Rhapsody in Blue
Laurie Shulman, Program Notes Annotator
George Gershwin | Overture to Girl Crazy
George Gershwin | Three Preludes
George Gershwin | Rhapsody in Blue
Selection of Gershwin Songs
Overture to Girl Crazy
George Gershwin (Jorj GURSH-win)
Born 26 September, 1898 in New York City
Died 11 July, 1937 in Los Angeles
Orchestration: Robert Russell Bennett’s stylish orchestration calls for flute, oboe, 3 trumpets, 2 trombones, 2 alto saxophones, tenor saxophone, trap set, piano, and strings.
George Gershwin had already contributed more than a dozen songs to other composers’ Broadway shows before A Dangerous Maid (1921), his first full score with his brother Ira as lyricist. Their collaboration continued throughout the 1920s, including such smash hits as Lady Be Good, Oh, Kay!, Funny Face, and Strike Up the Band. Even after the stock market crash of 1929, the Gershwin brothers continued to write musicals that cheered up America during the early years of the Great Depression.
Girl Crazy opened in Philadelphia in September 1930 and in New York a couple of weeks later. The cast included Ginger Rogers, Allen Kearns, and Ethel Merman. The show ran for 272 performances and was made into a movie in 1932. Girl Crazy’s irresistible, infectious Overture is a classic medley of big tunes from the show, several of which have become standards. After an opening fanfare, we hear “I Got Rhythm,” “Embraceable You,” “But Not for Me,” “Bidin’ my Time,” “Land of the Gay Caballero,” and “Bronco Busters.”
Three Preludes
George Gershwin (Jorj GURSH-win)
For pieces as well known as these three preludes, their background is decidedly murky. Gershwin actually composed five preludes (and may have written a sixth; it is a bit of a mystery in Gershwin scholarship. The lesser known two are adapted from his Short Story for violin and piano). He first performed them in December 1926 on a recital with the operatic contralto Marguerite d’Alvarez. Their performance was daring: few singers had ventured beyond the art song literature. D’Alvarez included several of Gershwin’s songs, and he played solo – including the solo version of Rhapsody in Blue and the Preludes. The recital was so successful that they repeated it in Buffalo and Boston.
The Preludes took on a life of their own and have since been transcribed and arranged for numerous other instrumental combinations, including this one for flute and strings. Splendid examples of Gershwin’s genius for melding jazz elements with classical forms, they are his best known solo pieces. The first, in B-flat major, is strongly rhythmic, with jagged syncopations and elements of tango and Charleston. The sultry C-sharp minor Second Prelude is the most famous. Bluesy and lyrical, it unfolds over an ostinato bass that allows Gershwin free rein to explore his unique approach to harmony. The set concludes with another strongly rhythmic Prelude, now in E-flat major. Jagged, brilliant writing brings the set to a flashy close.
Ostinato
a continually repeated musical phrase or rhythm
The Preludes were published in 1927 with a dedication to William Daly, a Harvard-educated composer and conductor. Eleven years older, he was probably Gershwin’s closest friend. Schottstädt’s arrangement calls for flute and strings.
Rhapsody in Blue
George Gershwin (Jorj GURSH-win)
Orchestration: oboe, 2 clarinets (2nd doubling bass clarinet), 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, tuba, 3 saxophones, banjo, timpani, percussion (including trap set), celesta, string bass, solo piano, and 8 violins.
In January 1924, the New York Tribune announced a concert of American music, at which a committee of judges would decide what American music is. For the occasion, Irving Berlin, Victor Herbert, and George Gershwin would introduce new compositions. The paper reported:
George Gershwin is at work on a jazz concerto, Irving Berlin is writing a syncopated tone poem, and Victor Herbert is working on an American Suite.
It was news to Gershwin. He had planned a collaboration with jazz band leader Paul Whiteman, but they hadn’t discussed details
Gershwin was 25, ambitious, and talented. Though unschooled, he had solid commercial instincts. Recognizing the professional potential of the American music event, he and Whiteman decided to make the new piece happen. The result was Rhapsody in Blue, which has become an iconic American work.
Whiteman suggested that Ferde Grofé orchestrate the Rhapsody, since Gershwin had no background in orchestration. Ryan Raul Bañagale is a Gershwin expert. On the occasion of the Rhapsody’s centennial last year, he prepared the critical edition of the original jazz band version.
The work has had an extraordinary impact on American music. Although some critics objected to Gershwin’s lack of traditional formal discipline, the audience loved the piece. Even the harshest detractors acknowledged the freshness of the musical ideas, beginning with the fabulous clarinet glissando that soars upward at the start, setting the whole sultry tone of the work.
Gershwin later told his first biographer, Isaac Goldberg:
I heard it as a musical kaleidoscope of America, of our vast melting pot, of our national pep, of our blues, our metropolitan madness.
That description helps to explain the capriciousness and vivid snapshots in the Rhapsody. Its two large sections are peppered with improvisatory solo piano cadenzas. Rhythmic ideas dominate the first half, with extensive, non-traditional development. The E-major section with the Rhapsody‘s most famous melody is the emotional heart of the work, but gives way to a showy and virtuosic close.
Eight Songs by George Gershwin
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin (1896-1983)
The partnership between George Gershwin and his brother Ira was one of the most magical of the 1920s and 1930s. Ira wrote lyrics for more than 700 songs, and was the first lyricist to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize, in 1932 for Of Thee I Sing. For this program’s second half, vocalist Mikaela Bennett joins guest Maestra Cosette Justo Valdés and the Kalamazoo Symphony for eight songs with words and music by the Gershwin brothers. We heard two of them in the Overture to Girl Crazy; now we hear them with the human voice, in their richest format. Of the other six tunes, four are standards, flanked by two comparative rarities: “Soon” from Strike Up the Band, and “You’ve Got What Gets Me” from Girl Crazy. Collectively, they form a delightful set that reminds us how rich is the Gershwins’ legacy.
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