.....;George Gershwin.....;George GershwinI can hear some of it in my head. This talented girl in hs used to practice that one in the music room every extra minute she got. It was too difficult for me, lots of octave chords in rapid progression.
Thank you so much. This recording is my favorite performance of this piece — by Leonard Bernstein and the NY Philharmonic. I recognized it immediately, although I checked out the youtube video just to be sure.
An amazing American classic from a time when everybody knew that America could accomplish anything.
There’s always a lot written about how jazz influenced classical/pop music in the 1920s, but what I always found even more interesting (and rarely covered) is how popular music influenced jazz. That is, taking the extremely harsh and raucous tendencies of early jazz (think late-1910s Original Dixieland Jazz Band, Louisiana Five, etc.), and polishing it from what might have been a short-lived craze into a long-lasting musical genre.
It’s interesting how tastes work: I can’t stand Rhapsody in Blue and have never heard the whole thing. I literally couldn’t abide it the first time I hear the clarinet glissando.
Incidentally, among the judges at the competition was Efrem Zimbalist Sr., father of actor Efrem Jr. and grandfather of Stephanie, and in the audience was John Philip Sousa.
After Gershwin won the competition, he went to Paris to (try to) study under Ravel, but Ravel refused to teach him, saying that he would turn into a second-rate Ravel rather than a first-rate Gershwin. French-classical influence on jazz would have to wait another generation, when Darius Milhaud would teach one of Patton's soldiers who stayed behind in Paris in '44, Dave Brubeck. Dave named his first son after Milhaud, and Darius Brubeck went on to teach jazz at KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa after the end of apartheid--and Darius' student, Pamela Myburgh, is today the vocalist for The Arrows, a Christian jazz-pop-fusion duo http://www.thearrowsband.com/
Just for drill I went to YouTube and carefully typed out
R H A
And up popped Rhapsody in Blue at the top of the selection box. Still a hit after all these years. Great music.
So beautiful.
17 minutes? Most versions i hear are 20-22 minutes long.
George must have played it FAST! LOL!
I once got through the first page, and promptly gave up and switched to an easier version!
Disney Animation did a great version of “Rhapsody in Blue” on “Fantasia 2000.”
It’s sort of surprising the original Rhapsody was such an instant hit, since the arrangement sounds kinda harsh to me - Ferde Grofe took hold of it and reorchestrated it with more strings and fewer woodwinds and came up with the present standard which is great.....
The first time I heard just a part of it was as a kid — it was used in an ad for United Airlines. My favorite recorded version is Gershwin from the Piano Rolls.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kIpr6nSvjI
orchestral version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFHdRkeEnpM
1988 United Airlines version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kIpr6nSvjI
There’s also a Gershwin tune that Paul Whiteman recorded earlier, in 1922, entitled “I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise.” Always thought it sounded quite advanced, especially with a stirring Henry Busse trumpet solo towards the end.
In 1989 on a United flight from L.A. to Sydney, Australia, they played their new corporate theme song (Rhapsody) about once every 20 minutes...it grew a bit tiresome.
This one isn’t bad.
Promenade. (Walking The dog).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t67SdkYubs4