"Single Petal of a Rose" Transcription

I recently posted a transcription of Duke Ellington's "The Single Petal of a Rose." Written in 1959, it wasn't officially released until the mid-1970s, save for one recording presented to the dedicatee, Queen Elizabeth II.

The song has been a favorite of mine for several years; you can read an earlier post I made about the song, including a YouTube recording, here.

This transcription is partially based on Ellington's original recording and partially based on memories I had of the David Berger transcription I originally got in undergrad and subsequently lost during a move. The loss of the Berger transcription was the impetus for writing out my transcription, as was the opportunity to demonstrate more of my engraving skills. I intentionally left out pedal markings, unlike the error-ridden version published by Hal Leonard, because each pianist is going to approach that differently (just as Ellington did, on different live recordings such as The Great London Concerts and The New York Concert, released by the Jazz Heritage Society). I also wanted to include the bass part, because even though the piece is frequently by a solo pianist, it originally had an arco bass that adds a different dimension to the piece.

I recently found a recording of the piece by Ben Webster, on his See You At the Fair album, and a horrible transcription of a great performance by Marcus Roberts is available on YouTube. My favorite recording remains, though, that of Sir Roland Hanna's from his Duke Ellington Piano Solos album - a superb masterclass in solo piano performance throughout. That's next on my list to transcribe; his slight changes in chords are fantastic, and the overall performance is sublime.