Leur, Walter van de - Something to Live For

Something to Live For investigates and analyses the entire oeuvre of Billy Strayhorn,m who, for over 30 years, was the musical collaborator of Duke Ellington. Nearlly seventy music examples, drawn directly from his original autograph scores, provide insight into the development of Strayhorn's own musical language and style. The author has found hitherto unknown works that permit a closer examination of the composer's development. The author addresses the question of the perceived interchangeability of Strayhorn's and Ellington's styles and argues for each having a unique style. With this work, Strayhorn is detached from Ellington's shadow and readers are given pointers to the most salient features to distinguish their works.

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CONTENTS

1 Fantastic Rhythm: The Pittsburgh Years
2 The Renaissance of Arranging: First Works for and with Duke Ellington
3 The Strayhorn Effect: A New Way of Writing for Jazz Orchestra
4 Thinking with the Ear: Strayhorn's Musical Fingerprints
5 Writing and Arranging Companions: Credited and Uncredited Collaborations
6 He is He and I am Me: The Ellington-Strayhorn Collaboration
7 Wounded Love: Away from the Ellington Organization
8 Masterpieces by STrayhorn: Writing for Albums
9 The Whodunnit Game: The Mature Style of Billy Strayhorn
10 North by Southwest: The Final Years
11 Conclusion
Appendix A: Score of Scores: Manuscripts at the Duke Ellinton and Billy Strayhorn Collections
Appendix B: Billy Strayhorn's Works on Record
Appendix C: Billy Strayhorn's Works on Record (posthumously premiered)
Appendix D: The Compositions of Billy Strayhorn