Two different worlds united in one.

I. Allegro moderato
II. Andante
III. Moderato; Con moto

Igor Stravinsky wrote the Ebony Concerto in 1945 for the Woody Herman band known as the First Herd. It is one in a series of compositions commissioned by the bandleader/clarinetist featuring solo clarinet. Herman recorded the concerto in the Belock Recording Studio at Bayside New York, calling it a “very delicate and a very sad piece”. Stravinsky felt that the jazz musicians would have a hard time with the various time signatures. Saxophonist Flip Phillips said “during the rehearsal […] there was a passage I had to play there and I was playing it soft, and Stravinsky said ‘Play it, here I am!’ and I blew it louder and he threw me a kiss!”  In 1946, Herman and Stravinsky recorded the concerto. Years later, Stravinsky recorded it again with Benny goodman and the Columbia Jazz Combo. ^[source]

Benny Goodman – Clarinet
Columbia Jazz Combo
Igor Stravinsky – Conductor
Recorded in 1965

[listen to the version with Woody Herman Orchestra here]

[Happy Valentinesday]