Swinging Suites by Edward E. & Edward G. (also known asPeer Gynt Suite/Suite Thursday) is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleaderDuke Ellington recorded for theColumbia label in 1960 featuring a jazz interpretation ofPeer Gynt byEdvard Grieg and Ellington's tribute toJohn Steinbeck'sSweet Thursday, co-written byBilly Strayhorn.[2] The album was rereleased on CD asThree Suites along with Ellington's reworking ofTchaikovsky'sThe Nutcracker in 1990.
In the 1960s, theRoyal Swedish Academy of Music made a statement, referring to a Swedish law paragraph called "Klassikerskyddet" ("Protection of Classics") in the copyright legislation, that Duke Ellington's jazz versions on the album were "offending to the nordic music culture". Ellington withdrew the album and the case was never tried in court.[4]
In 1992,The New York Times reviewed a live performance of Ellington'sPeer Gynt adaption: "The pieces, with their dense and gorgeous harmonies, lend themselves perfectly to live performance" and "the melody kept peeking around creamy harmonies, hurtling up-tempo sections abruptly merged with ballads".[5]
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