Neil Ardley – A Symphony For Amaranths

Finally back in stock!!

Amaranths are everlasting flowers, and “A Symphony of Amaranths” is dedicated to two immortals who produced the greatest orchestral jazz music – Duke Ellington and Gil Evans. The whole work is based on their initials – the notes DE and GE – and “A Symphony of Amaranths” is the second in a trilogy of works begun with “The Greek Variations” and finally by “Kaleidoscope of Rainbows” that all use a sequence of notes to provide the foundation for composition and improvisation. The album, recorded in 1971, was the first recording ever to receive an Arts Council award. Scored for a large jazz orchestra (effectively the New Jazz Orchestra, which Neil Ardley had directed in the 1960s) with added woodwind, harp and strings. “A Symphony of Amaranths” is the most romantic and harmonically dense piece of music that Neil Ardley ever composed.