freely arr. by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn (1960)

  • 2 asx(2nd doubling cl & bamboo fl), 2 tsx(both doubling cl), barsx(doubling bcl), 4 tpt(1st doubling tambourine), 3 tbn, dm, pf, db
  • 31 min

Programme Note

Related works:
   The Nutcracker Suite, for jazz band (Tchaikovsky/Ellington/Strayhorn)
   The Nutcracker Suite, for orchestra (Tchaikovsky/Ellington/Strayhorn, adapted by Tyzik)

Movements
1. Overture
2. Toot Toot Tootsie Toot (Dance of the Reed-Pipes)
3. Peanut Brittle Brigade (March)
4. Sugar Rum Cherry (Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy)
5. Entr'acte
6. The Volga Vouty (Russian Dance)
7. Chinoiserie
8. Dance Of The Floreadores (Waltz Of The Flowers)
9. Arabesque Cookie (Arabian Dance)

Synopsis:
In 1960 Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn reinvented Tchaikovsky’s holiday ballet classic as a jazzy, brassy “melting pot of musical styles past and present,” according to The New York Times. The Sugar Plum Fairy becomes the sultry Sugar Rum Cherry, while the Dance of the Reed Pipes becomes Toot Toot Tootie Toot.


Scores