dreams might result in a revolution. It places the blame for this possible revolution on the domineering society that forces the deferment of the dream.

    Read More

  • The Negro Speaks Of Blues Analysis

    813 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the poem, “Theme for English B” although the speaker is talking about a college student he is speaking for an entire race. He talks about segregation and inequality. “…and I come to the Y the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator up to my room” (Lines 13-15). After years of slavery the blacks were still separated from white people and it was the majority of white people who wanted things this way. During this time blacks were largely discriminated against, they still had to fight for equal rights and fair treatment. However, in the poem he makes a very interesting statement. “Sometimes perhaps you don’t want to be a part of me. Nor do I want to be a part of you. But we are, that is true” (34-36). The speaker is humbly realizing and hoping that his white audience will understand that if not for one another, neither would be in the position that they are now in. Although whites were, “somewhat more free” (40) black and white people learned from each other, and continue to do

    Read More

  • Piano Lesson

    662 Words  | 2 Pages

    However, his desire conflicts with the racial situation during the time of the play. The play is set during a time when blacks were primarily slaves and considered property. They also didn't own any property. His belief that he is of equal standing with a white man could probably be traced to his lineage with the piano. The piano had symbolized his ancestors since the piano has been around during his grandfather's ...

    Read More

  • The History Of Jazz

    637 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first jazz was played in the early 20th century. The work chants and folk

    Read More

  • Impact of Music of the Harlem Renaissance Upon the Artists of Today

    1614 Words  | 4 Pages

    Musicians during the Harlem Renaissance created a style and movement that simply took Americans by storm. Musicians such as Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong have inspired others all over the country. The Renaissance itself was not only an observation of life for African Americans, but it also showed Americans that they have a place in society. All of the musicians, writers, and artists shared a common purpose. This purpose was to create art that reflected the Afro American community. Through this era, African Americans provided themselves with their cultural roots and a promise for a better future. Music in this era was the beginning. It was the beginning of new life for musicians and African Americans.

    Read More

  • The Harlem Renaissance

    1171 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Harlem Renaissance refers to a prolific period of unique works of African-American expression from about the end of World War I to the beginning of the Great Depression. Although it is most commonly associated with the literary works produced during those years, the Harlem Renaissance was much more than a literary movement; similarly, it was not simply a reaction against and criticism of racism. The Harlem Renaissance inspired, cultivated, and, most importantly, legitimated the very idea of an African-American cultural consciousness. Concerned with a wide range of issues and possessing different interpretations and solutions of these issues affecting the Black population, the writers, artists, performers and musicians of the Harlem Renaissance had one important commonality: "they dealt with Black life from a Black perspective." This included the use of Black folklore in fiction, the use of African-inspired iconography in visual arts, and the introduction of jazz to the North.[i] In order to fully understand the lasting legacies of the Harlem Renaissance, it is important to examine the key events that led to its beginnings as well as the diversity of influences that flourished during its time.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Dark Symphony By Melvin B Tolson

    955 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dark Symphony is a rather lengthy poem broken into 6 stanzas. Each stanza of the poem has its own title. The poem opens with a reference to a black man named Crispus Attucks. Tolson explains that Crispus, a black man, “Taught/ Us how to die/ Before White Patrick Henry’s bugle breath/ Uttered the vertical/ Transmitting cry:/ ‘Yea, give me liberty or give me death’ (lines 1-6). Tolson worded this as if to say Crispus Attucks was more important and did more in history for blacks than Patrick Henry, who was more well known and famous than Attucks. The second section of the poem entitled Lento Grave, Tolson gives a vivid description of black slaves singing songs while being on slave ships. Many of the songs that he mentioned are still sung today in many black

    Read More

  • Sonny's Blues

    1744 Words  | 4 Pages

    Jazz music prospered in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Jazz was created by African Americans to represent pain and suffering and also represented the adversity that racial tension brought. (Scholastic) African American performers like Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie “Bird” Parker came to be recognized for their ability to overcome “race relati...

    Read More

  • (What Did I Do To Be So Black And Blue, By Louis Armstrong

    1221 Words  | 3 Pages

    When the piece was originally written for the Hot Chocolates, it was considered to be “America’s first `racial protest song`… [and] certainly Razaf’s lyric stripped bare essences of racial discontent that had very rarely if ever been addressed by any African American musically” (Singer 219). The music was created to express the hardships of the black community and the intra-racial discrimination, evident by the line: Browns and yellers all have fellers, gentlemen prefer them right. This illustrates that within the black community, those of fairer complexion were preferred. In Armstrong’s performance, the piece was removed from its original context of a Broadway show and placed as a stand-alone piece. In doing this, the emotion created by the Broadway performance and the stage scene were lost and “Black and Blue” became just another bluesy piece. Further, his “recitativo vocal style underscore[d] the song’s plaintive quality, while his exuberant embellished trumpet solos at the beginning and the end … counteract[ed] despair” (Meckna 38). However, Armstrong dropped the verse about intra-racial prejudice and made the chorus a “threnody for blacks of every shade” (Teachout 139). In doing this, he altered the music from being just about intra-racial issues to a global of scale of the battle between black and whites and the prejudices.

    Read More

More about Duke Ellington, Black, Brown And Beige, And Its Importance

Open Document