Rhapsody In Blue, by George Gershwin, performed for first time - Feb 12, 1924 - HISTORY.com Rhapsody In Blue, by George Gershwin, performed for first time Share this: Rhapsody In Blue, by George Gershwin, performed for first time Author Rhapsody In Blue, by George Gershwin, performed for first time URL Publisher A+E Networks “The audience packed a house that could have been sold out at twice the size,” wrote New York Times critic Olin Downes on February 13, 1924, of a concert staged the previous afternoon at the Aeolian Hall in New York City. Billed as an educational event, the “Experiment In Modern Music” concert was organized by Paul Whiteman, the immensely popular leader of the Palais Royal Orchestra, to demonstrate that the relatively new form of music called jazz deserved to be regarded as a serious and sophisticated art form. The program featured didactic segments intended to make this case—segments with titles like “Contrast: Legitimate Scoring vs. Jazzing.” After 24 such stem-winders, the house was growing restless.

Then a young man named George Gershwin, then known only as a composer of Broadway songs, seated himself at the piano to accompany the orchestra in the performance of a brand new piece of his own composition, called Rhapsody In Blue. “It starts with an outrageous cadenza of the clarinet,” wrote Downes of the now-famous two-and-a-half-octave glissando that makes Rhapsody in Blue as instantly recognizable as Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. “It has subsidiary phrases, logically growing out of it…often metamorphosed by devices of rhythm and instrumentation.” The music critic of the New York Times was in agreement with Whiteman’s basic premise: “This is no mere dance-tune set for piano and other instruments,” he judged. “This composition shows extraordinary talent, just as it also shows a young composer with aims that go far beyond those of his ilk.” It may be true that George Gershwin had always hoped to transcend the category of popular music, but the piece he used to accomplish that feat was put together very hastily.

Just five weeks prior to the “Experiment in Modern Music” concert, Gershwin had not committed to writing a piece for it, when his brother Ira read a report in the New York Tribune stating that George was “at work on a jazz concerto” for the program. Thus painted into a corner, George Gershwin pieced Rhapsody In Blue together as best he could in the time available, leaving his own piano part to be improvised during the world premiere. Rhapsody would, of course, come to be regarded as one of the most important American musical works of the 20th century. It would also open the door for a whole generation of “serious” composers—from Copland to Brecht—to draw on jazz elements in their own important works. Related Videos About Gershwin Gershwin with Koussevitsky looking over the score of Second Rhapsody, January 1932 In all likelihood the excellent musicians assembled for the Gershwin rehearsal recording session were probably sight reading or close to sight reading their parts.

As a consequence in a score of this complexity there are a few errors and ensemble problems on the recording but it's still an amazing historic document: it's the only recording we have of Gershwin conducting and playing one of his major works complete with no cuts, and of course a recording too of his original orchestration. The origins of Second Rhapsody This work had an unusual gestation, beginning when Gershwin was in Hollywood at the end of 1930, having been asked, along with his lyricist brother Ira, to write songs for a Fox movie that was released a year later under the title "Delicious'. At possibly Gershwin's own suggestion a lengthy musical sequence was devised for the film that would give Gershwin more artistic scope. Gershwin then went one step further and used the opportunity to turn the project into a full length serious concert work. As it turned out it was only later (after the completion of this new concert work) that Gershwin's full score was then adapted, in truncated form, for a 7 minute musical sequence in the movie.

During the making of 'Delicious' the production notes refer to Gershwin's music as either 'Manhattan Rhapsody', 'New York Rhapsody' or 'Rhapsody in Rivets', though Gershwin's score, predating all these titles has simply the title '2nd Rhapsody for Orchestra with Piano'. Gershwin's full score is dated "March 14, 1931" on the title page, and "May 23 1931, 33 Riverside Dive New York" on the final 76th page of music. The filming of 'Delicious" began in California in August 1931 and the movie soundtrack (including the cut version of 2nd Rhapsody) was recorded by Fox's studio orchestra in October 1931. The story outline for 'Delicious' (starring Janet Gaynor) had plenty of excuses for including music: the plot revolved around the life and loves of a young Russian pianist and composer emigrating to America, all the while struggling to complete his "New York Rhapsody".

In the movie part of Gershwin's 2nd Rhapsody is used to enhance an almost surreal dream-type sequence of images of New York. Many of the images have a sinister edge presumably inspired by Gershwin's music (which includes a 'rivet' theme that in the movie accompanies riveters building new skyscrapers in New York City). However Gershwin said he wrote the work as purely abstract music: "There is no program to the Rhapsody. As the part of the picture where it is to be played takes place in many streets in New York, I used as a starting point what I called 'a rivet theme,' but, after that, I just wrote a piece of music without any program" [Gershwin letter to Goldberg, June 30th 1931]. Second Rhapsody occupies a quite different sound world to Rhapsody in Blue. Gershwin's music was subtly changing throughout his short life, and gradually acquiring darker hues and greater intensity. As Gershwin's biographer Edward Jablonski once typically remarked of Second Rhapsody: "this is not a cheery work to listen to holding hands".

He went on to describe the work: "The Second Rhapsody is a fascinating composition; it is Gershwin around the corner. He had left the twenties; the self-styled 'modern romantic' created a work that is more modern than romantic". The darker side of George Gershwin lends a very special feel to the score of Second Rhapsody, and in many ways foreshadows what was to come in his masterpiece opera Porgy and Bess. Second Rhapsody is also a work of tremendous passion and intensity, and as mentioned, has at its heart one of the most glorious and poignant melodies ever conceived by the composer of so many immortal melodies! The videos attached to this page (courtesy of YouTube users) will give some idea of how the work was adapted for the movie 'Delicious'. The movie was actually released a month or so before Second Rhapsody received its first performance in Boston; the truncated version of Second Rhapsody heard during the nightmare sequence in 'Delicious' (the second video clip below) would have been the first if not only opportunity the general public had to get to know Gershwin's newest composition.

These notes � 2007 Jack Gibbons Excerpts from the film 1931 film 'Delicious' featuring part of Gershwin's Second Rhapsody Prelude to the nightmare sequence featuring Gershwin's 'Manhattan Rhapsody' (as it was sometimes called for the film sequence). Here one of the main characters (a composer, played by Raul Roulien) is talking to the leading actress Janet Gaynor of his new musical composition (actually portions of Gershwin's music). The words he speaks are all fictitious of course, written to suit the scene, and bear no relation to what was or wasn't in Gershwin's mind when he completed the Second Rhapsody, several months before the film was scripted. This second video shows the sequence in the film where Gershwin's Manhattan Rhapsody is heard at length (some 7 minutes of Gershwin's already completed Second Rhapsody score (about half the length of the total work) was used for this sequence. The movie's musical director conducted the studio orchestra for the sound track from a photostat score of Gershwin's original manuscript with selected pages held together by paperclips!

Listening to the movie soundtrack there is no doubt this is Gershwin's original orchestration. In this film sequence the images are often disturbing, haunting and surreal, as they depict an illegal immigrant (Janet Gaynor) running frightened and desperate in an alien country and alien city. When coupled with Gershwin's dark score this scene presents a unusual movie sequence for the 1930s. Song of the Day: Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin | The Dancing Rest Song of the Day: Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin Posted on July 29, 2013 by Chiara. Rhapsody in Blue is a 1924 musical composition by American composer George Gershwin for solo piano and jazz band, which combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects. Commissioned by a bandleader Paul Whiteman, the composition was orchestrated by Ferde Grofé several times, including the original 1924 scoring, “theater orchestra” setting published in 1926, and the symphony orchestra scoring published in 1942, though completed earlier.

The piece received its premiere in the concert, An Experiment in Modern Music, which was held on February 12, 1924, in Aeolian Hall, New York, by Whiteman and his band with Gershwin playing the piano. The editors of the Cambridge Music Handbooks opined that “The Rhapsody in Blue (1924) established Gershwin’s reputation as a serious composer and has since become one of the most popular of all American concert works.” Composition Since there were only five weeks left, Gershwin hastily set about composing a piece, and on the train journey to Boston, the ideas of Rhapsody in Blue came to his mind. He told his first biographer Isaac Goldberg in 1931: It was on the train, with its steely rhythms, its rattle-ty bang, that is so often so stimulating to a composer – I frequently hear music in the very heart of the noise… And there I suddenly heard, and even saw on paper – the complete construction of the Rhapsody, from beginning to end. No new themes came to me, but I worked on the thematic material already in my mind and tried to conceive the composition as a whole.

I heard it as a sort of musical kaleidoscope of America, of our vast melting pot, of our unduplicated national pep, of our metropolitan madness. By the time I reached Boston I had a definite plot of the piece, as distinguished from its actual substance. Gershwin began his work on January 7 as dated on the original manuscript for two pianos. The piece was titled “American Rhapsody” during composition. The title Rhapsody in Blue was suggested by Ira Gershwin after his visit to a gallery exhibition of James McNeill Whistler paintings, which bear titles such as Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket and Arrangement in Grey and Black (better known as Whistler’s Mother). After a few weeks, Gershwin finished his composition and passed the score to Whiteman’s arranger Ferde Grofé, who orchestrated the piece, finishing it on February 4, only eight days before the premiere. Responses By the end of 1927, Whiteman’s band had played the Rhapsody eighty-four times, and its recording sold a million copies.

Whiteman later adopted the piece as his band’s theme song, and opened his radio programs with the slogan “Everything new but the Rhapsody in Blue.” The piece received mixed reviews from mainstream critics. Olin Downes, reviewing the concert in The New York Times: This composition shows extraordinary talent, as it shows a young composer with aims that go far beyond those of his ilk, struggling with a form of which he is far from being master… In spite of all this, he has expressed himself in a significant and, on the whole, highly original form…. His first theme… is no mere dance-tune… it is an idea, or several ideas, correlated and combined in varying and contrasting rhythms that immediately intrigue the listener. The second theme is more after the manner of some of Mr. Gershwin’s colleagues. Tuttis are too long, cadenzas are too long, the peroration at the end loses a large measure of the wildness and magnificence it could easily have had if it were more broadly prepared, and, for all that, the audience was stirred and many a hardened concertgoer excited with the sensation of a new talent finding its voice… There was tumultuous applause for Gershwin’s composition.

Another reviewer, Lawrence Gilman, a Richard Wagner specialist who later wrote a famously devastating review of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, commenting on the Rhapsody in the New York Tribune on February 13, 1924, said: How trite, feeble and conventional the tunes are; how sentimental and vapid the harmonic treatment, under its disguise of fussy and futile counterpoint! … Weep over the lifelessness of the melody and harmony, so derivative, so stale, so inexpressive! Some critics described the piece as formless, and claimed that Gershwin only glued his melodic segments together into one piece. Pitts Sanborn wrote that the music “runs off into empty passage-work and meaningless repetition”. In an article in Atlantic Monthly in 1955, Leonard Bernstein, who nevertheless admitted that he loved the piece, wrote: The Rhapsody is not a composition at all. It’s a string of separate paragraphs stuck together. The themes are terrific – inspired, God-given. I don’t think there has been such an inspired melodist on this earth since Tchaikovsky. But if you want to speak of a composer, that’s another matter.

Your Rhapsody in Blue is not a real composition in the sense that whatever happens in it must seem inevitable. You can cut parts of it without affecting the whole. You can remove any of these stuck-together sections and the piece still goes on as bravely as before. It can be a five-minute piece or a twelve-minute piece. And in fact, all these things are being done to it every day. And it’s still the Rhapsody in Blue. In popular culture Although Gershwin himself spoke of the rhapsody as “a musical kaleidoscope of America”, Rhapsody in Blue has often been interpreted as a musical portrait of New York City; it is used to this effect in the films Manhattan and Gremlins 2: The New Batch, as well as extensively in this context in a segment from the film Fantasia 2000, in which the piece is used as the lyrical framing for a stylized animation set drawn in the style of famed illustrator Al Hirschfeld, to critical acclaim. Brian Wilson has said on multiple occasions that “Rhapsody in Blue” is one of his favorite pieces. It was also a heavy influence on his Smile album.

Michael Stipe of REM has cited this as one of the largest influences in his musical development. Gordon Goodwin has arranged “Rhapsody in Blue” for big band, winning the 2012 Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement. In the Broadway version of the musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie”, set in 1920’s New York, George Gershwin and his wife make a cameo appearance, with George finding the inspiration for “Rhapsody in Blue” from a dress. Rhapsody in Blue has been used by United States-based air carrier United Airlines in their advertisements since the mid-1980s. In more recent advertisements, the instruments used reflect the theme, including a version played by traditionally Asian instruments in conjunction with publicizing the carrier’s major presence in trans-Pacific travel. Rhapsody in Blue has also been used in connection with various IBM products, including the PCjr. Rhapsody in Blue was played simultaneously by eighty-four pianists at the opening ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

The a cappella group The Bobs performed an a cappella version of Rhapsody in Blue titled Rhapsody in Bob on their 2005 album of the same name. Ilia Kulik of Russia used the adaptation from Rhapsody in Blue in his free skate program in 1998, eventually winning a gold medal in figure skating in 1998 Winter Olympics. The title theme from the animated TV series The Critic is a tribute to Rhapsody in Blue, the show being based in New York City. The piece was performed by Herbie Hancock and Lang Lang at the 50th Grammy Awards on February 10, 2008. A melodica version of the piece was performed in the manga, the Japanese television drama and the anime, Nodame Cantabile. A short version of the piece was also used as the ending theme tune in the drama. The central theme of Rhapsody in Blue is used as a riff in The Electric Light Orchestra’s “Birmingham Blues” off their 1977 hit album Out of the Blue.

The main theme is also used during the opening saxophone solo in the Sublime song “What Happened” from their 1992 album 40oz. to Freedom as well as in the trombone solo in What I Got. Pop artist Ben Folds frequently inserts interpolations of the theme from Rhapsody in Blue during the outro of his song “Philosophy,” notably during the live recorded performance of Ben Folds Fivefor Sessions at West 54th. AC/DC has a song in the Australian version of their 1977 album Let There Be Rock, the title of which parodies Rhapsody in Blue, called “Crabsody in Blue.” Possibly because of this fact, the song was replaced with “Problem Child” in the American version. Themes from Rhapsody in Blue appear in the Phish song “Bathtub Gin,” from the album Lawn Boy. The BBC revival of Doctor Who uses Rhapsody in Blue as part of its musical score in the third series episode “Daleks in Manhattan”.

A variation of the piece was also used in the special Christmas episode “The Runaway Bride.” It can be found in the Nintendo Wii Game Little King’s Story throughout the entire Primetime Kingdom, including the fight with King TV Dinnah. The TV show Glee used it in the opening scene of the season two finale titled “New York.” Galaxy chocolate used the theme during their UK TV advertising campaign of the late ’80s/early ’90s. In the 2013 film The Great Gatsby, the score of this theme is used during Gatsby’s grand entrance, though the novel is set in 1922, before the music was written. The 1974 album Tasty by The Good Rats, includes the song “Songwriter” by Peppi Marchello. It inclues the lyrics “Hey there Mr. Gershwin, Gone at thirty eight, Gave so much, and yet so much to give, And I thank you for the Rhapsody in Blue, And I must confess sometimes I think I’m you.” The title of the 1976 album Ratcity in Blue by The Good Rats, is a word play on Rhapsody in Blue.

George Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin: a masterpiece of music Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin: a masterpiece of music George Gershwin Credit: Rex Features 12 February 2016 • 8:55am Rhapsody In Blue by George Gershwin was first performed in New York on February 12, 1924. This article was first published in 2014. George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue will be celebrated tonight at a special concert at the Town Hall in Manhattan – 90 years after it was first performed. On February 12, 1924, violinist-conductor Paul Whiteman led his dance band in night of jazz called 'Experiment in Modern Music' and it culminated in the premiere of an 18-minute piece commissioned for the occasion: Rhapsody in Blue. Composer George Gershwin played piano.

The best jazz albums of 2016 On February 12, 2014, the composition was be performed by Grammy-winning Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks (and led by acclaimed conductor Maurice Peress) to commemorate the great work of New Yorker Gershwin, who died from a brain tumour on July 11, 1937, aged only 38. The Walt Disney film Fantasia 2000 featured a segment about Rhapsody in Blue with animations in the style of illustrator Al Hirschfeld Gershwin was a master at blending sophisticated musical structures with pop-song accessibility and the song had an profound influence on countless musicians, including Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys. He released an album in 2010 called Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin. At that time, he recalled that he was a toddler when he first heard the song. He told the Los Angeles Times: "I was two years old and my mother played it for me, and she said I turned my head toward the speaker, and she knew I liked it.

George Gershwin was one of the 20th-century's finest composers Credit: AP So every couple of weeks she would take me to my grandmother's house, and my grandmother had [a recording of] Rhapsody in Blue. We would go there and my mom would play it for me. I just couldn't believe it – it's such a beautiful piece. I loved it." Rhapsody in Blue has continued to inspire popular culture. Woody Allen's film Manhattan opens with a montage of images of New York accompanied by the song. The first time Leonardo DiCaprio appears on screen in the 2013 Baz Luhrmann film The Great Gatsby, it is Rhapsody in Blue that is playing as the soundtrack. The song was also used at the opening ceremony of the 1984 Olympics in LA. Gershwin composed countless classics with his brother Ira, and they are two of only five people to have ever been awarded a Congressional Gold Medal for songwriting. Steven Spielberg is said to be considering making a biopic about George Gershwin (for Dreamworks), with reports that Zachary Quinto is in line to play the composer.

Premium 08 Dec 2016, 3:04pm George Gershwin, 1898-1937: He Wrote More Than 500 Songs George Gershwin, 1898-1937: He Wrote More Than 500 Songs February 14, 2009 His music is still popular today. Transcript of radio broadcast: VOICE ONE: I'm Barbara Klein. VOICE TWO: And I'm Steve Ember with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English. Today we continue our report about the life and music of one of America's greatest composers, George Gershwin. (MUSIC: "Rhapsody in Blue") VOICE ONE: As we reported last week, George Gershwin published his first song when he was just eighteen years old. During the next twenty years, until his death, he wrote more than five hundred more songs. He also wrote an opera, and music for piano and orchestra. Many of George Gershwin's songs were first written for musical plays performed in theaters in New York City.

These comedies, with plenty of songs, were a popular form of entertainment in the nineteen twenties and nineteen thirties. One of Gershwin's musical plays, "Girl Crazy," introduced a young singer named Ethel Merman. She became one of the most celebrated performers in America. In the play, Ethel Merman sang a song George Gershwin wrote just for her. It was called "I Got Rhythm. " (MUSIC) VOICE TWO: Many songs that George Gershwin wrote for musical plays and movies have remained as popular as ever. Over the years, they have been sung and played in every possible way -- from jazz to country. One example is the song, "Someone to Watch Over Me." It was written for the nineteen twenty-six musical "Oh, Kay!" Here is a modern version of the song, sung by Willie Nelson. (MUSIC) VOICE ONE: In the nineteen twenties, there was a debate in the United States about jazz music. Could jazz, some people asked, be considered serious music? In nineteen twenty-four, jazz musician and orchestra leader Paul Whiteman decided to organize a special concert to show that jazz was serious music.

George Gershwin agreed to compose something for the concert before he realized how little time he had to do it. The concert was just a few weeks away. Gershwin got busy. And, in that short time, he composed a piece for piano and orchestra. He called it "Rhapsody in Blue." VOICE TWO: Gershwin himself played the piano part of "Rhapsody in Blue" at the concert. The audience included some of the greatest classical musicians of the time. When they heard his music, they were electrified. It seemed to capture, for the first time, the true voice of modern American culture. Today, we can still hear Gershwin playing "Rhapsody in Blue." An old mechanical piano recording has been reproduced exactly on this recording. (MUSIC) VOICE ONE: "Rhapsody in Blue" made George Gershwin famous all over the world. Several hundred thousand copies of the printed music sold immediately. Gershwin was satisfied that he had shown that jazz music could be both serious and popular. Gershwin also wrote an opera, "Porgy and Bess. " It was based on a book by DuBose Heyward.

It is a tragic love story about black Americans along the coast of South Carolina. "Porgy And Bess" opened in Boston, Massachusetts, in nineteen thirty-five. Audiences loved it. But most critics did not know what to think of it. It was not like any other opera or musical play they had ever seen. Gershwin was not affected by the critics' opinions. He believed some of his greatest music had gone into the opera. He said he had created a new musical form -- an opera based on popular culture. Here is the song "Summertime" from a later production of "Porgy and Bess" in nineteen fifty-two. Leontyne Price, who played Bess, sings the song. (MUSIC) VOICE TWO: Another well-known Gershwin piece is "An American in Paris. " It is a long tone poem for orchestra. Its first public performance was by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in nineteen twenty-eight. Here is a modern recording from "An American in Paris." (MUSIC) VOICE ONE: Once again, opinion was mixed. Most people loved "An American in Paris," as they loved all of Gershwin's music. Some critics liked it, too.

They called it happy and full of life. Others hated it. They called it silly and long-winded. Still, it remains one of his most popular works. VOICE TWO: George Gershwin died in nineteen thirty-seven, just days after doctors learned he had brain cancer. He was only thirty-nine years old. Newspapers all over the world reported his death on their front pages. Everyone mourned the loss of the man and all the music he might have written. George Gershwin is still considered one of America's greatest composers. His works still are performed by many singers and groups. They are probably performed more often than any other serious American composer. VOICE ONE: Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg was one of the people who praised George Gershwin. Schoenberg said Gershwin was a man who lived in music and expressed everything through music, because music was his native language. (MUSIC: "Rhapsody in Blue") VOICE TWO: This program was written by Shelley Gollust. It was produced by Lawan Davis. I'm Steve Ember. VOICE ONE: And I'm Barbara Klein. Join us again next week for PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English.

First Performance of “Rhapsody in Blue” | MarkJonesBooks Home » Essentials - Music » First Performance of “Rhapsody in Blue” First Performance of “Rhapsody in Blue” Posted on by markjonesbooks Rhapsody in Blue is to jazz what Sgt. Pepper’s Lonley Hearts Club Band is to rock and roll. It premiered in an afternoon concert on February 12, 1924, held by Paul Whiteman and his band at Aeolian Hall in New York City before a packed house. . The version performed that afternoon was for a 24-piece jazz band, not for full orchestra. George Gershwin at the piano.Library of Congress Billed as an “Experiment In Modern Music” the concert’s purpose was to demonstrate that the relatively new form of music called jazz deserved to be regarded as a serious and sophisticated art form. A young man named George Gershwin, then known only as a composer of Broadway songs, seated himself at the piano to accompany the orchestra in the performance of a brand new piece of his own composition. New York Times critic Olin Downes wrote: It starts with an outrageous cadenza of the clarinet.

It has subsidiary phrases, logically growing out of it…often metamorphosed by devices of rhythm and instrumentation. This is no mere dance-tune set for piano and other instruments. This composition shows extraordinary talent, just as it also shows a young composer with aims that go far beyond those of his ilk. For all its mastery and subsequent acclaim, Rhapsody in Blue was put together very hastily. Just five weeks prior to the concert, Gershwin had not yet committed to writing a piece for it. His brother Ira read a report in the New York Tribune stating that George was “at work on a jazz concerto” for the program. Thus, in some desperation, Gershwin pieced Rhapsody In Blue together as best he could in the time available. On the day of the concert his own piano part had yet to written; it was improvised by Gershwin during the world premiere. Rhapsody is important because it helped change people’s perception of jazz from “low dance (and race) music, and it opened the door for a whole generation of “serious” composers, like Copland and Brech, to draw on jazz elements in their own important works.

Share this: February 12, 1924 : Rhapsody In Blue, by George Gershwin, performed for first time Introduction “The audience packed a house that could have been sold out at twice the size,” wrote New York Times critic Olin Downes on February 13, 1924, of a concert staged the previous afternoon at the Aeolian Hall in New York City. Billed as an educational event, the “Experiment In Modern Music” concert was organized by Paul Whiteman, the immensely popular leader of the Palais Royal Orchestra, to demonstrate that the relatively new form of music called jazz deserved to be regarded as a serious and sophisticated art form. The program featured didactic segments intended to make this case—segments with titles like “Contrast: Legitimate Scoring vs. Jazzing.” After 24 such stem-winders, the house was growing restless. Then a young man named George Gershwin, then known only as a composer of Broadway songs, seated himself at the piano to accompany the orchestra in the performance of a brand new piece of his own composition, called Rhapsody In Blue.

“It starts with an outrageous cadenza of the clarinet,” wrote Downes of the now-famous two-and-a-half-octave glissando that makes Rhapsody in Blue as instantly recognizable as Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. “It has subsidiary phrases, logically growing out of it…often metamorphosed by devices of rhythm and instrumentation.” The music critic of the New York Times was in agreement with Whiteman’s basic premise: “This is no mere dance-tune set for piano and other instruments,” he judged. “This composition shows extraordinary talent, just as it also shows a young composer with aims that go far beyond those of his ilk.” It may be true that George Gershwin had always hoped to transcend the category of popular music, but the piece he used to accomplish that feat was put together very hastily. Just five weeks prior to the “Experiment in Modern Music” concert, Gershwin had not committed to writing a piece for it, when his brother Ira read a report in the New York Tribune stating that George was “at work on a jazz concerto” for the program.

Thus painted into a corner, George Gershwin pieced Rhapsody In Blue together as best he could in the time available, leaving his own piano part to be improvised during the world premiere. Rhapsody would, of course, come to be regarded as one of the most important American musical works of the 20th century. It would also open the door for a whole generation of “serious” composers—from Copland to Brecht—to draw on jazz elements in their own important works. Article Details: February 12, 1924 : Rhapsody In Blue, by George Gershwin, performed for first time Author February 12, 1924 : Rhapsody In Blue, by George Gershwin, performed for first time URL American Symphony Orchestra — Second Rhapsody (1931) Second Rhapsody (1931) By. Carol J. Oja, College of William and Mary Written for the concert Music and Visual Imagination, performed on Nov 11, 1998 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. “Play me a Cézanne,” an art collector once requested of George Gershwin.

The composer reportedly sat at the piano and did just that. “I haven’t got any more idea than the man in the moon what he played,” recalled the collector, Chester Dale, “but emotionally there was Cézanne to both of us.” A composer for film and musical theater and a painter in his own right, Gershwin was as famed for evoking images through music as he was for issuing bold challenges to the long-standing divide between “popular” and “classical” music. All these factors came together in Second Rhapsody, one of Gershwin’s least famous concert works. Called by many titles, its first incarnation was dubbed both “Manhattan Rhapsody” and “New York Rhapsody” when it appeared in Delicious, a 1931 film starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. The film was about a young Irish woman living in New York who falls in love with a wealthy man.

And it included tunes, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, such as “Delishious” and “Welcome to the Melting Pot.” There, “New York Rhapsody” was 8 minutes long, and it accompanied an urban sequence with “noise,” as the accompanying dialogue put it, and “riveters drumming your ear from every side.” Night fell and with it came silence. When Gershwin doubled the length of “New York Rhapsody” and reshaped it into an independent orchestral composition, he wrote his biographer Isaac Goldberg of his progress, revealing other titles for the work. “In the picture for which it was written,” he informed Goldberg, “it may still be called Rhapsody in Rivets . . . [but] I am calling it just plain Second Rhapsody.” Gershwin felt this title was “much simpler and more dignified,” as Edward Jablonski, another of his biographers, reports. Over the years, Rhapsody in Rivets has stuck as a moniker.

Gershwin acknowledged that he used “a rivet theme” as “a starting-point.” “But after that, I just wrote a piece of music without any program.” The opening orchestral section of Second Rhapsody resounds with visual images, although more of urban congestion than of a riveter’s assault. It echoes the city scenes of American in Paris. Throughout, the piano is intensely integrated with the orchestra, with the two often sharing thematic material. The composer who had made the piano central to Rhapsody in Blue and Concerto in F kept it at the core of Second Rhapsody. At times, the piano’s persona is that of a quiet individual amidst chaos; at others, it is a boisterous participant in the action. The piano has blues-tinged passages and ones of solo bravura. But it is equally compelling when layered over the orchestra, producing the multiple levels of activity that we now associate with the Gershwin sound. At one point, the opening theme returns with a Latin flare, heralding Cuban Overture, which was to be Gershwin’s next large orchestral work. About half-way through Second Rhapsody, a “sweet” theme enters in the orchestra.

Listeners will hear its harmonic gestures and overall shape as foretelling yet another Gershwin work—this time Porgy and Bess, which Gershwin began writing a couple of years later. The opening “rivet” theme returns briefly at the end. In spite of this conventional two-part structure with reprise, Second Rhapsody splices together brief fragments. Taking its model from film techniques or, just as likely, from the parade of tunes that makes up an overture in musical theater, the work is constructed of short segments, continually varied and abruptly juxtaposed. This was also the case with Rhapsody in Blue in fact it is a hallmark of Gershwin’s style as a whole. With Second Rhapsody, however, the number of thematic ideas is contained, as is the transitional material. Or to use the language of film: there are only a few images here, each frequently reshaped, and the editing is tight. Unlike Gershwin’s earlier concert works, Second Rhapsody waited a few months before receiving its premiere.

Gershwin completed the work in May 1931 and tried to interest Arturo Toscanini in it (Toscanini was then conductor of the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York). He passed up the opportunity. The work was finally premiered in January 1932 by the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Serge Koussevitzky, the same conductor who over the last several years had been vigorously promoting the work of young Americans such as Aaron Copland and Roger Sessions. Such an auspicious launching could distract today’s listeners from a key point: Second Rhapsody is understood most meaningfully in terms of the world of film. George Gershwin found many ways to cross over. Want 20% off tickets? Sign up for e-mails about special offers, upcoming concerts, new recordings and more, and we’ll give you 20% off your next full-price ticket order! (New email subscribers only. Not valid on subscription orders.) Subscribe To Messages From American Symphony Orchestra Please enter your email address and choose your preferred message format below, and when you are done press Subscribe.

George Gershwin | The Stars | Broadway: The American Musical | PBS Composers, Lyricists & Writers George Gershwin American composer George Gershwin (1898-1937) was eminently successful in popular music, as well as in the classical field with several concert works and an opera that have become standards in the contemporary repertory. George Gershwin played a prominent role in one of the most colorful eras of American popular music: the so-called age of Tin Pan Alley — roughly 1890-1930 — when popular music became big business. In Tin Pan Alley (28th Street between Broadway and Fifth Avenue in New York City) numerous music publishing houses poured forth popular songs each year. The musical theater and the private parlor rang with the sounds of ragtime, romantic ballads, and comedy songs. Talented composers such as Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and Jerome Kern, among dozens of lesser figures, fed this lucrative music-making machine and flourished. George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn in New York City on Sept. 26, 1898, the son of Rose and Morris Gershovitz, immigrants from Russia.

After settling in New York’s Lower East Side, his father changed the family name to Gershvin; when George entered the professional world of music, he altered the name to Gershwin. George Gerswhin at the piano on the set of the Astaire-Rodgers film SHALL WE DANCE. When George was 12, the moderately well-off family purchased a piano; he soon showed a marked inclination for improvising melodies and was given piano lessons. Later he studied the theory of music and harmony. Though Gershwin was not interested in formal education and never finished high school, he continued to study music. Even after his success in musical comedy, he studied with composer Henry Cowell and with music theorist Joseph Schillinger. Music Business When Gershwin was 15, he went to work for a large publisher of popular music as a try-out pianist (or “song plugger”). He began writing his own songs about this time (mostly with lyricist Irving Caesar), none of which his employer was interested in publishing.

Finally, in 1916, his first song appeared: “When You Want ‘Em You Can’t Get ‘Em.” Gershwin also began to get a few songs set into current musical shows, a common practice of the day. By 1918 he had shown enough promise to be hired by Harms, Inc., as a songwriter at a weekly salary. Gershwin scored his first big success in 1919 with the song “Swanee” (words by Irving Caesar), introduced by Al Jolson in “Sinbad.” In the same year he composed his first complete score, for the successful musical “La, La, Lucille.” George Gershwin George White Musicals of the 1920s During the 1920s Gershwin established himself as one of the musical theater’s most talented and successful composers.

He wrote five scores for successive editions of “George White’s Scandals” (1920-1924) and began a series of shows with his brother, Ira, as lyricist, which included “Lady, Be Good!” (1924), “Primrose” (1924), “Tell Me More” (1925), “Tip-Toes” (1925), “Oh, Kay!” (1926), “Funny Face” (1927), “Rosalie” (1928), “Treasure Girl” (1928), “Show Girl” (1929), and “Strike Up the Band” (1929). Gershwin scored his first big success in 1919 with the song “Swanee.” Concert Works In 1924 the prominent bandleader Paul Whiteman asked Gershwin to write an original “jazz” work for a concert.

The result, “Rhapsody in Blue” for piano and jazz band, was Gershwin’s debut in the concert hall as pianist and composer, his first attempt at writing an extended piece, and the first time jazz rhythms and blues-oriented melodies were used successfully within a classical framework. Reviewing the premiere, Olin Downes wrote that the “composition shows extraordinary talent, just as it also shows a young composer with aims that go far beyond those of his ilk. …” These aims were demonstrated again in the “Piano Concerto in F” (1925), commissioned by Walter Damrosch for his New York Symphony; “Three Preludes for Piano” (1926); and “An American in Paris” (1928), premiered by Damrosch and the New York Philharmonic. After “Rhapsody in Blue,” Gershwin himself scored all his orchestral works. In the 1930s Gershwin composed four more musicals with Ira: “Girl Crazy” (1930); “Let ‘Em Eat Cake” (1933); and “Pardon My English” (1933).

He also wrote film scores, including DAMSEL IN DISTRESS and SHALL WE DANCE. He spent two years on his last major work, the opera “Porgy and Bess” (1935), based on a novel by DuBose Heyward about a ghetto in Charleston, S.C. The composer died of a brain tumor in Beverly Hills, Calif., on July 11, 1937. To commemorate the 100th year of his birth, the Pulitzer Prize Board awarded Gershwin with a posthumous citation on April 14, 1998. Gershwin’s best songs have proved to be some of the most durable of his era, and his classical works give his career a dimension shared by none of his Tin Pan Alley companions. His fondness for African-American music is responsible in part for the rhythmic vitality and blues-tinged lyricism of all his works. His best scores, especially those utilizing Ira Gershwin’s trenchant and sympathetic verses, are as fresh, vigorous, and unconventional as any written for the American musical theater. Moreover, Gershwin’s music has a peculiar American stamp recognized the world over.

Source: Excerpted from ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WORLD BIOGRAPHY, 2ND ED. 17 VOLS., Gale Research, © 1998 Gale Research. Reprinted by permission of The Gale Group. Photo credits: Photofest and the Library of Congress

Question: George Gershwin wrote a piece of music called "Rhapsody in ..." what?
Answer: Blue