"(In My) Solitude" is a 1934 jazz ballad composed by Duke Ellington with lyrics by Eddie DeLange and Irving Mills. Ellington reportedly wrote the tune in about 20 minutes during a Victor recording session in Chicago on January 10, 1934, and it was issued that year as a single. The piece is in D-flat major and follows an AABA structure, its mood marked by a contrast between an optimistic tone and a somber, wistful pace. It quickly became a jazz standard and was later re-recorded by Ellington for Brunswick in September 1934, reaching No. 2 on the charts in 1935; the Mills Blue Rhythm Band version also charted. The tune has been recorded at least 28 times through 1942, including several Billie Holiday performances, one of which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2021. As a widely admired ballad, it has been celebrated for its intimate, colorfully arranged sound and its enduring reflection on loneliness and memory. A later rearrangement by Maxwell Davis was recorded for Crown in 1960, illustrating the tune’s lasting influence.
