Such Sweet Thunder is a Duke Ellington album, released in 1957. The record is a twelve-part suite based on the work of William Shakespeare.

Background

In August 1956, Duke Ellington and his orchestra were in Canada, performing in the same city as the ongoing Stratford Shakespearean Festival. Curious, Ellington and his longtime composer/arranger Billy Strayhorn talked to festival staffers, and Ellington soon announced his next album project would be a conceptual piece, paying tribute to Shakespeare's varied works with appropriate jazz compositions. In addition to the Such Sweet Thunder album, he promised the entire suite would be performed at the 1957 edition of the festival. Ellington and Strayhorn began building a home library of Shakespeare, seeking out Shakespeare experts, and reading through the canon during orchestra downtime. The title comes from Act IV scene i of A Midsummer Night's Dream, where Hippolyta says: "I never heard / So musical a discord, such sweet thunder." The suite that would constitute Such Sweet Thunder was written in just under three weeks and recorded in early 1957. Although most of the compositions were created for the suite in conjunction with Strayhorn, a few were versions of older Strayhorn songs that were reworked and re-titled for the collection.

Track listing

All songs written by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, except where noted.

Bonus tracks

<OL START=13> <LI>"The Star-Crossed Lovers" (Also known as "Pretty Girl") (stereo LP master) – 4:15 <LI>"Circle of Fourths" (stereo LP master) – 1:47 <LI>"Suburban Beauty" (Ellington) – 2:56 <LI>"A-Flat Minor" (Ellington) – 2:33 <LI>"Café au Lait" – 2:49 <LI>"Half the Fun" ([Alternate take](https://bliptext.com/articles/take)) – 4:08 <LI>"Suburban Beauty" (Alternate take) (Ellington) – 2:56 <LI>"A-Flat Minor" ([Outtake](https://bliptext.com/articles/outtake)) (Ellington) – 3:49 <LI>"Café au Lait" – 6:21 <LI>"Pretty Girl" (Also known as the "Star-Crossed Lovers") (Outtake) – 8:54 </OL>

Production/reissue credits

Musicians

Production

Critical reception

NPR has included this album on their Basic Jazz Record Library. The Penguin Guide to Jazz gave the album 4 stars (out of a possible 4.) Allmusic gave the album 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Bibliography (further reading)

Contemporary reviews and journalism

Historical and analytical writings (in reverse chronological order)