{"history":[],"article":{"id":"14445229-3128-40b6-97e8-d01922df56a6","title":"Such Sweet Thunder","slug":"such-sweet-thunder","content":":::summary\n![Such Sweet Thunder](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Duke///Ellington///-///Such///Sweet///Thunder.jpg)\n**Name:** Such Sweet Thunder \n**Type:** [Album](https://bliptext.com/articles/album) \n**Artist:** [Duke Ellington](https://bliptext.com/articles/duke-ellington) and his Orchestra \n**Released:** April 1957 or May 1957 \n**Recorded:** August 7, 1956 – May 3, 1957 \n**Genre:** [Jazz](https://bliptext.com/articles/jazz) \n**Length:** 38:57 \n**Label:** [Columbia](https://bliptext.com/articles/columbia-records)/[Legacy](https://bliptext.com/articles/legacy-recordings) \n**Producer:** [Irving Townsend](https://bliptext.com/articles/irving-townsend) – Original Recording · [Phil Schaap](https://bliptext.com/articles/phil-schaap) – Reissue \n**Prev Title:** [Studio Sessions, Chicago 1956](https://bliptext.com/articles/studio-sessions-chicago-1956) \n**Prev Year:** 1956–57 \n**Next Title:** [All Star Road Band](https://bliptext.com/articles/all-star-road-band) \n**Next Year:** 1957 \n:::\n\n# \n**Such Sweet Thunder** is a [Duke Ellington](https://bliptext.com/articles/duke-ellington) album, released in 1957.\nThe record is a twelve-part suite based on the work of [William Shakespeare](https://bliptext.com/articles/william-shakespeare).\n\n# Background\nIn August 1956, Duke Ellington and his orchestra were in Canada, performing in the same city as the ongoing [Stratford Shakespearean Festival](https://bliptext.com/articles/stratford-festival).\nCurious, Ellington and his longtime composer/arranger [Billy Strayhorn](https://bliptext.com/articles/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.\nIn addition to the Such Sweet Thunder album, he promised the entire suite would be performed at the 1957 edition of the festival.\nEllington and Strayhorn began building a home library of Shakespeare, seeking out Shakespeare experts, and reading through the canon during orchestra downtime.\nThe title comes from Act IV scene i of [A Midsummer Night's Dream](https://bliptext.com/articles/a-midsummer-night-s-dream), where Hippolyta says: \"I never heard / So musical a discord, such sweet thunder.\"\nThe suite that would constitute Such Sweet Thunder was written in just under three weeks and recorded in early 1957.\nAlthough 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.\n\n# Track listing\nAll songs written by [Duke Ellington](https://bliptext.com/articles/duke-ellington) and [Billy Strayhorn](https://bliptext.com/articles/billy-strayhorn), except where noted.\n\n## Bonus tracks\n

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

\n\n# Production/reissue credits\n\n## Musicians\n\n## Production\n\n# Critical reception\n[NPR](https://bliptext.com/articles/npr) has included this album on their Basic Jazz Record Library.\n[The Penguin Guide to Jazz](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-penguin-guide-to-jazz) gave the album 4 stars (out of a possible 4.) [Allmusic](https://bliptext.com/articles/allmusic) gave the album 4.5 out of 5 stars.\n\n# Bibliography (further reading)\n\n## Contemporary reviews and journalism\n\n## Historical and analytical writings (in reverse chronological order)","current_revision":null,"created_by":"kACnuQmH5k9Nr5VNVEpVeg7XpvUmMctD","created_at":"2025-01-26T09:42:33.502Z","updated_at":"2025-01-26T09:42:33.502Z","search_vector":"'sweet':2 'thunder':3","search_content":" \n \n**Name:** Such Sweet Thunder \n**Type:** [Album](https://bliptext.com/articles/album) \n**Artist:** [Duke Ellington](https://bliptext.com/articles/duke-ellington) and his Orchestra \n**Released:** April 1957 or May 1957 \n**Recorded:** August 7, 1956 – May 3, 1957 \n**Genre:** [Jazz](https://bliptext.com/articles/jazz) \n**Length:** 38:57 \n**Label:** [Columbia](https://bliptext.com/articles/columbia-records)/[Legacy](https://bliptext.com/articles/legacy-recordings) \n**Producer:** [Irving Townsend](https://bliptext.com/articles/irving-townsend) – Original Recording · [Phil Schaap](https://bliptext.com/articles/phil-schaap) – Reissue \n**Prev Title:** [Studio Sessions, Chicago 1956](https://bliptext.com/articles/studio-sessions-chicago-1956) \n**Prev Year:** 1956–57 \n**Next Title:** [All Star Road Band](https://bliptext.com/articles/all-star-road-band) \n**Next Year:** 1957 \n \n\n# \n**Such Sweet Thunder** is a [Duke Ellington](https://bliptext.com/articles/duke-ellington) album, released in 1957.\nThe record is a twelve-part suite based on the work of [William Shakespeare](https://bliptext.com/articles/william-shakespeare).\n\n# Background\nIn August 1956, Duke Ellington and his orchestra were in Canada, performing in the same city as the ongoing [Stratford Shakespearean Festival](https://bliptext.com/articles/stratford-festival).\nCurious, Ellington and his longtime composer/arranger [Billy Strayhorn](https://bliptext.com/articles/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.\nIn addition to the Such Sweet Thunder album, he promised the entire suite would be performed at the 1957 edition of the festival.\nEllington and Strayhorn began building a home library of Shakespeare, seeking out Shakespeare experts, and reading through the canon during orchestra downtime.\nThe title comes from Act IV scene i of [A Midsummer Night's Dream](https://bliptext.com/articles/a-midsummer-night-s-dream), where Hippolyta says: \"I never heard / So musical a discord, such sweet thunder.\"\nThe suite that would constitute Such Sweet Thunder was written in just under three weeks and recorded in early 1957.\nAlthough 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.\n\n# Track listing\nAll songs written by [Duke Ellington](https://bliptext.com/articles/duke-ellington) and [Billy Strayhorn](https://bliptext.com/articles/billy-strayhorn), except where noted.\n\n## Bonus tracks\n \n \"The Star-Crossed Lovers\" (Also known as \"Pretty Girl\") (stereo LP master) – 4:15\n \"Circle of Fourths\" (stereo LP master) – 1:47\n \"Suburban Beauty\" (Ellington) – 2:56\n \"A-Flat Minor\" (Ellington) – 2:33\n \"Café au Lait\" – 2:49\n \"Half the Fun\" ([Alternate take](https://bliptext.com/articles/take)) – 4:08\n \"Suburban Beauty\" (Alternate take) (Ellington) – 2:56\n \"A-Flat Minor\" ([Outtake](https://bliptext.com/articles/outtake)) (Ellington) – 3:49\n \"Café au Lait\" – 6:21\n \"Pretty Girl\" (Also known as the \"Star-Crossed Lovers\") (Outtake) – 8:54\n \n\n# Production/reissue credits\n\n## Musicians\n\n## Production\n\n# Critical reception\n[NPR](https://bliptext.com/articles/npr) has included this album on their Basic Jazz Record Library.\n[The Penguin Guide to Jazz](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-penguin-guide-to-jazz) gave the album 4 stars (out of a possible 4.) [Allmusic](https://bliptext.com/articles/allmusic) gave the album 4.5 out of 5 stars.\n\n# Bibliography (further reading)\n\n## Contemporary reviews and journalism\n\n## Historical and analytical writings (in reverse chronological order)","revisionCount":0},"hasMore":false,"nextCursor":null}

History