Ebony Concerto (Stravinsky)

[1] Stravinsky's engagement with jazz dates back to the closing years of the First World War, the major jazz-inspired works of that period being L'histoire du soldat, the Ragtime for eleven instruments, and the Piano-Rag-Music.

[3] The composer explained that his title does not refer to the clarinet, as might be supposed, but rather to Africa, because "the jazz performers I most admired at that time were Art Tatum, Charlie Parker, and the guitarist Charles Christian.

Second, the variation movement begins and ends in the same key (which would be normal for most composers, but not Stravinsky, who only adheres to this practice in one other composition, the Sonata for Two Pianos).

[11] On November 4, 1945, while still in the midst of composing the concerto, Stravinsky wrote a letter to Nadia Boulanger describing his progress as well as plans to make a recording with the Herman band in February 1946.

[10] On 19 August 1946, the day after performing the piece together on a "Columbia Workshop" national broadcast, Herman and Stravinsky recorded the concerto in Hollywood, California.

[16] On April 27, 1965, Stravinsky recorded it again with Benny Goodman and the Columbia Jazz Ensemble at the CBS Studio at 230 East 30th Street in New York,[17] or possibly in Hollywood.

[18] A comparison of an earlier CD reissue of this recording (CBS MK 42227) with the version issued in 2007 as part of the Works of Igor Stravinsky 22-CD boxed set (Sony Classical 88697103112) suggests that, though both are oddly balanced, a remix has both reduced the clarity of the recording and resulted in a version in which "the gracious soloist appears gradually to fade from the spotlight".

[19] Other conductors who have recorded this work include Pierre Boulez (1982), Simon Rattle (1987 and 2018), Vladimir Ashkenazy (1992), and Michael Tilson Thomas (1998).

In 1957, choreographer Alan Carter set the Ebony Concerto (along with Stravinsky's Circus Polka, Fireworks, and Ode) to a ballet titled Feuilleton, which was danced at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich.