GERSHWIN RHAPSODY IN BLUE
Maximilian Franz
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
By Kori Hill
Aaron Copland
Born November 14 , 1900 in Brooklyn , New York Died December 2 , 1990 in Sleepy Hollow , New York
MUSIC FOR THE THEATRE [ 1925 ]
Prairie . Cowboys . Wide open spaces . These are the things that come to mind with the music of Aaron Copland . While his populist soundscape , enshrined in scores for Rodeo , Appalachian Spring , Billy the Kid , and The Red Pony , tends to overshadow his early career use of jazz idioms , Music for Theatre reflects inklings of the distinct voice that would emerge in Copland ’ s later years .
Consisting of five movements , Music for the Theatre is part of two strains of American music practice . The first is the use of folk , popular , and classical idioms in formal genres ( see Louis Moreau Gottschalk , Fisk Jubilee Singers , and Scott Joplin ). The second is application of jazz and blues idioms in classical genres ( see William Grant Still , Hazel Scott ).
Copland didn ’ t intend the work to be programmatic until after its completion , when he landed on the current descriptive title . I . Prologue shifts from a gentle , consonant texture to section emphasized by the solo clarinet ( a core instrument in New Orleans jazz ) and off-beat rhythms . II . Dance weaves pointillist articulations with jazz tonality and buoyant meter . III . Interlude is languid and aching . IV . Burlesque returns to the pointillist character of the second movement , but with a more overt modernist flavor . V . Epilogue features the return of Prologue ’ s theme , reflecting Copland ’ s use of thematic variation , a formal use of repetition that is foundational to many Black music styles .
Instrumentation Flute , oboe , clarinet , bassoon , two trumpets , trombone , bass drum , glockenspiel , suspended cymbal , tenor military drum with snare , wood block , xylophone , piano , and strings .
George Gershwin
Born September 26 , 1898 in Brooklyn , New York Died July 11 , 1937 in Los Angeles , California
RHAPSODY IN BLUE [ 1924 ]
What more is there to say about Rhapsody in Blue ? If you ’ ve heard it in the concert hall ( or on the 23 rd watch of Fantasia 2000 ), you are familiar with its vibrancy , excitement , and gorgeous themes . It ’ s easy to see why the work took listeners by storm and why Gershwin has been placed on a historical pedestal .
But in reality , Gershwin was one of many who embraced the porous boundaries of popular and classical music . And he initially was not interested in composing what would mark his shift from Tin Pan Alley songsmith to classical composer . He turned down Paul Whiteman ’ s first request for a jazz concerto , finally caving under Whiteman ’ s persistence . Gershwin wrote the work for two pianos and , due to his lack of orchestration experience , turned the manuscript over to Whiteman arranger Ferde Grofé . Gershwin debuted the work with Whiteman and his band in February 1924 in New York City .
Instead of the traditional three movement structure of a concerto , Rhapsody in Blue follows a loose rondo form in its episodic structure and return of the main theme first heard in the clarinet . Rhapsody in Blue is highly virtuosic and expressive , not only in Gershwin ’ s musical description of urban life but also his vision of American culture . As he shared in a 1931 conversation with biographer Isaac Goldberg :
“ It was on the train , with its steely rhythms , its rattle-ty band , that is so often so stimulating to a composer … there I suddenly heard … 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 .”
34 OVERTURE / BSOmusic . org