Duke Ellington’s Orchestra performs Black, Brown at Symphony Hall.

One of only three complete performances of the 43-minute work, it premiered at Carnegie Hall five days earlier. Its full title continues, A Tone Parallel to the History of the American Negro. According to Richard Vacca, the audience was “was standing room only and the box office turned away 1,200 – all on a day when a foot of snow blanketed the city.” The Boston Post later writes, “The capacity audience cheered the orchestra and its leader within an inch of their eardrums.”