Jazz Lines Publications

n t s
Pr ese come sunday
black, brown, and beige: movement 1, part 2

by duke ellington

prepared for Publication by dylan canterbury, Rob DuBoff and Jeffrey Sultanof

full score
jlp-7358

By Duke Ellington
Copyright © 1946 (Renewed) by G. Schirmer, Inc. (ASCAP)
International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted by Permission.
Logos, Graphics, and Layout Copyright © 2017 The Jazz Lines Foundation Inc.

Published by the Jazz Lines Foundation Inc., a not-for-profit jazz research organization dedicated to preserving and promoting America’s musical heritage.

The Jazz Lines Foundation Inc.

PO Box 1236
Saratoga Springs NY 12866 USA
 
duke ellington series 

come sunday (black, brown, and beige: movement 1, part 2) (1943)

Biographies:
Edward Kennedy ‘Duke’ Ellington influenced millions of people both around the world and at home. In his fifty-year career he played over 20,000 performances in Europe, Latin
America, the Middle East as well as Asia. Simply put, Ellington transcends boundaries and fills the world with a treasure trove of music that renews itself through every generation
of fans and music-lovers. His legacy continues to live onward and will endure for generations to come. Wynton Marsalis said it best when he said, “His music sounds like America.”
Because of the unmatched artistic heights to which he soared, no one deserves the phrase “beyond category” more than Ellington, for it aptly describes his life as well. When asked
what inspired him to write, Ellington replied, “My men and my race are the inspiration of my work. I try to catch the character and mood and feeling of my people.”

Duke Ellington is best remembered for the over 3,000 songs that he composed during his lifetime. His best-known titles include: It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing),
Sophisticated Lady, Mood Indigo, Solitude, In a Mellow Tone, I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart, and In a Sentimental Mood. The most amazing part about Ellington was that he had some of
his most creative periods while he was on the road. Mood Indigo was supposedly written while on a road trip.

Duke Ellington’s popular compositions set the bar for generations of brilliant jazz, pop, theatre, and soundtrack composers to come. Though he is a household name for his songs,
Ellington was also an unparalleled visionary for his extended suites, often composed with Billy Strayhorn. From Black, Brown and Beige (1943) to The Far East Suite (1966) to The Uwis
Suite (1972), the suite format was used to give his jazz songs a more empowering meaning, resonance, and purpose:To exalt, mythologize, and re-contextualize the African-American
experience on a grand scale.

Duke Ellington was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1966. He was later awarded several other prizes: The Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969 and the Le-
gion of Honor by France in 1973, the highest civilian honors in each country. He died of lung cancer and pneumonia on May 24, 1974, a month after his 75th birthday, and is buried
in the Bronx, in New York City. His funeral was attended by over 12,000 people at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Ella Fitzgerald summed up the occasion: “It’s a very sad day.
A genius has passed.”

William Thomas Strayhorn is hardly unknown, but his presence in the world of Ellingtonia has always been shrouded in a bit of mystery. It is only within the last ten years that the
Strayhorn mystery has been solved. The history of the family of William Thomas Strayhorn goes back over a hundred years in Hillsborough, NC. One set of great-grandparents, Mr.
and Mrs. George Craig, lived behind the present Farmer’s Exchange. A great-grandmother was the cook for Robert E. Lee. Billy, however, was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1915. His
mother, Lillian Young Strayhorn, brought her children to Hillsborough often. Billy was attracted to the piano that his grandmother, Elizabeth Craig Strayhorn, owned. He played it
from the moment he was tall enough to reach the keys. Even in those early years, when he played, his family would gather to listen and sing.

Originally aspiring to become a composer of concert music, he was heavily involved in jazz and popular music by the time he was a teenager, writing a musical while in high school
and playing gigs locally with a trio. His father enrolled him in the Pittsburgh Musical Institution where he studied classical music. He had more classical training than most jazz musi-
cians of his time. In 1938, he met and played for Duke Ellington, who was sufficiently impressed and invited Strayhorn to join him in New York. Neither one was sure what Strayhorn’s
function in the band would be, but their musical talents had attracted each other. By the end of the year Strayhorn had become essential to the Duke Ellington Band; arranging,
composing, sitting in at the piano. Billy made a rapid and almost complete assimilation of Ellington’s style and technique. It was difficult to discern where one’s style ended and the
other’s began. Strayhorn lived in Duke’s apartment in Harlem while the Ellington Orchestra toured Europe. Reportedly, Strayhorn studied some of Duke’s scores and “cracked the
code” in Ellington’s words. He became Duke’s musical partner, writing original music and arrangements of current pop tunes. In the early fifties, Strayhorn left the Ellington fold
briefly, arranging for Lena Horne and other singers, and writing musical reviews. By 1956, however, he was back almost full-time with the Ellington organization where he remained
until his death from cancer in 1967.
Some of Strayhorn’s compositions are: Chelsea Bridge, Day Dream, Johnny Come Lately, Raincheck, and My Little Brown Book. The pieces most frequently played are Ellington’s theme
song, Take the A Train and Ellington’s signatory, Satin Doll. Some of the suites on which he collaborated with Ellington are: the Deep South Suite, 1947; the Shakespearean Suite or Such
Sweet Thunder, 1957; an arrangement of the Nutcracker Suite, 1960; the Peer Gynt Suite, 1962; the Far East Suite, 1966. He and Ellington composed the Queen’s Suite and gave the only
pressing to Queen Elizabeth II of England. Two of their suites, Jump for Joy, 1941 and My People, 1963 had as their themes the struggles and triumphs of blacks in the United States.
Both included a narrative and choreography. In 1946, Strayhorn received the Esquire Silver Award for outstanding arranger.

In 1965, the Duke Ellington Jazz Society asked him to present a concert at New York’s New School of Social Research. It consisted entirely of his own work performed by him and
his quintet. Two years later Billy Strayhorn died of cancer on May 31, 1967. Duke Ellington’s response to his death was to record what the critics cite as one of his greatest works, a
collection titled And His Mother Called Him Bill, consisting entirely of Billy’s compositions. Later, a scholarship fund was established for him by Ellington and the Juilliard School of Music.

Strayhorn’s legacy was thought to be well-known for many years as composer of many classic pieces first played by Ellington. It was only after the Ellington music collection was
donated to the Smithsonian Institution that Strayhorn’s legacy was fully realized. As documented by musicologist Walter van de Leur in his book on the composer, several composi-
tions copyrighted in Ellington’s name were actually Strayhorn’s work, including entire suites, and particularly Satin Doll. Ironically, perhaps his most well-known song, Lush Life was
written during his years as a student in Pittsburgh. The Ellington band never officially recorded it.

In recent years his legacy has become even more fully appreciated following research and biographies by David Hajdu and Walter Van De Leur, which led to properly crediting
Strayhorn for songs previously credited to Duke or uncredited. Billy Strayhorn wrote beautiful, thoughtful, classic, and timeless music, and was brilliant as both a composer and an
arranger.While enhancing Ellington’s style of striving to showcase the strengths of his band members, Strayhorn’s classical background elevated the group and its sound even further
and helped the name Duke Ellington become eternally synonymous with class, elegance, and some of the greatest American music ever known.

Background of Black, Brown, and Beige:

Duke Ellington’s Black, Brown, and Beige remains one of the seminal works of his legendary career. Described by Ellington as being a “tone parallel to the history of the American
Negro,” it was easily the most ambitious project of his career upon its composition over the course of 1942.
Ellington commenced work on this magnum opus shortly after the conclusion of one of his other early experiments at longer musical forms, 1941’s jazz musical Jump For Joy.
Surprisingly, the piece was only performed in full on three occasions: a sneak peak debut at Rye High School in Westchester County, NY on January 22, 1943, a premiere performance
at Carnegie Hall the following night, and finally at Boston’s Symphony Hall on January 28. From this point forward, the band would only perform individual movements, as Ellington
felt that the overall length and subject matter of the piece would make it inaccessible to most audiences.
At first, the piece received, at best, mixed reception from critics and audiences alike. Many expressed skepticism over Ellington’s desire to tackle more challenging, long-form musical
material, with critics from several newspapers expressing their beliefs that Ellington was getting in over his head attempting to merge jazz with more “artistic” forms of music. This
lukewarm reception would come to be disregarded by the time Ellington entered the studio in 1958 to record a revised version of the suite in full, this time featuring edited sections
to feature renowned gospel vocalist Mahalia Jackson.This version received much more widespread critical acclaim than the original performance, and is considered to be one of the
cornerstone entries of the Ellington discography.
Black, Brown, and Beige represents several major innovations in the world of jazz. It was Ellington’s first major attempt at a long-form composition, consisting of three main parts in a
quasi-symphonic structure, with instrumental soloists oftentimes being cast in roles that were more akin to opera than traditional big band writing.The work also tore down political
and cultural barriers, as it openly attempted to present jazz in artistic rather than popular terms, as well as celebrating African American culture while doing so.
These key innovations make Black, Brown, and Beige stand out as a transcendental work of not just Ellington’s expansive catalogue, but Western music in general.

Notes to the Conductor:

Black, Brown and Beige is divided into three movements and each of the movements is further divided into parts. Come Sunday is part 2 of movement 1 (titled Black).
The most famous and frequently covered portion of Black, Brown, and Beige, Come Sunday is without a doubt the best example of a jazz hymn. There should be a sense of reverence
and awe throughout the performance of this movement, regardless of volume, tempo or feel.
The beginning of the movement is taken at an extremely slow, almost quasi-rubato tempo. It is largely a brass chorale, with some occasional interjections from the woodwinds.
Several of the brass instruments get brief but noteworthy solo lines during this section, which should stand out from the rest of the ensemble as much as possible without resort-
ing to excessive volume or force.

Interestingly enough, the full melody is never stated until the end of the piece, but bits and pieces come up at several points throughout the arrangement. The first main melody
statement comes from Lawrence Brown’s trombone at measure 12. The tempo remains dirge-like at first, but it gradually accelerates over the next several bars as the ensemble
dramatically swells underneath. A full-powered trumpet fanfare sets up a woodwind soli at a new, brighter tempo at measure 22.

This soli eventually tails off for the entrance of Ray Nance’s violin at measure 33, which takes center stage for a significant portion of the rest of the movement. This written solo
passage is cued in the clarinet part in the event that a violin soloist is not available. It is important for all ensemble musicians to err on the side of caution when it comes to volume
in order to not overwhelm the violin soloist. As the arrangement continues, gradually Lawrence Brown’s trombone and Cootie Williams’ plunger-muted trumpet join in with subtle
yet highly effective counter-lines underneath Nance, adding a stunning layer of texture and depth.

A brief and somewhat ominous growling plunger section in the brass at measure 57 marks the conclusion of Nance’s portion of the program. A brief piano cadenza sets up the ap-
pearance of the full melody at last at measure 64, played with incomparable taste by alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges. Most of the backgrounds underneath the melody come in the
form of trombone pads, with a brief woodwind counter line adding a little subtle depth at measure 73. The woodwinds bring the arrangement to a close after Hodges’ full melody
statement with one last barely audible chorale at measure 80.

General Performance Notes:

- Be sure to carefully adhere to the many subtle tempo shifts throughout the movement, as they add a sense of necessary musical drama.

- When a soloist is performing, the ensemble should always be sure to stay out of the way in order to allow them to stand out.

- Although this piece bears more than a few parallels to classical music, never forget that this is jazz of the highest order, and that it should always be treated as such.

Note About This Publication:

Our goal in publishing Black, Brown, and Beige is to provide an edition that represents Duke Ellington’s original compositional intent. In other words, this matches the 1943 Carnegie
Hall and Symphony Hall performances. In preparing this edition for publication we used the following sources: Ellington’s original 1942 score, the 1943 Carnegie Hall recording, an
incomplete set of original 1943 parts, assorted re-copied parts from the 1940s, an incomplete 1958 set of parts, and a 1963 published score edited by Mercer Ellington and Tom
Whaley and copied by Joe Benjamin. There were many inconsistencies between the sets of parts. In addition, as is often the case with Ellington’s compositions, the music evolved
over time and parts were changed or modified. As personnel in the Ellington band changed, Duke would often redistribute notes or alter certain sections to suit the musicians and
overall sound of the ensemble. Our work was also subject to the fidelity of the original 1943 recording. Simply put: there are passages that one cannot clearly hear. Furthermore,
where there were descrepancies between the sets of parts and the recording we relied on Ellington’s score as the last word.

Publishing Duke Ellington’s music is never a straightforward undertaking for the reasons illustrated above. While our mission is to publish definitive editions we do recognize that
due to the nature of Ellington’s compositions and his ensemble, the music will always be open for debate. Herein we make no claim to ending the debate, but rather, on the contrary,
submit evidence toward the furtherance of discussion and analysis. Enjoy studying, discussing, and performing this historic music.

Doug DuBoff, Dylan Canterbury, and Rob DuBoff

- November 2017
This is the program from the 1943 Carnegie Hall appearance which was
This is an original advertisement for the 1943 Carnegie Hall concert.
partly a Russian War Relief benefit concert and a 20th anniversary
celebration of Duke Ellington’s band.
After the success of Duke Ellington’s human rights-themed musi-
cal Jump for Joy (1941), the first large scale stage production to
introduce discussion of the historical and present day treatment
of the “American Negro,” he began work on an opera titled
Boola. This work, while never completed, was meant to offer
further evidence and discourse regarding the plight of African
Americans. As his compositional focus changed during the course
of 1942, Ellington wound up using the overall structure, themes,
and lyrics of Boola in the planning of Black, Brown, and Beige. His
goal was to incorporate the previously written lyrics in Black,
Brown, and Beige and have them accompany the different sections
of the work. It was through this new multi-movement work that
Ellington sought to shed further light on the suffering that African
Americans had endured.

After the initial performance of Black, Brown, and Beige at Rye

High School, Ellington was encouraged to remove the lyrics due
to their provocative nature. The concern was that these human
rights themes might tarnish Ellington’s premier performance
at Carnegie Hall the following night. His Carnegie Hall concert
would also be the first occasion of a non-white band appearing at
the venue.

To the left is one of the original lyric sheets.

This is Shorty Baker’s original part for Come Sunday,
the 2nd part of movement 1 of Black, Brown, and Beige.
Baker was in Ellington’s band (off and on) between
1942 and 1962 and was married to pianist and com-
poser Mary Lou Williams.
s
JlP-7358 Jazz lines PubLications
come sunDay
Black, Brown, and Beige: Movement 1, Part 2
Music by Duke Ellington
Score Arranged By Duke Ellington
Prepared for Publication by Dylan Canterbury, Rob DuBoff, and Jeffrey Sultanof
very slowly  = 60 twice as fast  = 60 Faster  = 88  = 60 Rall.

Solo Violin

 
              
         
     
    
Woodwind 1:
Alto Sax              
 
mf mfp mf mfp

Woodwind 2:               
      


Alto Sax.        
mf mfp mf mfp
  

Woodwind 3:
Clarinet  
             
         
Woodwind 4: 
        
   
            
Tenor Sax.

 mfp
mf

 
mf mfp
         
Woodwind 5:
 
                   
Baritone Sax.
mf mfp mf mfp
{C`u`p` `M`u`t`e`} Solo 
            
Trumpet 1  
                                
 
 

mp mf
{C`u`p` `M`u`t`e`}  
Trumpet 2

          
    

         

       
  

pp mf
{C`u`p` `M`u`t`e`}

Trumpet 3

     
  
     

       

        
  
    

pp mf
{C`u`p` `M`u`t`e`}
  
Trumpet 4
 
              
    
pp
      
         
    
  

Trombone 1
  
          


pp mf
w/ bass
 ~~~~~~~~~~
~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
           
Trombone 2                       
pp


mp
Solo Solo mf

                   
Trombone 3                   
pp
mp

Bb9 A b9 B b9 C9 F>7/B b B b 7“ B b 7 Eb B b9 Eb6 Ab6 E b B7 C>7 F 7 E b<9 A>7/D G6
| | | | | Û Û | Û | Û | | Û Û |   |  | Û
  
Guitar  
  
ppp mf

| | | | | Û Û | Û | Û | | Û Û |   |  | Û
   
 
   
ppp mf

Bb9 A b9 B b9 F>7/B b B b 7“ B b 7 Eb B b9 Eb6 Ab6 E b E b<9
Piano
C9 B7 C>7 F 7 A>7/D G6
       
        
    
        
Bb9 A b9 B b9 C9 F>7/B b B b 7“ B b 7 Eb B b9 Eb6 Ab6 E b
7
B {P`i`z`z.`} C>7 F7  E b<9 A>7/D G6
{A`r`c`o`}      {A`r`c`o`}   
Bass
   
              

      

pp mp mf
{C`h`i`m`e`s`}
w w
{T`o` `D`r`u`m` `S`e`t`} 
Drum Set/
  ˙
  ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙         
Chimes

mp
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11

Copyright © 1946 (Renewed) by G. Schirmer, Inc. (ASCAP)

International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted by Permission.
Logos, Graphics, and Layout Copyright © 2017 The Jazz Lines Foundation Inc.
Published by the Jazz Lines Foundation Inc., a Not-for-Profit Jazz Research Organization Dedicated to Preserving and Promoting America's Musical Heritage.
Jazz lines PubLications come sunDay JlP-7358
Black, Brown, and Beige: Movement 1, Part 2
Score - Page 2
[12]  = 60  = 60
 
directed poco Accel. Accel.
       
Ww. 1 (A. Sx.)                 
p mf
Solo
freely   
      3
      
Ww. 2 (A. Sx.)              

  
3
mp f mf

 
Ww. 3 (Cl.)                 

         
mf
                
Ww. 4 (T. Sx.)   
 
p f mf
3
 3
     
   
Ww. 5 (B. Sx.)           

    
p
f
 
û
mf
{O`p`e`n`}
      
Tpt. 1           
ff p

û
{O`p`e`n`}
    
Tpt. 2          
  
ff p

û
{O`p`e`n`}
 
Tpt. 3              
 
ff p
{O`p`e`n`}

û
 
Tpt. 4             
  
ff p
{S`o`l`o`}   
                 
        

   


    

 

 
Tbn. 1 

mp 3 f mf

 
        
Tbn. 3 
      
f mp

G b7(#9) E7(#9) G b7(#9) A b7(#9) G7 G>7 C9 G b<9 F< 7 F7 G9 C 9“

Gtr.  | | | | | Û Û | | Û | | | | |
mf
p

| | | | | Û Û | | Û | | | | |
 

p mf

G b<9
Pno.
G b7(#9) E7(#9) G b7(#9) A b7(#9) G7 G>7 C9 F< 7 F7 G9 C 9“
  
       
      

G b7(#9) E7(#9) G b7(#9) A b7(#9) G7 G>7 C9 G b<9 F< 7 F7 G9 C 9“

 {A`r`c`o`}     {P`i`z`z.`}
   {A`r`c`o`}      
Bs.  
+ o + o
mp f mf

o o
# # # #

y y y y y y y y ̇ ̇ y y y y y y sim.
D. S.  œ ’ ’ ’ ’
   
      
p f mf

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