One In A Million

Million Years. Autograph musical manuscript.    Condensed score for saxophone, bass and horn

Author: ELLINGTON, Duke 1899-1974

Title: Million Years. Autograph musical manuscript. Condensed score for saxophone, bass and horn

Description: 

Folio (ca. 320 x 240 mm). Unbound. 1-1/3 pp. Notated in pencil on 4 systems of 3 staves per page on one side of a bifolium of 12-stave "Passantino Brand" music manuscript paper. Complete. Unsigned and undated, but ca. 1950. 

With some corrections, alterations, and autograph performance notes including solo cue for Juan Tizol (1900-1984), the Puerto Rican trombonist who performed regularly with Ellington. 

Together with:

A typed statement dated February 21, 2006 confirming that the manuscript was given to J. Bradley Shigeta by the composer's son Mercer Ellington in 1995 "as a personal gift for my assistance with the Duke Ellington Orchestra."

"Duke Ellington was possessed by music. He acknowledged his lifelong obsession in these words: 

Roaming through the jungle of 'oohs' and 'ahs,' searching for a more agreeable noise, I life a life of primitivity, with the mind of a child and an unquenchable thirst for sharps and flats. The more consonant, the more appetizing and delectable they are. Cacophony is hard to swallow. Living in a cave, I am almost a hermit, but there is a difference, for I have a mistress. Lovers have come and gone, but only my mistress stays. She is beautiful and gentle. She waits on me hand and foot. She is a swinger. She has grace. To hear her speak, you cant believe your ears. She is ten thousand years old. She is as modern as tomorrow, a brand-new woman every day, and as endless as time mathematics. Living with her is a labyrinth of ramifications. I look forward to her every gesture. Music is my mistress, and she plays second fiddle to no-one." Rattenbury: Duke Ellington, p. 1.

Ellington is widely recognized as the most important composer in jazz history.

Seller ID: 39932

Subject: Autographs & Manuscripts, New Arrivals