On Stage 8.15pm
Swans and Planets
The Echoes of Ellington Jazz Orchestra led by Peter Long returns to The Apex with Duke Ellington’s 'Planets', following their memorable performance here in 2019 under the moon.
In addition they will be performing excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s 'Swan Lake'.
The recent centenary of Holst’s Planets Suite, as well as a long car journey inspired Peter Long to re-score the work as if Duke Ellington had adapted the piece in his own distinctive way. As Long explained:
"Whilst driving, ‘Venus’ from the Planets Suite came on the radio. It suddenly struck me how Ellingtonian the curves of the melody were, and how Holst’s warped, flowing harmonic symmetry was so redolent of that of Ellington’s composing partner, Billy Strayhorn. It was a long car journey, and by the time I’d reached my destination, the broad idea of re-orchestrating the whole suite for an Ellington-style orchestra had coalesced.”
Originally commissioned by the Deal Festival in 2020, Swan Lake is a re-imagining of the classic work in the style of Ellington. The premier performance of the whole work will now be in Summer 2022, but tonight by way of a sneak preview the band will play a tantalising sequence of excerpts.