Duke Ellington wrote Sacred Concert in the mid-1960s and performed the work with his orchestra and various soloists bet

Duke Ellington wrote Sacred Concert in the mid-1960s and performed the work with his orchestra and various soloists between 1966 and 1974 at churches around the USA and Europe. Ellington never wrote a score of Sacred Concerts, and it wasnt until 1993 when John Hybye and Peder Pedersen produced a score mostly meant for choirs, but including the full vocal lines and harmonies. Ellingtons own performances were all different. The amount and order of the movements and everything about interpretation was agreed just be-fore the start of each show, and the musicians and soloists improvised in true jazz style.The movements of Sacred Concert are reflections and allusions of traditional gospel songs and the historic roots of soul music in America, and the songs sung by black slaves in the hellish working conditions of the cotton field