Jazz Lines Publications

n t s
Pr ese Isfahan
From ‘IMPRESSIONS OF THE FAR EAST SUITE’

Arranged by billy strayhorn

Prepared for Publication by Peter Jensen, Dylan Canterbury, Rob DuBoff, and Jeffrey Sultanof

full score
jlp-7403

Music by Billy Strayhorn

Copyright© 1964 (Renewed) by Tempo Music, Inc., Music Sales Corporation and Famous Music Corporation
All Rights for Tempo Music, Inc. administered by Music Sales Corporation (ASCAP) International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
Logos, Graphics, and Layout Copyright © 2015 The Jazz Lines Foundation Inc.

Published by the Jazz Lines Foundation Inc., a not-for-profit jazz research organization dedicated to preserving and promoting America’s musical heritage.

The Jazz Lines Foundation Inc.

PO Box 1236
Saratoga Springs NY 12866 USA
 
duke ellington/billy strayhorn series 

isfahan [from impressions of the far east suite] (1964)

Background:
Even though the name of William Thomas Strayhorn is hardly unknown, his presence in the world of Ellingtonia has always been shrouded in a bit of mystery. It is only within the last
ten years that that mystery has been solved. The history of the family of William Thomas Strayhorn goes back over a hundred years in Hillsborough, NC. One set of great grandpar-
ents, Mr. and Mrs. George Craig, lived behind the present Farmer’s Exchange. A great grandmother was the cook for Robert E. Lee. Billy, however, was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1915.
His mother, Lillian Young Strayhorn, brought her children to Hillsborough often. Billy was attracted to the piano that his grandmother, Elizabeth Craig Strayhorn, owned. He played
it from the moment he was tall enough to reach the keys. Even in those early years, when he played, his family would gather to listen and sing.

Originally aspiring to become a composer of concert music, he was heavily involved in jazz and popular music by the time he was a teenager, writing a musical while in high school
and playing gigs locally with a trio. His father enrolled him in the Pittsburgh Musical institution where he studied classical music. He had more classical training than most jazz musi-
cians of his time. In 1938, he met and played for Duke Ellington, who was sufficiently impressed enough to invite Strayhorn to join him in New York. Neither one was sure what
Strayhorn’s function in the band would be, but their musical talents had attracted each other. By the end of the year Strayhorn had become essential to the Duke Ellington Band; ar-
ranging, composing, sitting-in at the piano. Billy made a rapid and almost complete assimilation of Ellington’s style and technique. It was difficult to discern where one’s style ended and
the other’s began. Strayhorn lived in Duke’s apartment in Harlem while the Ellington Orchestra toured Europe. Reportedly, Strayhorn studied some of Duke’s scores and “cracked
the code” in Ellington’s words. He became Duke’s musical partner, writing original music and arrangements of current pop tunes. In the early fifties, Strayhorn left the Ellington fold
briefly, arranging for Lena Horne and other singers, and writing musical reviews. By 1956, however, he was back almost full-time with the Ellington organization until his death from
cancer in 1967.

Some of Strayhorn’s compositions are: Chelsea Bridge, Day Dream, Johnny Come Lately, Rain-check, and My Little Brown Book. The pieces most frequently played are Ellington’s theme
song, Take the A Train and Ellington’s signatory, Satin Doll. Some of the suites on which he collaborated with Ellington are: Deep South Suite, 1947; the Shakespearean Suite or Such Sweet
Thunder, 1957; an arrangement of the Nutcracker Suite, 1960; and the Peer Gynt Suite, 1962. He and Ellington composed the Queen’s Suite and gave the only pressing to Queen Elizabeth
II of England. Two of their suites, Jump for Joy, 1950 and My People, 1963 had as their themes the struggles and triumphs of blacks in the United States. Both included a narrative and
choreography.In 1946, Strayhorn received the Esquire Silver Award for outstanding arranger.

In 1965, the Duke Ellington Jazz Society asked him to present a concert at New York’s New School of Social Research. It consisted entirely of his own work performed by him and
his quintet. Two years later Billy Strayhorn died of cancer on May 31, 1967. Duke Ellington’s response to his death was to record what the critics cite as one of his greatest works, a
collection titled And His Mother Called Him Bill, consisting entirely of Billy’s compositions. Later, a scholarship fund was established for him by Ellington and the Julliard School of Music.

Strayhorn’s legacy was thought to be well-known for many years as composer of many classic pieces first played by Ellington. It was only after the Ellington music collection was
donated to the Smithsonian Institute that Strayhorn’s legacy was fully realized.As documented by musicologist Walter van de Leur in his book on the composer, several compositions
copyrighted in Ellington’s name were actually Strayhorn’s work, including entire suites, and particularly Satin Doll. Ironically, perhaps his most well-known song, Lush Life was written
during his years as a student in Pittsburgh. The Ellington band never officially recorded it.


In recent years his legacy has become even more fully appreciated following research and biographies by David Hajdu and Walter Van De Leur, which led to properly crediting
Strayhorn for songs previously credited to Duke or uncredited. Billy Strayhorn wrote beautiful, thoughtful, classic, and timeless music, and was brilliant as both a composer and an
arranger.While enhancing Ellington’s style of striving to showcase the strengths of his band members, Strayhorn’s classical background elevated the group and its sound even further
and helped the name Duke Ellington become eternally synonymous with class, elegance, and some of the greatest American music ever known.

The Music:
This arrangement, first known as Elf, was originally written sometime in 1963. It was first recorded in New York on July 18, 1963. The title had been changed to Isfahan sometime
before the Duke Ellington band’s performance on the English television program Jazz 625 on February 20, 1964. While on tour in Europe during that year Ellington introduced sev-
eral pieces as Impressions of the Far East. At that time the Suite consisted of Amad, Agra, Bluebird of Delhi, and Depk. Agra and Bluebird of Delhi written by Strayhorn and Amad and Depk
were written by Ellington. As the notion for a full-length suite began to take shape several more pieces were composed: Ad Lib on Nippon and A Tourist Point of View, both composed
by Ellington, and Mount Harissa and Blue Pepper, possibly composed by both Ellington and Strayhorn (scores have not been located for these two movements; hence, authorship is
in question). Isfahan was recorded on December 20, 1966 to be included in the Far East Suite.

This is an alto saxophone feature, written to showcase Johnny Hodges. The alto saxophone part is as-written by Billy Strayhorn. We encourage the soloist to interpret the music as
he/she sees fit, rather than mimic Hodges. As such we have resisted the temptation of including a transcription of Hodges’s performance. While we feel solo transcriptions are im-
portant for educational purposes, playing them within the context of a performance of this work may not be desireable. A piano part has not been included; however, chord changes
have been indicated in the bass part.

This tune wound up becoming a standard, having been recorded more than 200 times. The Ellington band, however, never revisited the arrangement after the 1966 recording.

Jeff Sultanof, Doug DuBoff, Rob DuBoff, and Sonjia Stone

- December 2014
This is Billy Strayhorn’s sketch score, completed
in 1963. Originally titled Elf, it had been renamed
Isfahan in advance of the Ellington band’s perfor-
mance on the English television program Jazz 625
in February, 1964. One can see that Strayhorn
refers to Johnny Hodges as “Rab,” short for “Rab-
bit,” which was his nickname. Strayhorn usually
wrote his scores in this format and then turned
them over to the Ellington band copiest Tom
Whaley who would then extract parts.
This is Johnny Hodges’s part. One will notice that
the part is incomplete: the shout section and re-
capitulation of the melody is not indicated. Often
Ellington band arrangements were left seemingly
incomplete. It was understood that direction by
Ellington or Strayhorn would be provided in ad-
vance of performance or recording. Typically the
musicians would commit instructions to memory
and not necessarily transfer that to the printed
page.
s
JlP-7403 jazz Lines pubLications
Isfahan
From 'IMPRESSIONS OF THE FAR EAST SUITE'
By Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn
Score slowly  = 60
Prepared for Publication by Peter Jensen,
Dylan Canterbury, Rob DuBoff, and Jeffrey Sultanof
[1]
           
           
Alto Sax 1      
mf 3
3

Subtone, No Vib.
3 5   
    
Alto Sax 2      

                                  
p

Subtone, No Vib.
3
 
Tenor Sax 1      
                        
               
p 5
Subtone, No Vib.
3
           
Tenor Sax 2                     
              

p 5

Subtone, No Vib.
                                      
Baritone Sax            
5
p 3

Trumpet 1            
  

Trumpet 2            
  

Trumpet 3            
  

           
Trumpet 4   
                  
Trombone 1
                    
 
p

       
Trombone 2
    
                             
p
     
Trombone 3
    
                               
p

D b<7 B b<7 B b7(#5) Eb 7 A<7 A b7“ A b 7(b9) D b<13

                
Bass                      
p

{B`r`u`s`h`e`s`}
sim.
’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’
(4) (8)
    œœ œ œ œœ œ œ
Drum Set  x x
pp

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Copyright© 1964 (Renewed) by Tempo Music, Inc., Music Sales Corporation and Famous Music Corporation
All Rights for Tempo Music, Inc. administered by Music Sales Corporation (ASCAP) International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
Logos, Graphics, and Layout Copyright © 2015 The Jazz Lines Foundation Inc.
This Arrangement Has Been Published with the Authorization of the Duke Ellington Charitable Trust.
Published by the Jazz Lines Foundation Inc., a Not-for-Profit Jazz Research Organization Dedicated to Preserving and Promoting America's Musical Heritage.
jazz Lines pubLications Isfahan JlP-7403
Score - Page 2

[9]  
                   
A. Sx. 1 
           
3

          
A. Sx. 2      

        
T. Sx. 1         

    
      
T. Sx. 2      

     
       
B. Sx.   

      
Tbn. 1
     


 
Tbn. 2
         
 


Tbn. 3
      
     

E b<9
¨ ¨ ¨
G >7( 5) C 7(b9) F >6 A >7( 5) D 7(b9) G >6 G >7( 5) C 7[äÁ] F<9 E< 9 D<9
Bs.
                           
      

’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’
(4) (8)
Dr.  œœ

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16