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Backdrop:
The
1920s - The
Age of Jazz
The novel rhythms of black America sweep musical America and white
band leaders catch on. Jazz reshapes the styles and fires the
imaginations of musicians and songwriters, spawning new musical
ideas. Critics rave about Broadway's fast rising tunesmith - George
Gershwin, and his innovative treatment of jazz.  |
 How
Rhapsody came to be:
Sometime in late 1923, the bandleader
Paul Whiteman
asked George
Gershwin
to think about writing a jazz piece for his band. Gershwin gave
it some thought, sketched some possible themes, and left it at
that. On January 4, 1924 to his surprise, a report appeared in
the New York Tribune announcing that George Gershwin was
at work on a "jazz concerto" to be premiered by the
Whiteman Band at the Aeolian Hall in New York on February 12,
in a concert to be called An
Experiment in Modern Music.
At the time, he was in the thick of his Broadway commitments
and the jazz concerto was barely more than a thought, but Gershwin's
genius rose to the occasion. He would later point to the rhythm
and rattle of the Boston train he was once on as the source of
his rhythmic ideas, and to James McNeill Whistler's painting
Nocturne in Black and Gold as the inspiration for
Rhapsody's title. On February 12, at the appointed time,
which was toward the end of the programme, he delivered his first
large-scale work - to an audience that included luminaries like
Sergei Rachmaninoff, Jascha Heifetz, and Efrem Zimbalist, Sr.
The
wailing of the clarinet as the work opened could only have seduced
the audience. Rhapsody was a huge success, the day's most
talked about musical "experiment" eclipsing the rest
of the programme. It was very American in its daring and its energy.
And like America, it was a veritable "melting pot" of
the influences that shaped Gershwin's musical language - Scott
Joplin's tuneful piano rags, the rhythmic
jazz of Harlem's clubs,
the folk music of the
Yiddish
theater,
and the new post-Romantic music of Ravel
and
Schoenberg and
Stravinsky.
It was a stunning performance, with George Gershwin himself playing
the piano solo. Rhapsody was a great "hit" through
the years and in its first decade (which included the Depression
years) earned the composer big bucks - over $250,000. A fortune
in those days. An uncommon reward for a most uncommon composer.
 What
the critics said. Enthused by Rhapsody's daring
novelty, most critics found it possible to think of George Gershwin,
then only 25, as a composer of "serious" music. But
for many years some critics were of two minds about Rhapsody
- praising "...the rich inventiveness
of its rhythms, the saliency and vividness of the orchestral color"
while lamenting the loose, episodic nature of its musical themes
and "...the lifelessness of its melody and harmony, so derivative,
so stale, so inexpressive...." And when it became
known that Rhapsody was
orchestrated by Whiteman's chief arranger, Ferde Grofé
(who would later compose the Grand Canyon Suite), Gershwin
became even more suspect - wouldl he even make it to Carnegie
Hall? Having never before written for orchestra, and given the
time constraints, Gershwin had no other choice but to have someone
orchestrate the music for him (which to this day is standard practice
on Broadway). But nothing can stand in the way of musical genius.
As determined to be a composer of "serious" symphonic
music as he was convinced about the validity of popular song,
Gershwin aided by his mentors honed his compositional skills and
would eventually put these doubts about him to rest.
The other symphonic works: After
Rhapsody, Gershwin did orchestrate every one of his symphonic
works. Of course it was not possible to silence all the critics
and they all had their points. But there is final vindication
in the continued popularity of Concerto
in F (a symphonic masterpiece crafted to evoke
imageries of New York) and An American
in Paris (a delightful vignette about a distinctly
American fascination with a very European city). Indeed, to this
day these works, which both debuted at Carnegie Hall, are concert
hall staples with Concerto in F
one of the most performed concertos in the standard repertoire.
In each case the themes, the rhythms, and the musical ideas are
inventively integrated into a satisfying musical whole, just like
great works are supposed to be. And his spirit of innovation knew
no bounds - to capture the urban nuances of Paris, for example,
he cleverly blended into the music the sounds of real taxi horns!
His two later works for orchestra, the
Second Rhapsody and
Cuban Overture, though never quite the public's
favorites that Rhapsody
or An American in Paris
came to be (perhaps because the pieces are more experimental and
the melodies less memorable), have nevertheless remained in the
concert repertoire. They reveal Gershwin's mastery of technique
and, though musically unrelated, helped him set the stage for
his great opus Porgy and Bess.
- ©
GJCajipe/FanFaire
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