Sliding into the Blues with Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue
The Best Moments
Rhapsody in Blue
I'm George Gershwin, and I'm happy to welcome you to the best moments of my Rhapsody in Blue. Here you'll listen to the passages that won over the audience at Aeolian Hall in New York in 1924, music I had only about five weeks to prepare for the premiere. Once you've listened, why not test yourself in the Trainer , where my fellow composers and I teach you to recognize our pieces the moment they begin?
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A clarinet clears its throat
I open the piece with a clarinet that swoops upward in one long, wobbly slide, and I have to admit I didn't plan it. It began as a warm-up trick by the clarinettist Ross Gorman, and I liked it so much that I asked him to keep it.
The scenic route through C major
When I reach the middle, the music settles around C major and the piano wanders off into long, tuneful stretches, a bit like a friend who always takes the scenic route. Critics have often called the form loose, and Leonard Bernstein argued that the sections could be rearranged or cut without harm, which tells me the road has plenty of side streets.
Home again, with a bow
I bring everything back to B-flat major at the end, so the piece finishes in the same key where it began. Paul Whiteman made it his theme song, and the 1927 recording sold about a million copies, so plenty of people were happy to hear it again and again.
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I hope you enjoyed learning about the best moments of Rhapsody in Blue as much as I enjoyed telling you about them. Did it make you want to hear the whole piece again? Looking back, I still find it a little funny that a piece with such a loose shape has stayed with listeners for so long. Maybe that is because it never tries too hard to be tidy, and it simply sounds like a lively city that is glad to have you along. There is still plenty more to explore in Rhapsody in Blue. You could listen for the way the piano and the orchestra trade the spotlight, or find out how the piece has turned up in films and far beyond the concert hall. Whenever you feel curious, click on the links provided to keep exploring Rhapsody in Blue. I would be glad to have you listening again soon.
Recording: Paul Whiteman Orchestra with George Gershwin, piano, Public domain