Constant Lambert

Elegiac Blues

Constant Lambert was greatly influenced by the music of the great Duke Ellington, and in particular by Florence Mills, star of the interracial revue From Dover Street to Dixie and of her own all-black revue Blackbird. Upon her untimely early death in 1927, Lambert was moved to write this Elegiac Blues For Piano in her memory. Constant Lambert, composer and conductor, was a child prodigy who began composing Orchestral works at a tender age and established himself quickly as a major talent of British music just after the First World War. Over time, he became involved in the world of ballet, conducting at Sadler's Wells, becoming Music Director of the Vic-Wells Ballet and as apopular Orchestral conductor on BBC Third Programme.