Rhapsody in Blue (1924) – George Gershwin

Rhapsody in Blue is Gershwin’s most famous work and was commissioned by the band leader Paul
Whiteman for a concert to be given celebrating the birthday of Abraham Lincoln. Legend is that
Gershwin agreed and then, in the rush of his career, forgot about it. With roughly five weeks left
before the concert, his brother Ira read a newspaper article promoting the Whiteman venture
with the promise of a "Berlin syncopated tone poem," a Victor Herbert suite, and a "Gershwin
concerto." Ira promptly informed George, then in the middle of tryouts for a new musical. George
swung into (belated) action. He was handing pages to the orchestrator days before the concert
and hadn't completed all of the solo part by the time of the performance. These sections he
improvised, nodding to Whiteman to give the next downbeat at the appropriate time.
Nevertheless, the piece was a resounding success and brought Gershwin worldwide fame.

It was during a train trip to Boston in which Gershwin decided on the form for this work. He wrote:
“it was on the train, with its steely rhythms, it’s rattly-bang, that I suddenly heard and saw on
paper the complete construction of the
Rhapsody, from beginning to end. I heard it as a
sort of musical kaleidoscope of America – of our
fast melting pot, of our unduplicated national
pep, of our blues, our metropolitan madness. By
the time I reached Boston, I had a definite plan
of the piece”
Gershwin initially wrote a two piano version of
Rhapsody in blue that was orchestrated for the
concert by Ferde Grofé (pictured).
 A rhapsody differs from a concerto in that it
features one extended movement instead of
separate movements. Rhapsodies often
incorporate passages of an improvisatory nature
(although written out in a score), and are irregular
in form, with heightened contrasts and emotional
exuberance; Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue is typical
in that it certainly has large contrasts in musical
texture, style, and colour. The music ranges from
intensely rhythmic piano solos to slow, broad, and
richly orchestrated sections.

The clearest influence of jazz is the use of blue

notes, and the exploration of their half-step
relationship plays a key role in the Rhapsody. The
use of so-called "vernacular" instruments, such as
accordion, banjo, and saxophones in the orchestra,
contribute to its jazz or popular style, and the latter
two of these instruments remained part of Grofé's standard orchestra scoring.

Gershwin himself later reflected on the work:

There had been so much chatter about the limitations of jazz, not to speak of
the manifest misunderstandings of its function. Jazz, they said, had to be in strict time. It had to
cling to dance rhythms. I resolved, if possible, to kill that misconception with one sturdy blow…No
set plan was in my mind, no structure to which my music would conform. The Rhapsody, you see,
began as a purpose, not a plan.
The work, arranged for either symphony orchestra or jazz band, is one of the most-performed and
most-recorded orchestral composition of the 20th century. It is the only one of Gershwin’s major
works that Gershwin himself did not orchestrate.
The work consists of several extended parts:

1. Exposition
2. Bluesy march and development
3. Return of opening theme
4. Broad tune and development
5. Cadenza
6. Quasi-recap
7. Finale.

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Throughout this work, elements of classical and jazz/popular music can be found. As we listen to
and study this work, write down as many of each as you can.

Jazz Classical

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Terms found in the score:

Moderato assai

Tranquilo

Scherzando

Commodo

Pochissimo

Tempo guisto

1. What key is this work in?

2. Write a Blues scale using the same tonic.

3. What degrees of the scale does the opening clarinet solo start and finish on?

and

4. Con licenza (with license) – what term (used by Stravinsky at the beginning of ‘The Rite of
Spring’) could have been written in the accompanying parts?

5. In the table above, note the instruments that are not normally included in a symphony
orchestra.

6. The piano solos bears evidence that this was indeed initially improvised. Support this
statement in relation to the concepts:

i. Structure

ii. Duration

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(from the 2 pianos YouTube recording) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17Mv_qh9UB4

7. Identify the instrument(s) playing the main themes at:

i. Figure 1

ii. Figure 2

8. Using jazz notation, what are the three different repeated piano chords in the sequence that

start at 1’34”?

i.

ii.

iii.

9. How does the music at 1’48” relate to the opening clarinet solo in relation to:

i. Pitch

ii. Duration

10. Two chords are outlined in the piano solo at Figure 11. Identify them:

i.

ii.

11. Below are three themes heard in the opening few minutes of this work. Identify the distinctive
features of each.

Theme 1

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Theme 2

Theme 3

Notes