Biografie di Artisti (D)

Dahl, Ingolf
David, Ferdinand
Dorsey, Tommy
Dutilleux, Henri

Ingolf Dahl
Compositore, direttore d'orchestra, pianista ed educatore musicale americano, nato a Colonia (Germania) nel 1912 e morto a Los Angeles, California, nel 1970. Nato da genitori svedesi e tedeschi, iniziò la sua formazione musicale alla Musik Hochschule di Colonia sotto la guida di Philipp Jarnech e Hermann Abendroth, per poi sfuggire al regime nazista continuando i suoi studi al Conservatorio di Zurigo con Volkmar Andreae e Walter Frey e all'Università di Zurigo. Più tardi studiò composizione con Nadia Boulanger in California.
La sua carriera professionale cominciò come preparatore e direttore all'Opera di Zurigo. Nel 1938 lasciò l'Europa per gli Stati Uniti e si stabilì a Los Angeles. Da quel momento il raggio delle sue attività musicali fu immenso, come compositore per la radio e il cinema, come direttore, solista di pianoforte e insegnante. Nel 1945 entrò a far parte del corpo insegnanti della University of Southern California e vi rimase fino alla morte. Tra i suoi studenti più conosciuti il direttore Michael Tilson Thomas e il compositore Frederick Myrow.
In aggiunta all'insegnamento della composizione, direzione d'orchestra e storia della musica all'università, diresse anche l'orchestra sinfonica dell'università (dal 1945 al 1958), eseguendo molta musica contemporanea insieme al repertorio standard. Tra i compositori americani inclusi nei suoi programmi ci furono Copland, Diamond, Foss, Ives, Piston e Ruggles. Uno dei corsi più acclamati di Dahl all'università fu quella sulla musica di Stravinsky, un soggetto per il quale aveva una conoscenza personale, data dagli anni di collaborazione con il compositore.
Nonostante Dahl abbia scritto musica fin dai suoi primi anni, la sua produzione è stata abbastanza limitata; la sua carriera movimentata gli ha lasciato poco tempo per comporre e scrisse in modo lento e meticoloso. Nonostante il suo lavoro rifletta i cambiamenti nel suo ambiente musicale, l'individualità del suo stile rimane forte. I suoi primi lavori mostrano la dissonanza e il denso tessuto polifonico tipici dell'espressionismo tedesco degli anni '20. L'impatto con l'America e, più tardi, la sua collaborazione con Stravinsky risultarono in un'aumentata chiarezza della tessitura, una tendenza verso il diatonicismo ed un marcato interesse per il virtuosismo timbrico e strumentale. Dahl ha anche usato nella sua musica la tecnica seriale.
Lavori per orchestra:

Musica da camera

Altre notizie su Dahl:

Ferdinand David
Violinista e compositore tedesco, nato a Amburgo il 18 Giugno 1810 e morto a Klosters (Svizzera) il 18 Luglio 1873. Fu allievo di Spohr a Kassel, seguendo anche i corsi di M. Hauptmann. Dal 1826 al 1829 suonò con l'orchestra del Teatro Reale di Berlino. Dopo altre esperienze professionali, nel 1836 venne chiamato da Mendelssohn come violino solista del Gewandhaus di Lipsia. Nel 1845, dopo aver collaborato alla composizione del brano, tenne la prima esecuzione del Concerto per Violino di Mendelssohn, con il quale aveva collaborato alla stesura del brano e che gli venne dedicato. Dal 1843 fu insegnante di violino al Conservatorio di Lipsia. La storia dice che il primo trombone dell’orchestra, Karl Traugott Quiesser, pregò Mendelssohn di scrivergli un concerto, ma l'idea che Mendelssohn aveva del trombone era quella di uno strumento serio, che doveva essere usato nella musica religiosa, ma non sicuramente in pezzi frivoli come i concerti da strumento solista e orchestra. Così si rifiutò. Ferdinand David, che aveva ascoltato la conversazione, si offrì a sua volta di scrivere un brano e si arrivò alla sua Op. 4, il famoso Konzertino, forse il brano più conosciuto del repertorio solistico per trombone. La prima esecuzione ebbe luogo al Gewandhaus nel Dicembre del 1837, con buon successo. David compose anche altri brani, compresa un'opera e pezzi solistici per vari strumenti. Fu uno dei violinisti e degli insegnanti più famosi del suo tempo, avendo fra i suoi studenti anche quel Joachim al quale fu dedicato il concerto per violino di Brahms. Il figlio di Ferdinand David, Paul Julius (1840 - 1932) fu per 40 anni il maestro di musica della Uppingham School e fu il promotore della bella tradizione musicale nel sistema delle scuole pubbliche inglesi.

Tommy Dorsey (Shenandoah, Pa., 19 Novembre 1905 - 26 Novembre 1956)
Tommy Dorsey è il secondo figlio dell'irlandese Thomas Francis Dorsey, Sr., un insegnante di musica e direttore di banda, a Shenandoah, in Pennsylvanya. È di 21 mesi più giovane del fratello Jimmy, anche lui destinato alla fama. Dopo aver studiato musica con il padre, nei suoi primi anni Tommy suona sia il trombone sia la tromba. Mentre sono ancora adolescenti, Tommy e Jimmy suonano nelle bande locali, poi negli anni Venti fanno parte di varie Band. La prima registrazione in cui possono essere ascoltati è con la band di Jean Goldkette, quando il 27 Marzo del 1924 producono 4 facciate per l'etichetta RCA Victor. Successivamente i fratelli si stabiliscono a New York, come musicisti per i turni di registrazione delle radio. Nel 1927 Tommy e Jimmy fanno la loro prima registrazione come The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra, per la Okeh, usando una band messa insieme per l'occasione. Nel 1934 organizzano una loro band a tempo pieno e firmano un contratto con la Decca Records.
Entrambi i fratelli hanno un grande successo, fin dal 1928, quando campaiono nelle classifiche con una registrazione di Coquette. Nel 1929, una registrazione di Let’s Do It (let’s fall in love), con Bing Crosby, arriva nelle prime dieci. Dal 1935 ebbero una delle migliori band della nazione, che avrebbe potuto inaugurare la "Swing era" al posto di Benny Goodman. Però, i due Dorsey avevano un rapporto instabile: venivano cintinuamente riportati dei battibecci fra i due. Dopo un accanito litigio sul palco dell'orchestra nel Maggio del 1935 (qualcuno parlò di una scazzottata) Tommy lasciò la band. Mentre Jimmi continuava a guidare la band, Tommy prese ciò che rimaneva di una band guidata da Joe Haymes, dandogli il suo nome nell'autunno del 1935. Dalla fine del 1935 Tommy Dorsey ebbe quattro brani nelle liste delle prime dieci canzoni. Nel gennaio del 36 raggiunse la vetta delle classifiche con la canzone

 

 

 

 

Big success had been following both brothers since 1928 when they broke into the charts with a recording of Coquette. In 1929 a recording with Bing Crosby of Let’s Do It (let’s fall in love) broke into the top ten. By 1935 they had one of the hottest bands in the country and may well have been the band that ushered in the Swing era instead of Benny Goodman. However, the fighting Dorsey’s had a volatile relationship. There was reportedly constant bickering between the two. After a bitter disagreement on the bandstand in May of 1935 (some say a fist fight) Tommy left the band for good.

While Jimmy continued to lead the band, Tommy took over the remnants of an orchestra led by Joe Haymes leading it under his own name by the fall of 1935. By the end of 1935 TD had four hits peak in the top ten of the charts. In January of 1936 he had his first #1 hit on a song called The Music Goes Round And Round that featured a vocal by Edythe Wright. In 1937 Tommy Dorsey had 18 top ten hits including several number one chart toppers like the instrumental Satan Takes A Holiday, Jack Leonard’s vocal on Marie with the famous Bunny Berigan trumpet passage, and Edythe Wright’s vocal of The Dipsy Doodle.

In 1939 Tommy Dorsey reinvented himself making a number of personnel changes. See the article below for details on Tommy Dorsey during this phenomenal period.

In 1945 the band began to change again with the addition of trumpeter Charlie Shavers. Soon more modern and still swinging recordings spotlighting musicians like clarinetist Buddy De Franco, drummer Louie Bellson and arranger Bill Finnegan were being laid down.

Inevitably, in the mid 1940s the Dorsey Brothers began to patch up their differences occasionally performing and recording together. In 1953 Jimmy joined up with Tommy permanently, billing the band once again as The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra. Television specials followed and their program called Stage Show ran regularly once a week during the 1955-1956 season. Elvis Presley appeared on the show for six consecutive weeks starting in January 1956, his first nationally broadcast appearances.

Sedated by sleeping pills and following a heavy meal, Tommy Dorsey accidentally choked to death in his sleep on November 26th, 1956 at the age of 51. His brother led his band briefly afterward, but Jimmy Dorsey died in 1957.

Below you will find more colorful and detailed musings about Tommy Dorsey, his recordings and his bands by Swing era authority John Cooper. Mr. Cooper has authored liner notes for a number of CDs.

TOMMY DORSEY: THE KING OF SWING/DANCE BANDS
by John Cooper

Tommy Dorsey has been overlooked lately for reasons not totally clear to me.

I keep looking for his recordings from his 1940-1946 bands, arguably his strongest bands with giant after giant in there--Sinatra, Jo Stafford, Dick Haymes, Buddy Rich, Ziggy Elman, Don Lodice, Chuck Peterson (it's Ziggy and Chuck on Well, Git It), Sy Oliver arranging, Charlie Shavers, Heinie Beau, Buddy De Franco. There are two great vocal groups that recorded with Dorsey as well: The Pied Pipers and "The Sentimentalists" aka The Clark Sisters (of Chicago and On the Sunny Side of the Street fame). And in front if it all, Mr. Tommy Dorsey himself, standing tall in a gleaming white suit with that shining trombone ready to go and looking after the needs of dancers and listeners 24/7.

He could be a rugged guy offstage or to work for, but on stage, he was THERE for the paying customers...and for the kids. In 1946, when the bottom dropped out of the band biz, he was one of the first leaders to cut his price to venues so that not only would he keep his guys working, but so that "the kids will have something to come dance to" again. Just one HELL of a band! Way past its due recognition from the current crop of Swing dancers and listeners.

Some random thoughts on Tommy Dorsey

Well, Git It! Great number! Great sidemen with great solos.
Sy Oliver: the man behind Lunceford and Tommy Dorsey!

You must hear the other choice Dorsey swing stuff from the 1940 - 1942 era. Powerful and swinging.... even the pop tunes kick along. Buddy Rich did for Dorsey exactly what he had done for Artie Shaw; More Power!!!

3 HUGE egos (at least) in one band: Dorsey, Rich, and Sinatra with a big rivalry between Rich and Sinatra. I've read that if the band was playing a ballad that Sinatra was singing and that Rich thought was too slow, he would sit up there with his arms folded and not even play his drums! Oh, man!!! Well, they were both young and talented and Rich could also sing and dance very well. I guess they grew up a bit as the years went by (or when they didn't have to work with each other). There's another story of either Rich or Sinatra throwing a full glass pitcher of ice water at the other one's head and it smashed up against a pillar. Wow! Danger!

Blues In the Night with Dorsey and Jo Stafford. Yes, that's a smoky one! It's one of the few versions of Blues In The Night that I like almost all the way through. I like lots of versions of the tune, but I have never heard the definitive one (for me). The Tommy Dorsey / Jo Stafford comes the very closest. Did you know that that recording was never originally released on a 78 rpm Victor disc? It appears that the first issue was on that famous Reader's Digest ten LP set, “The Great Band Era" (an essential set, BTW, for anyone exploring the world of 1935 - 1945 pop and swing music hits by RCA Victor artists). I think it's still available on CD from Reader's Digest. If not, the LP sets turn up all the time, fairly cheaply.

I was watching film clips tonight of the Tommy Dorsey band and Buddy Rich is always up there swinging away with this cocky look on his face, even when he's wearing that Louis the XVI wig in "Du Barry Was a Lady". (Ziggy Elman in his wig and twentieth glasses is a riot!)

That was a kick ass band. Tommy was always punching someone out. His famous nightclub brawl with actor Jon Hall made all the newspapers. It takes that kind of extra edge and aggressiveness to make a really great and memorable band. Most of the leaders that musicians of those days badmouth for being tough or temperamental to work for, such as Tommy Dorsey, Goodman, Miller, Shaw, all had one thing in common: they had great bands that people still talk about and listen to today. And, essentially, all these men made their initial mark on Swing history in the space of just a few years.

My favorite Tommy Dorsey band on record is the band from 1940 - 1942. I think it is Tommy Dorsey at his peak with great sidemen, great singers and great arrangements, great songs, great specialties, great spirit. However, it is one of the many odd things in the record business that RCA has never gotten around to doing a complete Tommy Dorsey for that period. Their "Complete Tommy Dorsey" series on Bluebird LPs made it all the way to 1939...and then died! Collectors were groaning!!! "They were just getting to the best stuff” was the general complaint. A fair amount of the material has made it out, but much has not. Naturally, all the Sinatra / Tommy Dorsey sides were issued in that big box set and all the Pied Pipers sides with Tommy Dorsey came out recently on a 2 CD set, but that still leaves all the hot numbers scattered here and there. All those barnburners featuring all his "ride" men like Buddy Rich, Ziggy Elman, Don Lodice, Chuck Peterson, Heinie Beau and those raging Sy Oliver arrangements...sooooooooooo roaring and with such an edge and bite to them. Let me do some from memory, as I don't feel like getting the discography off the shelf:

ANOTHER ONE OF THEM THINGS
SERENADE TO THE SPOT
WELL, GIT IT!
SWINGTIME UP IN HARLEM
BLUE SKIES
QUIET, PLEASE
NOT SO QUIET, PLEASE
DEEP RIVER
and lots more.

Also, the pop tunes are extremely good and very few of them go by without a good solo or two and some real kick from the band. Bottom line is, due to RCA's lapse of reissues of his best stuff, TD is falling into the 'legend' category; remembered for his name and a few hits, but forgotten for many other things. For me, TD had probably the best all around band of the time, since he could play everything and did... except junk tunes. The man had a 17 piece band, six singers and when he added that string section and a harp, he had it all. He was also in more Hollywood movies than any other bandleader with the possible exception of Harry James.

I think that Tommy Dorsey made better use of his string section than any other big name and was a pre-war pioneer in that area, along with Harry James and Artie Shaw. After the war, quite a few bands had string sections, but by that time Tommy Dorsey, Harry James and Artie Shaw had dropped theirs. I don't think that there is any Tommy Dorsey material that is shoddy or second rate, but by the late forties and into the fifties, the stuff isn't clicking any longer. His band of that period is beginning to turn into what Basie was to become in the 50s and 60s, a very smooth and skillful sounding studio band. Tommy's 1950s recordings are about the same, but more so. The ballads are very mellow, but more like "easy listening" music. The swinging charts are still well played, but with what I feel is a lack of inner fire. I think perhaps that Tommy Dorsey was so “in tune” with the tastes of younger listeners and dancers and really enjoyed playing to that crowd and “fed off” them, that when the youth of America essentially vanished from the big band scene after the end of WWII, TD lost his “soul mate”, the American Swing and dance public. Heck, he even got one of those college guy flat top hair cuts in the fifties in order to stay current and all it did was to make him look older than he was. The passion was gone. There was still fine music from Mr. Dorsey, but he had to know it was over.

Battle of the Bands

I was having a discussion about bands and was about to state who I thought had the best 'all around' dance band of the Swing era. My friend thought I was going to cite Glenn Miller, but I named Tommy Dorsey as my number one choice in the "sweet/swing" category (as Metronome Magazine used to term it). I don't think any other band handled both styles of music, sweet and Swing, as well as Tommy Dorsey's band did. Essentially, he never fails. His sweet numbers were the height of taste and musicality and his Swing numbers rocked the house. To quote Charlie Barnet out of context, for Tommy Dorsey, musically, “the best was adequate”. By the time he hit his peak in the years of 1940 - 1945, he had been on top so long, that money was no object. He hired the best in every category; instrumentalists, vocalists, arrangers, songwriters. Music was his life. He owned one of the first hi-fi sets in the country and one of the best bands in America.

Dorsey in the 30s vs Dorsey in the 40s.

In 1939, Tommy Dorsey began to totally re-vamp the style of his band. This was a daring move as it required him to let go two very popular vocalists and any number of sidemen and taking on a new principal arranger (Sy Oliver) and six (!) new vocalists: Frank Sinatra and Connie Haines (both out of Harry James' band) and Jo Stafford plus the three man vocal group, the Pied Pipers.

His sweet style went from the most sophisticated sounds of the 30s to a bit more robust sound suited to the times. Many Dorsey ballads of the 1940 - 1945 period have a kick to them in the first chorus or final chorus. Example: Just when one might think that Be Careful, It's My Heart, which begins with a stunning string section intro and trombone solo, is going to be a somewhat sedate side, the entire band comes in with a glorious use of dynamics and syncopation and a sound that fills the room with it's presence.

Tommy Dorsey's Swing style went through an even more dramatic change. Much of his Swing and Jazz had been “Dixieland” based, but once he hired Sy Oliver away from Jimmie Lunceford, the Dorsey style went Sy Oliver's way. The 30s Dorsey swing / jazz had been fine and exciting, with the best of it at the top of its form. Sy Oliver brought it into the 1940s. With the new personnel and attitudes and arrangements, the entire band took on a new edge and excitement. The Dorsey pop tunes took on a new type of pulse with lots of Swing touches and the pure Swing charts are completely hot as hell, almost manic at times. They wail, they blast; they just knock you over or make you dance with a fever.

All this good stuff continued through the end of WWII and beyond, but soon began to change as the tempo of the times changed once more. Dorsey was still the king offering the best to his musical subjects, but the audience had begun to migrate in a different direction.

Poor Tommy. He still cared, but few others did.

John Cooper

, e ricevuto

Tommy Dorsey was born the second son of Irishman Thomas Francis Dorsey, Sr., a music teacher and band director in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania 21 months after his, also famous, brother Jimmy. After receiving music instruction from his father, Tommy played both trumpet and trombone in his early years. While still in his teens he played in local bands along with his brother Jimmy. The Dorsey Brothers played in a series of bands in the 1920s. They were heard on records for the first time while working in the band of Jean Goldkette when a March 27, 1924 session that produced four sides was recorded for the RCA Victor label. The brothers later settled in New York as session musicians for the radio studios. Tommy and Jimmy waxed their first records as The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra using a pick-up band for the Okeh label in 1927. In 1934 they organized a full time band and signed with Decca Records.

Tommy Dorsey  
    Tommy Dorsey in the 1940s  
  Tommy Dorsey hired top musicians and arrangers and changed key personnel in his band several times. His orchestra had 15-Top Ten hits in 1938, 11 in 1939 and 10 in 1941.

 

Together and separate, the Dorsey Brothers were responsible for some of the most memorable music of the swing era. Backed by many of the finest musicians and singers of the day they consistently topped the charts with some of the best rhythms ever recorded. They always strove to be the best in their field, and this showed in their strong musical output. Few bandleaders could equal their accomplishments.

Known as the Sentimental Gentlemen of Swing, Tommy was the younger of the two brothers. During the 1920s he and Jimmy lead Dorsey's Novelty Six and were members of the Scranton Sirens before moving to New York, where they played with several orchestras, including those of Jean Goldkette and Paul Whiteman. In the early 1930s they kept busy as studio musicians and occasionally co-led an orchestra, backing such singers as the Boswell Sisters, Bing Crosby and Mildred Bailey. In 1934 they officially formed the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra. Glenn Miller was an early member of the outfit. Kay Weber was the group's only female vocalist. Bob Crosby was the first male vocalist. Bob Eberly replaced Crosby as male vocalist when Crosby left to lead Gil Rodin's new outfit.

Though the two brothers shared leadership Tommy fronted the band and did most of the work. Jimmy was content to sit with the orchestra and was perfectly happy letting Tommy take charge. Tommy, though, was well-known for his temper. He had tremendous drive and often expected too much from those who worked for him. He often resented Jimmy, who was easy-going and well-liked by the band members. Jimmy was everybody's pal, while Tommy often kept distant.

Tensions boiled, and in June of 1935 they came to a head. One night, on the bandstand, Tommy counted off the tempo for their next number, and Jimmy interrupted him. "Isn't that little too fast, Mac?'' asked the elder brother. Tommy didn't say a word but grabbed his trombone and walked off stage, never to return. Everyone asked him to come back but he refused. Intent on starting his own band and showing up his brother, he soon took over the Joe Haymes Orchestra.

Tommy's orchestra soon became the top band in the country, a title it held throughout most of the swing era. It featuring at one time or another such musicians as Bunny Berigan and Charlie Shavers, arrangers Paul Weston, Axel Stordahl, and Sy Oliver, singers Frank Sinatra, Jack Leonard, Jo Stafford, Edythe Wright, Connie Haines, Anita Boyer and the vocal group the Pied Pipers. The orchestra is considered the greatest dance band of all time and was second to none when it came to ballads. In 1942 he hired the string section of the Artie Shaw Orchestra and expanded his sound even further.

Tommy also indulged in many outside business endeavors, including his own music publishing firm, his own magazine, his own booking agency and a ballroom. In 1945 and 1946 he served as Director of Popular Music at the Mutual Radio Network.

As the popularity of big band music began to wane in 1946 Tommy decided to quit the music business. He couldn't stay away for long, however, and he reformed his orchestra the following year as he and brother Jimmy began to reconcile during the filming of their quasi-biographical movie, The Fabulous Dorseys. Tommy struggled to keep the new group going. Finally, in 1953, Jimmy rejoined him to form a new Dorsey Brothers Orchestra, though the band was technically under Tommy's name and leadership. With the help of Jackie Gleason, they landed their own popular television program on CBS in 1954, one episode of which featured a then unknown Elvis Presley.

The end came unexpectedly. Tommy died in 1956, shortly after his fifty-first birthday, choking to death in his sleep. Jimmy never recovered from his brother's death and did not outlive him very long. He passed away seven months later, after losing a bout with cancer.

 

 

Tommy Dorsey

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Tommy Dorsey al trombone, nel film The Fabulous Dorseys (1947)

Thomas Francis Dorsey junior detto Tommy (Shenandoah, 19 novembre 1905 – Greenwich, 26 novembre 1956) è stato un trombonista e direttore d'orchestra statunitense.

Fu un ottimo trombonista dal suono preciso e molto melodioso, specialmente negli acuti, che rese molto riconoscibili e apprezzate le sue incisioni.

Biografia [modifica]

Nacque a Shenandoah, in Pennsylvania, secondo figlio di Thomas Francis Dorsey Senior e Theresa L. Dorsey. Di modeste origini, il padre era minatore ma molto legato all'attività musicale (fu docente di musica, suonatore di cornetta e direttore di orchestra) insegnò ai figli la teoria e la pratica musicale trasmettendo loro la grande passione che egli aveva per le prime melodie jazzistiche che si stavano sviluppando negli USA nei primi anni del Novecento. Tommy si concentrò nello studio del trombone anche se suonava egregiamente un altro strumento: la tromba.

Insieme al fratello maggiore Jimmy (virtuoso del sax e del clarinetto) Tommy fondò la band "Dorsey's Novelty Six - Wilde Canaries" che ebbe successo negli anni 1920 e successivamente, nel 1928, si tramutò nella “Dorsey Brothers Orchestra”. Nel 1929 ebbero molto successo con il brano Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love) con Bing Crosby come cantante solista.

In questo periodo, formò anche un gruppo musicale che lo accompagnerà per molti anni durante la sua carriera musicale: "Tommy Dorsey and his Clambake Seven", un gruppo di musicisti/cantanti tra i quali spiccò la brava Jo Stafford.

Tommy Dorsey durante la sua carriera collaborò musicalmente per parecchi gruppi, orchestre e artisti vari del calibro di Paul Whiteman, Louis Armstrong, Art Tatum, Benny Goodman e molti altri.

Negli anni trenta le strade dei due fratelli si separarono e Tommy fondò la propria orchestra mentre il fratello Jimmy continuò con la vecchia band. La nuova formazione ebbe vari componenti e cantanti, fra cui anche il giovane Frank Sinatra: si dice che Sinatra abbia perfezionato il controllo del respiro osservando e imparando dagli insegnamenti di Dorsey mentre suonava il trombone.

Per anni (fra il 1935 ed il 1945) nelle top ten delle radio statunitensi fu spesso ai primi posti insieme a personaggi del calibro di Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller (altro trombonista come lui) ed anche il fratello Jimmy.

Dopo la Seconda guerra mondiale, nel 1945 uscì un album di grande successo intitolato Getting Sentimental dove Tommy suona con maestria una ballad divenuta uno standard dal titolo I’m getting sentimental over you. Tale arrangiamento lo accompagnò per tutta la vita artistica: da quando creò la sua big band dopo la separazione dal fratello Jimmy (1935), divenne la sigla di apertura e conclusiva dei vari concerti. Vale la pena ricordare che Tommy Dorsey fu anche un grande arrangiatore, scrisse numerosi successi come Song of India (1937), Boogie Woogie (1940) e molti altri che furono ai primi posti delle classifiche americane di quegli anni. In tutta la sua carriera attiva, Dorsey vendette oltre 235 milioni di dischi, un vero record! Fu un vero pioniere nell'uso del trombone nel jazz: inventò la tecnica del "suono legato", ossia riusciva a prendere talmente tanto fiato da poter eseguire assoli lunghissimi e ininterrotti senza mai staccare il suono.

Tommy apparve anche in numerosi film hollywoodiani tra il 1941 ed il 1953, si ricordano pellicole memorabili con attori dello spessore di Judy Garland, Danny Kaye, Gene Kelly, Red Skelton, Virginia Mayo e molti altri. Il film autobiografico della vita dei fratelli Dorsey fu The fabulous Dorsey del 1947 che di fatto sancì l'inizio della riunificazione di Tommy e Jimmy.

Nel 1953 i fratelli Dorsey si riunirono definitivamente nell'orchestra di Tommy e dal 1955 al 1956 ebbero un posto di primo piano in uno show del network televisivo CBS dove apparve ripetutamente come ospite anche Elvis Presley dal titolo Stage Show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biography

Biographers of Georgia Tom Dorsey like to make comments such as "his life was a living testimony of the power of God." But there was also the trashy side to the man, expressed best in song titles such as "Terrible Operation Blues" and "Pig Meat Blues." When everything is balanced out, however, it has to be admitted that this is a case where an African-American performer chose the church over the honky tonk. In gospel music, his work as a composer and arranger is acknowledged to be so significant that he is often referred to as the father of gospel music. In country blues, he is just one of the gang, although the he kept great company with the likes of Ma Rainey and Tampa Red.

Dorsey grew up in Atlanta, raised by a Baptist minister and encouraged mightily in musical aptitude that revealed itself strongly when Dorsey was still an infant. He reportedly drank in music as if he was hooked up to a milking machine, checking out circus music, blues, jazz, vaudeville, hymns, and even hillbilly songs. All these styles influenced the music he created during his career, although when it comes to jazz, the matter is sometimes exaggerated by blunderers who assume a relation to famed big band brothers Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. Anyway, blues and ragtime were the main interests of the Atlanta Dorsey when, as a teenager, he began gigging behind the simple stage name of Georgia Tom.

In 1918 he moved to Chicago, picking up action with area jazzmen, starting up his own Wildcats Jazz Band, and going on tour with the classic female blues empress Ma Rainey. Yet hustling song sheets became his main way of earning money simply because these live gigs were so poorly compensated. By 1932, Dorsey became more and more associated with the music of the church, starting up one of the first gospel choirs, and initiating the first publishing firm exclusively devoted to the compositions of black gospel artists. Dorsey could place himself high on the list of such performers, composing some of the most familiar gospel songs such as the valuable "Precious Lord," the serene "Peace in the Valley," the sincere "I Don't Know Why," and the probing "Search Me Lord." His involvement in the Chicago gospel scene included pushing forward the important careers of singers Mahalia Jackson and Mother Willie Mae Ford Smith. Dorsey lived to the ripe age of 94. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Henri Dutilleux
Compositore francese nato ad Angers il 22 Gennaio 1916 (la sua famiglia era originaria del Nord della Francia), Henri Dutilleux ha studiato musica prima al Conservatorio di Douai (dal 1924) e poi al Conservatorio Nazionale di Parigi (dal 1933). Nel 1935 ha vinto un premio d'armonia, poi nel 1936 un premio per il contrappunto e fuga e nel 1938 il "Grand Prix de Rome". Trascorse solo un breve periodo a Villa Medici - dal Febbraio al Giugno 1939 - prima di entrare nell'esercito, nell'Agosto di quell'anno. Alla Liberazione del 1945, Dutilleux fu nominato Direttore del Dipartimento Illustrazioni Musicali della Radiotelevisione francese, lasciando questo lavoro nel 1963 per dedicarsi completamente alla composizione. Fu nominato Professore di Composizione alla Scuola Normale di Musica di Parigi nel 1961 ed è stato Professore Associato al Conservatorio Superiore Nazionale dal 1970 al 1971. Nel 1967 Dutilleux è stato il primo ad aver ricevuto il "Gran Premio Nazionale della Musica" in Francia. In uno dei suoi primi lavori, la "Sonata" per piano (1947), Dutilleux dimostrò il suo distacco dalle forme costituite. Nel 1951, la sua "Prima Sinfonia" portò al compositore fama internazionale, che fu accresciuta dalla registrazione di questo lavoro sotto il patrocinio del Concilio Internazionale della Musica dell'UNESCO. Nel 1959, Dutilleux compose la "Seconda Sinfonia", "Le Double" su commissione della Fondazione Koussevitzky e della Boston Symphony Orchestra. L'orchestra eseguì il lavoro, alla presenza del compositore, sotto la direzione di Charles Munch a Boston, Washington e New-York. Nel 1963, su richiesta di Roland Petit, scrisse il balletto musicale "Le Loup" (Il lupo"). Nel gennaio 1965, Dutilleux andò negli Stati Uniti per la prima esecuzione di "Metaboles" che era stato commissionato dalla Cleveland Orchestra e dalla Musical Arts Association. Il lavoro, eseguito sotto la direzione di Georges Szell, consiste in cinque parti connesse (Incantatoire, Linéaire, Obsessionnel, Torpide and Flamboyant) e conferma la predilezione del compositore per il timbro orchestrale, il linguaggio del quale è determinato dal caratteristico concetto di Dutilleux sul principio della variazione. Il lavoro per Violoncello e Orchestra intitolato "Tout un Monde lointain" ("Tutto un mondo lontano") fu eseguito la prima volta nel 1970 al Festival di Aix-en-Provence da Mstislav Rostropovich, che aveva commissionato la composizione e che più tardi la registrò per la EMI - La voce del padrone. Nel 1976, la registrazione ricevette il Koussevitzky International Recording Award, dato annualmente ad un lavoro contemporaneo. Nello stesso tempo Dutilleux ricevette un'ulteriore commissione dalla Fondazione Koussevitzky per un quartetto d'archi. Intitolato "Ainsi la nuit" ("Così la notte"), il lavoro fu eseguito per la prima volta negli U.S.A. dal Juilliard String Quartet (Aprile 1978 alla Biblioteca del Congresso a Washington). In Francia, la prima esecuzione di questo lavoro venne data dal Parrenin Quartet nel Gennaio 1977 per la Collectif Musical 2E2M. Nel 1978, un nuovo lavoro di Henri Dutilleux fu commissionato dalla National Symphony Orchestra. Sotto la direzione di Rostropovich, la prima esecuzione del lavoro, intitolato "Timbre, Espace, Mouvement o La nuit Etoilèe", ("Timbri, Spazio, Movimento o La notte stellata") fu data al Kennedy Center di Washington nel 1978. Henri Dutilleux è stato membro del Concilio Internazionale della Musica dell'UNESCO. Membro Associato dell'Accademia Reale del Belgio dal 1973, Henri Dutilleux è stato nominato membro onorario dell'Accademia americana e Istituto delle Arti e delle Lettere di New-York nel Marzo del 1981.

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