Jazz Suite No. 1

Dmitri Shostakovich

This work is officially entitled Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 1, but commonly known as Jazz Suite No. 1.

General Info

Year: 1934
Duration: c. 8:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - Rental

Movements

1. Waltz in G minor
2. Polka in C major
3. Foxtrot in F♯ minor

Instrumentation

Full Score
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Trombone
String Bass
Piano
Percussion, including:

Crash Cymbals
Glockenspiel
Snare Drum
Wood Block
Xylophone

Ukulele
Violin

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

In the 1930s jazz was highly popular in the Soviet Union. Shostakovich was particularly interested in this kind of music, especially as it was practiced within the USSR by his colleagues and friends. So he was delighted when he was asked to write a piece for a small Leningrad dance-band. The result was this charming and tuneful suite in a style combining echoes of Kurt Weill, klezmer and cabaret with more American influences, especially in the darkly hilarious final movement.

There are three movements in all: a soupy and engaging Waltz, a lively Polka with a tricky xylophone solo, and a paradoxically entitled Foxtrot (Blues), which features a notable episode for that pioneering electric instrument, the Hawaiian guitar.

- Program Note by Gerard McBurney

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Ricardo Chailly, conductor)
Audio CD: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Ricardo Chailly, conductor) – 2006

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, Penn.) Wind Ensemble (George Vosburgh, conductor) - 15 October 2022

Works for Winds by this Composer

Adaptable Music

Waltz No. 2 (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Brown) (post 1956/2021)

All Wind Works

Allegro from "Symphony No. 10" (tr. Fisher) (1954/2010)
Ballet Suite #4 (arr. Pappajohn) (1953)
Batterie from "The Nose" (arr. Schaefer) (1928/1978)
Concertino (orch. Singleton) (1953/)
Dance I. See: Jazz Suite No. 2
Ein Volksfest (arr. Rembach) (1955/1995)
Ein Volksfest. See: Folk Festival
Excerpts from "Symphony No. 5" Finale (arr. Longfield) (1937/2007)
Festive Overture (arr. Frost) (1954/2016)
Festive Overture (tr. Hunsberger) (1954/1965)
Festive Overture (tr. Martin) (1954/2016?)
Festive Overture (tr. Patterson) (1954/)
Festive Overture (tr. Takahashi) (1954/1998)
The Fire of Eternal Glory (tr. Timothy Rhea) (1960/2011)
Fire of Eternal Glory (arr. Curnow) (1960/2011)
Folk Dances (tr. Reynolds) (1942/1979)
Folk Dances (arr. Erickson) (1942/1979)
Folk Dances (arr. Curnow) (1942/2000)
Folk Festival (tr. Hunsberger) (1955/1971)
Folk Festival. See also: Ein Volksfest
Fortinbras March from "Hamlet" (tr. Suchoff) (1932/1967)
The Gadfly (1955/)
The Gadfly (tr. Patterson) (1955/)
Galop (tr. Hunsberger) (1959/1971)
Galop (from "The Limpid Stream") (tr. Miller) (1935)
Hamlet Suite (tr. Suchoff) (1964/1975)
Intermezzo (arr. Cahn) (1928/1986/1994)
Jazz Suite No. 1 (1934)
Jazz Suite No. 2 (arr. de Meij) (post-1956/1994)
- March (arr. de Meij) (post-1956/1994)
- Lyric Waltz (arr. de Meij) (post-1956/1994)
- Dance I (arr. de Meij) (post-1956/1994)
- Dance II (arr. de Meij) (post-1956/1994)
- Waltz No. 2 (arr. de Meij) (post-1956/1994)
- Finale (arr. de Meij) (post-1956/1994)
March (arr. Curnow) (2014)
March (arr. de Meij). See: Jazz Suite No. 2
March of the Soviet Militia (ed. Iakubov) (1970/2006)
October, Op 131 (arr. Mitchell) (1967)
Overture on Russian and Kirg (arr. Janssen)
Overture on Russian and Kirghiz Folk Songs (tr. Duker) (1963/1989)
Overture to "The Gadfly" (arr. Geert Flik) (1955/2006)
Piano Concerto No 2 (tr. Pontini) (1957/2012)
Piano Concerto No 2 in F Major (arr. Bamonte)
Piano Trio No. 2 (arr. Graham)
Priest and His Servant Balda, The (1934)
Prelude, Op. 34, No. 14 (arr. Reynolds) (1988)
Prelude 21 and Fugue 1 (arr. McCullough) (1952/)
Prelude (Variations) from "Ballet Suite No. 4" (arr. Blankenship) (1953/)
Romance (arr. Peel) (1955/1985)
Spanish Dance from "The Gadfly" (arr. Curnow)
Suite for Jazz Orchestra no. 1. See: Jazz Suite No. 1
Symphony No. 1 (tr. Scarbrough) (1924-25)
Symphony No. 5, Mvmt I (tr. Schaeffer)
Symphony No. 5, Mvmt II (tr. Smith) (1937/1944)
Symphony No. 5: Finale (tr. Righter) (1937/1947)
Symphony No. 5, Mvmt IV (tr. Rogers) (1937/2003)
Symphony No. 5, Mvmt IV (tr. Bocook) (1937/2005)
Symphony No. 9 (arr. Mertens and Suykerbuyk) (1945/1986)
Symphony No. 9 (tr. Schaefer) (1945/1976)
Symphony No. 10, Mvt. II (tr. Fisher) (tr. Fisher) (1954/2010)
Symphony No. 10, Mvmt II (tr. O'Brien) (1954)
Symphony No. 11: Second Movement Excerpts (arr. Daehn) (1957/1989)
Tahiti Trot (tr. Brubaker) (1927/2009)
Three Symphonic Preludes (arr. Reed)
Two Scarlatti Pieces (1928)
Waltz No. 2 (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Brown) (post 1956/2021)
Waltz No. 2 (arr. Connery) (post 1956/1996)
Waltz No. 2 (arr. Curnow) (post 1956/2010)
Waltz No. 2 (arr. De Meij). See: Jazz Suite No. 2

Resources

George Vosburgh, personal correspondence, October 2022
Perusal score
Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 1 (Shostakovich). Wikipedia. Accessed 15 October 2022