[1904-1959]

Emil František Burian - Suite Americaine

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Year
1926
Time
11'
Instr.
Sax. Trp. Pno. Perc. Violophone. Vc.
Arranger
E.F.Burian
Edition
Ebony Band Edition
Score on sale for € 20.- / Instr. parts (pdf) € 40.-
This composition has been played by the Ebony Band
CD
Dancing - The jazzfever of Milhaud, Martinu, Seiber, Burian, Wolpe. Channel Classics CCS 30611, see Discography

The Suite Americaine op.15 was originally written for two pianos, but within a month of its completion in December 1926 he had made an alternative version for a mixed instrumental ensemble, with a main role for the violophone, which gave an extra accent to the stubborn character of the music. The violophone (also known as Stroh-Geige or Violine à defaut) was invented in England in the late nineteenth century for the first gramophone recordings. The sound of the strings is amplified by a membrane rather than a resonance chamber, and projected in a certain direction by a trumpet-like metal bell. From the 1920s the violophone was popular in street and jazz bands.