Nothin' without God: Duke Ellington's prayerful music - Cover Story

Christian Century, Oct 12, 1994 by Janna Tull Steed

"New World a-Comin'," a concerto-like piece based on a best-selling book, offers a theme of hope. In a narrative introduction to the piece Ellington wrote about the anticipation of a very distant future place...where there will be no war, no greed, no nonbelievers and no categorization...where love is unconditional and no pronoun is good enough for God.

"Come Sunday" was used again in My People, a 1963 revue commemorating the centenary of the Emancipation Proclamation. The revue included gospel-style songs like "Ain't But the One" and "Will You Be There? / 99 Percent Won't Do." Ellington drew from these works in the Grace Cathedral concert, adding a title piece, "In the Beginning God," and other new music.

THREE DISTINCT Ellington Sacred Concerts were premiered in notable settings: besides the concert at Grace Cathedral there was one at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York in 1968 and one at Westminster Abbey in 1973. In more than 100 repeat performances throughout this country and abroad, Ellington brought together church and school choirs, readers, professional soloists, dancers and his own seasoned orchestra of 15 to 17 pieces to perform music that included jazz rhythms and harmonies, gospel and classical-sounding solos, as well as chorales, chants and tone poems. The texts, mostly of his own invention, ranged from poetic to colloquial.

A few titles suggest the variety of subjects and styles: "Ain't Nobody Nowhere Nothin' Without God," "Praise God and Dance" (based on Psalm 150), "Heaven," "Is God a Three-Letter Word for Love?," "The Lord's Prayer" (several versions), "Hallelujah," "It's Freedom," "The Biggest and Busiest Intersection," "Every Man Prays in His Own Language," "Father Forgive," and the haunting "T.G.T.T." (for "too good to title").

Ellington once said, "All my music comes directly from the book of life." In the Sacred Concerts he gathered up huge slices of life--secular and sacred, trivial and profound, earthy and ethereal--and expressed them in his eclectic musical language. "Praise the One who created and sustains and redeems all of this!" he insisted.

For Ellington, this sacred music was an expression of his "best self," and for nine years he dedicated himself with uncharacteristic single-mindedness to performing it. Even during his final illness, "the Maestro" who called himself "God's messenger boy" was giving his son, Mercer, directions about a recording of the third Sacred Concert. Titled The Majesty of God, the concert was given in October 1973 to honor the founding of the United Nations. Ellington died exactly six months later.

He left a corpus of more than 2,000 compositions. Previously unpublished scores and unreleased recordings were acquired by the Smithsonian in 1988 and 1991, prompting another boom of scholarly and popular interest.

Ellington considered the Sacred Concerts his most important work, a view most jazz scholars would question or fail to comprehend. He led a movement that redefined the settings in which jazz was deemed acceptable. He brought what some called "the devil's music" into the sanctuary and reclaimed its sacred origins. He was preacher, bridge builder and peacemaker in an era of strife and division. And he made an explicit witness to his personal faith through his music.