Duke Ellington’s Symphonic Visions , the culmination of a decade-long study of Ellington’s compositions for the symphony orchestra by author Luca Bragalini, is the first book entirely dedicated to Ellington’s symphonic music. Duke Ellington’s Symphonic Visions unfolds across five chapters, each dedicated to a distinct composition, concluding in a deeper understanding of Ellington’s motivations for recording “La Scala, She Too Pretty to Be Blue” amidst numerous musical and cultural challenges. Later chapters, six and seven, examine a posthumous symphonic ballet sketched by Ellington on his deathbed and the remarkable discovery of a previously unpublished score titled Celebration . Through personal interviews with the musicians involved in the Milan recording session and immersive archival research, some appearing in English for the first time, Bragalini embarks on a meticulous journey that traverses Europe, Canada, and Harlem. Published in English with the collaboration of the International Center for American Music, Duke Ellington’s Symphonic Visions transcends specialist discourse by offering insights into Ellington’s symphonic repertoire that illuminate his political ideologies, the Harlem Renaissance, and the role of religion in the African American community. Illustrated with unpublished photographs by a prominent postwar Italian photojournalist who captured Ellington’s collaboration with the Orchestra Sinfonica della Scala and interdisciplinary in nature, the book is an engaging read and integrates musicology with art history, literature, urban history, photography, and sociology to unravel the enigmatic persona of Ellington and shed light on a previously obscure aspect of his oeuvre. Reading through Bragalini’s discoveries we feel that a new Ellingtonian world is now within our view. -- from the foreword by David Schiff, composer and author of The Ellington Century Luca Bragalini is not only an accomplished researcher and musicologist, but also a creative storyteller who leads the reader through the process of discovery. And in an exemplary instance of putting musicology into practice, he completes the unfinished piece Three Black Kings and discovers the unknown half-hour-long ‘Celebration.’ This book is a must for Ellington’s many fans. -- Lewis Porter, musicologist and author of John Coltrane: His Life and Music Duke Ellington’s Symphonic Visions stands with the best books on music that delve deeply into the materials and process of composition, and it does so in a readable, engaging narrative that flows with the drama and revelations of great literature. -- Andrew Homzy, emeritus professor of jazz studies at Concordia University–Montreal and Grammy Award nominee I found this book absolutely fascinating. The author’s analysis of Ellington’s instrumentation is both accessible and beautifully written. The narrative vividly conveys Ellington’s extensive and rich imagination in orchestrating his works. -- Barbara Heyman, author of Samuel Barber: The Composer and His Music It is with the highest regard that I recommend Luca Bragalini’s critical and well-received opus on Duke Ellington. His exceptionally detailed research on hitherto undiscussed details about the iconic master of American jazz deserves wide recognition among musicological audiences. -- Bill Doggett, archivist, lecturer, curator, and historian of African American performing arts Luca Bragalini is professor of history and analysis of jazz at the Music Conservatory Giuseppe Verdi of Milan. Bragalini was a distinguished scholar at Reed College where he offered a series of lectures on Ellington. He has discovered unpublished works by Duke Ellington, Chet Baker, and Luciano Chailly and is author of the Italian edition of this book, Dalla Scala a Harlem: I sogni sinfonici di Duke Ellington , named Best Musicological Book of 2018 by the Jazzit Awards.