Duke Ellington's Sacred Concerts
In the last decade of his life, Duke Ellington wrote three Sacred Concerts:
- 1965 - A Concert of Sacred Music
- 1968 - Second Sacred Concert
- 1973 - Third Sacred Concert
Ellington called these concerts "the most important thing I have ever done". He said many times that he was not trying to compose a "mass." (liturgy). Critic Gary Giddins has characterized these concerts as Ellington bringing the Cotton Club revue to the church.
Read more about Duke Ellington's Sacred Concerts: Concert of Sacred Music, Second Sacred Concert, Third Sacred Concert
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—Duke Ellington (1899–1974)
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—Stephen Sondheim (b. 1930)