“Jean Sargent introduced “Alone Together” in the Broadway musical Flying Colors … (which) opened at the Imperial Theater on September 15, 1932, produced by Max Gordon and directed by Howard Dietz,” (JazzStandards.com).
“The late Artie Shaw had impeccable musical taste. He was an obsessive perfectionist, and his clarinet playing and the bands he led performed exceptional, quality music. Many of the tunes he selected for his big bands of the 1930s and 40s became standards years after he recorded them. Shaw was the premier jazz musician to record “Alone Together.” The first reading was with his standard “reeds, brass, rhythm” band in 1939. He recorded it again in 1940 with a group including strings and with a different arrangement. Although both versions lean towards the smooth, instrumental, dance band style of that era, it’s Shaw’s brief clarinet expositions that reveal the improvisational potential of the song.”
The AABA tune, built primarily in D minor, shifts to the closely-related key of G minor for the B section before returning to the original key for the final A section.
French composer Francis Poulenc (1899–1963) “… described himself, saying ‘I was born in Paris on 7 January 1899 and I studied piano under Vines and composition mostly from books, because I was feared being influenced by a teacher. [He allowed himself only one lesson with Ravel!] I read a lot of music and greatly pondered musical aesthetics,” (IndianapolisSymphony.org). “My four favorite composers, my only masters, are Bach, Mozart, Satie and Stravinsky. I don’t like Beethoven at all. I loathe Wagner. In general I am very eclectic, but while acknowledging that influence is a necessary thing, I hate those artists who dwell in the wake of the masters. Now, a crucial point. I am not a cubist musician, even less a futurist, and of course, not an Impressionist. I am a musician without a label.’ (In Praise of Poulenc, Fred Flaxman, WFMT 2002)
Poulenc dedicated his Concerto for Two Pianos to Winnaretta Singer, Princesse Edmond de Polignac, who was the twentieth child of Isaac Singer, inventor of the Singer sewing machine. Although born in Yonkers, New York, she grew up in Paris, and eventually presided over an influential salon, some say the most important avant-garde music salon in Paris between the wars. Poulenc (and the other members of Les Six) was a frequent visitor: along with Faure, Stravinsky, de Falla, Satie, Widor, Nadia Boulanger, Milhaud, Debussy, and many more. It was the crème de la crème. The social and musical power and presence of her salon as well as extraordinary life are well told in Music’s Modern Muse by Sylvia Kahan … Regarding his presence in Les Six, Stewart Gordon in A History of Keyboard Literature noted ‘Poulenc was the most consistent in developing and sustaining a style of directness, simplicity, clarity, and the inclusion of influences from popular music … ‘ The composer completed the work in three months (in 1932).
The piece begins with a restless introductory section, making liberal use of accidentals instead of written key signatures (probably just to save ink in noting rapidly shifting tonalities as they whiz by). But at the 5:40 mark, the piece falls squarely into Bb major for a section fittingly marked très calme. More changes in key follow.
“Written in 1928, ”Sweet Lorraine” found modest popularity with a recording by Rudy Vallee and his Heigh-Ho Yale Collegians,” (JazzStandards.com). “In that same year clarinetist Jimmie Noone’s Apex Club Orchestra made an instrumental recording of the song for the Vocalion label. Further recordings were made Isham Jones and His Orchestra (1932), and jazz violinist Joe Venuti (1933). It was Teddy Wilson and His Orchestra’s 1935 Brunswick recording, however, that made the pop charts for one week in October, rising to #17. ‘Sweet Lorraine’ was Clifford Burwell’s only hit composition.
The endurance of ‘Sweet Lorraine’ as a favorite among jazz performers may be attributed, at least in part, to Nat ‘King’ Cole, who kept the song in the limelight with his popular recordings. Cole’s fondness for ‘Sweet Lorraine’ began as a Chicago teenager listening to clarinetist Jimmie Noone play. ‘Sweet Lorraine’ would play a memorable part in Cole’s transition from piano player to vocalist … Initially Cole’s main interest was piano, but in 1938, while performing in a Los Angeles nightclub … Bob Lewis, the club owner, told Nat to sing — or else. So Nat sang ‘Sweet Lorraine’ … Lewis put a tinsel crown on Nat’s head and said, ‘I crown you Nat “King” Cole.'” Cole released the tune in 1940, when it became his first hit, and again in 1956.
Written with an AABA form, this version is written in G major overall. The B section, first heard from 0:57- 1:20 in this version, shifts to C major. We include another version by Dexter Gordon as well, since Cole’s interpretation of the tune was so much his own that the melody differed greatly from what was on the page!
“Sergei Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor begins with a lonely, lamenting statement in the solo violin,” (The Listeners Club). “It’s a strangely solitary voice which opens the door to an unsettling drama filled with chilly anxiety and occasional raw terror. In his program notes, the American violinist Stefan Jackiw … provides the following descriptive analysis of this opening:
‘Prokofiev puts the listener ill at ease right from the start. The piece opens with the solo violin alone, playing a foreboding melody in G minor that is based on a 5‐beat motive. We are used to hearing musical ideas that fall neatly into 2, 3, 4, or 6‐beat patterns. Five beats don’t feel comfortable. Furthermore, since the violin is alone, the orchestra gives the listener no additional context to find his bearings. When the orchestra finally comes in several bars later, it enters in a completely different tonality, further throwing the listener off balance and compounding the sense of unease. The movement closes with one of the most nihilistic statements in music I know: two short, dry pizzicati thuds from the entire orchestra, like a falling guillotine.’
Prokofiev wrote this music in 1935 as he was preparing to resettle in his native Russia after years abroad in Paris and the United States. In order to be repatriated, he needed to appease Stalin and his restrictive artistic ideals of ‘Soviet Realism.’ For Prokofiev, this meant abandoning the “decadent formalism” of his earlier enfant terrible years.”
Beginning in G minor, the first movement progresses through several phrases before shifting to C# minor at 0:57. Many other shifts in tonality follow, as this score-based video shows!
“In the ‘20s and ‘30s Kansas City was a hotbed of jazz, and pianist/bandleader Bennie Moten was at the heart of it,” (JazzStandards.com). “The recordings with his Kansas City Orchestra from 1923 to 1935 document the evolution of his style as he moved from ragtime to jazz in the mid-to late ‘20s, establishing what came to be known as the ‘Kansas City style.’ He began raiding another established K.C. band, Walter Page’s Blue Devils. By the end of the decade Count Basie, Jimmy Rushing, Hot Lips Page, Eddie Durham and Ben Webster had left the Blue Devils to join Moten. When Moten died suddenly in 1935, Basie took over leadership and the group eventually developed into the Count Basie Orchestra.
In A New History of Jazz, Alyn Shipton describes the development of Moten’s style. ‘Whereas his first discs show a rhythmic stiffness and a debt to ragtime, despite a reliance on the harmonic structure of the blues, he went on to define the loose, blues-influenced style, with a four-bar pulse, which became the predominant local jazz genre, and underpinned the work of later Kansas City bands like those of Count Basie and Jay McShann.’”
Many covers of 1932’s “Moten Swing” exist, but the standard is strongly associated with Basie. After a opening section in Ab major where the piano hearkens back to the light touch that was Basie’s unmistakeable trademark, 1:38 brings an explosive, syncopated modulation to C major. At 1:53, we’ve returned to Ab major for the final A section.
“A tender ballad, ‘Easy Living’ has forthright lyrics that declare just how wonderful life can be when living for someone you love,” (MusicTales). “The songwriting team of Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin wrote ‘Easy Living’ in 1937 for the film of the same name which was well-reviewed and is best characterized as a screwball comedy classic. Their partnership was a productive one, producing a number of hits in the 1930s, and lasted until Rainger’s tragic death in a plane crash in 1942.
Upon the film’s release, the song did not garner much public attention due to the fact that (it was) an instrumental track. That same year, however, Billie Holiday did a vocal cover of the song with Teddy Wilson’s Orchestra, and their version stayed in the charts for two weeks, peaking at 15th position. It is with her that ‘Easy Living’ is associated with to this day.” Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Chet Baker, and Wardell Gray also covered the tune, contributing to its status as a jazz standard.
Perhaps as a nod to its original status as an instrumental, Holiday’s version features a sizeable instrumental intro which encompasses both melody and solos and spans the entire form of the tune. The AABA form is built in G# major for the A sections and E major for B section (0:53 – 1:14). Holiday’s iconic vocal adds to the mix at 1:36.
“Out of all the hit recordings of ‘Body and Soul,’ Coleman Hawkins’ is the best remembered,” (JazzStandards.com). Considered the first truly great jazz saxophonist, Hawkins’ October 11, 1939, version cemented his fame and must be considered the definitive recording of the song. According to Mark C. Gridley, author of Jazz Styles: History and Analysis, ‘Coleman Hawkins loved to improvise on complicated chord progressions and invent solo lines whose construction implied that chords had been added …'”
In 1973, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences inducted Hawkins’ 1939 recording into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The original recording is on Coleman Hawkins’ Body and Soul CD. An interesting reworking of the tune can be heard as the title cut on Hawkins’ 1944 Rainbow Mist recording on which he lays a new melody over the chord changes of ‘Body and Soul.'”
The 32-bar tune, composed in 1930 by Johnny Green, is built in Db major overall. After a brief intro, the first A section begins at 0:11 and the second at 0:32. The B section, which features several departures from the original key via a huge amount of harmonic sleight of hand, begins at 0:52. Finally, 1:12 brings the form’s last A section, returning to the original key.
We usually feature an up-tempo track on Fridays. But in light of this week’s invasion of Ukraine, focusing on music’s ability to bolster our common humanity seemed like the best choice for today.
“Finlandia is probably the most widely known of all the compositions of Jean Sibelius,” (This is Finland). “Most people with even a superficial knowledge of classical music recognise the melody immediately. The penultimate hymn-like section is particularly familiar; soon after it was published, the ‘Finlandia Hymn’ was performed with various words as far afield as the USA.”
In 1899, Sibelius composed the music “for a series of tableaux illustrating episodes in Finland´s past … a contribution towards the resistance (against) Russian influence … While Finland was still a Grand Duchy under Russia, performances within the empire had to take place under the covert title of “Impromptu” … In Finland, the ‘Finlandia Hymn’ was not sung until Finnish words for it were written by the opera singer Wäinö Sola in 1937. After the Russian aggression against Finland in 1939 (the Winter War), the Finnish poet V.A. Koskenniemi supplied a new text, the one that has been used ever since. Sibelius arranged the Hymn for mixed choir as late as 1948.”
Keith Bosley’s English translation of Koskenniemi´s text:
Finland, behold, thy daylight now is dawning, the threat of night has now been driven away. The skylark calls across the light of morning, the blue of heaven lets it have its way, and now the day the powers of night is scorning: thy daylight dawns, O Finland of ours!
Finland, arise, and raise towards the highest thy head now crowned with mighty memory. Finland, arise, for to the world thou criest that thou hast thrown off thy slavery, beneath oppression´s yoke thou never liest. Thy morning´s come, O Finland of ours!
The lyrics most frequently used in modern-day protest and worship settings were updated yet again by Lloyd Stone. The third verse is attributed to Georgia Harkness:
This is my song, O God of all the nations, a song of peace for lands afar and mine; this is my home, the country where my heart is; here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine: but other hearts in other lands are beating with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.
My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean, and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine; but other lands have sunlight too, and clover, and skies are everywhere as blue as mine: O hear my song, thou God of all the nations, a song of peace for their land and for mine.
May truth and freedom come to every nation; may peace abound where strife has raged so long; that each may seek to love and build together, a world united, righting every wrong; a world united in its love for freedom, proclaiming peace together in one song*
This contemporary arrangement of the piece (2021), performed by British vocal octet ensemble VOCES8, is by the group’s tenor, Blake Morgan. VOCES8 “is proud to inspire people through music and share the joy of singing. Touring globally, the group performs an extensive repertoire both in its a cappella concerts and in collaborations with leading orchestras, conductors and soloists. Versatility and a celebration of diverse musical expression are central to the ensemble’s performance and education ethos.”The Guardian describes the ensemble’s sound as “the beauty of perfectly blended unblemished voices.”
After beginning in G# major, there is a modulation up to B major at 2:36. Many thanks to Jackie D. for bringing this arrangement to our attention!
Many covers of the tune have been recorded, but trumpeter Louis Armstrong and saxophonist Coleman Hawkins’ signature versions are perhaps the most widely known. But the addition of lyrics — particularly as delivered with Ella Fitzgerald’s unforgettable style and vocal timbre — surrounds the listener with an additional layer of beautiful storytelling.
The tune, written by pianist/music director/composer Johnny Green, was first performed in 1930. The bridge is first heard from 1:18 – 1:55.
Sarah Vaughan’s 1954 version of Duke Ellington’s 1938 jazz standard ballad “Prelude to a Kiss,” including lyrics by Irving Gordon and Irving Mills, marks a long-overdue MotD debut for the vocalist widely known as the “Divine One.” Biography.com details that Vaughan “was invited to perform at the White House and Carnegie Hall, was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 1989, and was selected to join the Jazz Hall of Fame in 1990.” From WBUR’s retrospective of Vaughan’s life: “Where more idiosyncratic jazz artists like Billie Holliday excelled at interpretation, Miss Vaughan was a contralto who gloried in displaying the distinctive instrumental qualities of a voice that had a comfortable three-octave range.”
JazzStandards.com reports: “Written in an A1-A2-B-A2 form, the melody in the first and third measures of each A section sidles down the scale five halftones in a chromatic decline while the fifth measure starts out with a note repeated four times. The overall effect is a general flattening of the melody, drawing the ear to Ellington’s rich supporting harmonies. Starting in C major, there’s a modulation to E major during the ‘B’ section.
The chromatic nature of ‘Prelude to a Kiss’ produces a plaintive sound, a sad serenade that Gordon and Mills reflect in their lyrics. It’s the bridge, however, that brings true emotional release, almost to the point of seeming celebratory. Its corresponding lyrics express Ellington’s dramatic change in mood, relating the transformation of a pitiful love song into a Schubert symphony.”
In this version, the simplicity of the instrumentation truly shows off the complexity of the harmony while centering Vaughan’s vocal. The pivotal B section begins at 1:20.
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