George Gershwin and Rhapsody in Blue

A Music Masters lesson Ms. Godfrey’s Geckos

May 14, 2015

New York City, early1900s

Who is George Gershwin?

Born Jacob Gershwine in 1898New York City

Died 1937, Los Angeles, CA

• Russian immigrant family• Childhood in NY tenements• 1st job as a song plugger for a song

publisher; • Gifted pianist & composer• Collaborated with brother Ira

“Rhapsody in Blue”

• Debuted in 1924• Symphony vs. concerto• Like a concerto?

• First Jazz work performed in traditional concert hall

• Instance success!

What makes an orchestra?

What makes an orchestra?

Orchestration of Rhapsody in Blue

A full symphony orchestra is scored for solo piano Woodwinds: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 B-flat clarinets, 2  bass

clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 alto saxophones (E-flat) and 2 tenor saxophones (B-flat)

Brass: 3 French horns in F, 3 trumpets in B-flat, 3 trombones, tuba;

Percussion: timpani, crash cymbal, snare drum, bass drum, gong, triangle, Glockenspiel, and cymbals;

Strings: bango, violins, violas, cellos, double basses

Opening solo passage

• glissando• What is the instrument?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynEOo28lsbc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhapsody_in_Blue

Gershwin, on the composition:

“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.”

-1931, to his biographer

Listening for themes

5 major themes plus a sixth “tag” Train theme? Virsuosic piano passages Improvision All of the themes rely on the blues scale How would you describe the music?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLTManObB40