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Rhapsody in Blue - Gershwin (1924)
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Rhapsody in Blue
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Rhapsody in Blue

About the piece

"Rhapsody in Blue" is one of the examples for a piece which is not uniform in structure, but full of inspiration and magic, and for this it holds a place of honor in the 20th century pantheon. "Rhapsody in Blue" is, in fact, more a series of melodies than one piece. But those melodies are so excellent, so vivid and with such fascinating, powerful, energetic rhythms, that the piece transmits a permanent sensation of rejuvenation and freshness. Gershwin actually got his fame thanks to that piece, as a serious, important composer. After this success, he dared to write some more works, like the Piano Concerto in F major, "An American in Paris", and the opera "Porgy and Bess", that made black artists equal partners in the cultural life of art music in America.

Background

Paul Witmann, a successful American conductor, turned to Gershwin in January 1924 and asked him to write him a symphonic work. Witmann, an experienced, talented musician, most of whose success was in the field of light music until then, had an ambition to enter the established, prestigious concert hall. Gershwin started composing the rhapsody without any definite outline or structure. He was deeply motivated by his will to contradict the common opinion of the time, that jazz is a limited style, bound to fast tempos and dancing rhythms, and he decided this work would be his winning argument against this claim. He began processing several themes and melodies for the rhapsody. On his way to a concert in Boston, listening to the noise the train made and the tracks' hammering, he decided on the piece's character: a musical kaleidoscope of America, with the famous "melting pot", the American sentimentality and the love of the city. The first theme came to his mind during a party, in which he played to his friends' amusement. He found himself playing an improvised tune, and immediately knew this was the main theme of his work.
The week after he returned from Boston, he completed the rhapsody's outline. Witmann embraced the piece, and asked an accomplished musician to orchestrate the work for a symphonic ensemble. Gershwin himself said later that he learned from that orchestration of his work how to arrange for an orchestra by himself, and indeed he did his own orchestrations after that.
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