![]() Gershwin began composing on January 7 as dated on the original manuscript for two pianos. By the time I reached Boston I had a definite plot of the piece, as distinguished from its actual substance. 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. 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. And there I suddenly heard-and even saw on paper-the complete construction of the rhapsody, from beginning to end. I frequently hear music in the very heart of the noise. It was on the train, with its steely rhythms, its rattle-ty bang, that is so often so stimulating to a composer. He told biographer Isaac Goldberg in 1931: He later claimed that, while on a train journey to Boston, the thematic seeds for Rhapsody in Blue began to germinate in his mind. With only five weeks remaining until the premiere, Gershwin hurriedly set about composing the work. Whiteman thus finally persuaded Gershwin to compose the piece. ![]() In a telephone conversation with Whiteman the next morning, Whiteman informed Gershwin that Whiteman's arch rival Vincent Lopez planned to steal the idea of his experimental concert and there was no time to lose. The news announcement puzzled Gershwin as he had politely declined to compose any such work for Whiteman. The article falsely declared that George Gershwin had begun "work on a jazz concerto" for Whiteman's concert. An unsigned Tribune article entitled "What Is American Music?" about an upcoming Whiteman concert had caught Ira's attention. George's brother, Ira Gershwin, interrupted their billiard game to read aloud the January 4 edition of the New-York Tribune. Soon after, on the evening of January 3, George Gershwin and lyricist Buddy DeSylva played a game of billiards at the Ambassador Billiard Parlor at Broadway and 52nd Street in Manhattan. Gershwin initially declined Whiteman's request on the grounds that he would have insufficient time to compose the work and there would likely be a need to revise the score. ![]() He had been especially impressed by Gershwin's one-act "jazz opera" Blue Monday. Whiteman became fixated upon performing such an extended composition by Gershwin after he collaborated with him in The Scandals of 1922. He asked composer George Gershwin to write a concerto-like piece for an all-jazz concert in honor of Lincoln's Birthday to be given at Aeolian Hall. ![]() History Commission īandleader Paul Whiteman (left) and composer George Gershwin (right)įollowing the success of an experimental classical-jazz concert held with Canadian singer Éva Gauthier in New York City on November 1, 1923, bandleader Paul Whiteman decided to attempt a more ambitious feat. Schwarz posits that the famous opening clarinet glissando has become as instantly recognizable to concert audiences as the opening of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. In the American Heritage magazine, Frederic D. Gershwin's piece inaugurated a new era in America's musical history, established his reputation as an eminent composer and became one of the most popular of all concert works. The rhapsody is one of Gershwin's most recognizable creations and a key composition that defined the Jazz Age. Whiteman's arranger Ferde Grofé orchestrated the rhapsody several times including the 1924 original scoring, the 1926 pit orchestra scoring, and the 1942 symphonic scoring. Whiteman's band performed the rhapsody with Gershwin playing the piano. Commissioned by bandleader Paul Whiteman, the work premiered in a concert titled "An Experiment in Modern Music" on February 12, 1924, in Aeolian Hall, New York City. Rhapsody in Blue is a 1924 musical composition written by George Gershwin for solo piano and jazz band, which combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects. ![]()
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