George gershwin biography rhapsody in blue clarinet
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The clarinet player who could arguably be said to have had the most influence on the history of twentieth century classical music is not a household name, nor even remotely famous now, but it’s no exaggeration to say that Ross Gorman, who created the famous introductory clarinet wail at the start of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, made musical history and helped set in motion a new creative movement.
George Gershwin was hesitant at first about writing Rhapsody in Blue. The legendary band leader, Paul Whiteman, had requested it for a concert he was planning designed to blur the boundaries between jazz and classical music entitled An Experiment in Modern Music. In the end Gershwin was more or less shoe-horned into the commission when, five weeks before the event, he read an article in the New York Tribune announcing that he, Gershwin, was writing a jazz concerto for Whiteman’s forthcoming New York concert.
It goes without saying that Gershwin’s melodic ideas in Rhapsody in Blue are second to none – jazzy and exciting, both sentimental and hard hitting – but credit should also be accorded to Frederick Grofe who, perhaps because of the short deadline, was drafted in to orchestrate the new piece and who presumably chose the clarinet to colour the opening.
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Rhapsody in Blue: How Gershwin’s hastily stabilize ‘jazz concerto’ became his greatest masterpiece
12 February 2024, 17:48 | Updated: 12 February 2024, 17:58
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The Jazz Age Meteor
George Gershwin, born in Brooklyn, New York on September 26, 1898, was the second son of Russian immigrants. As a boy, George was anything but studious, and it came as a wonderful surprise to his family that he had secretly been learning to play the piano. In 1914, Gershwin left high school to work as a Tin Pan Alley song plugger and within three years, “When You Want ‘Em, You Can’t Get ‘Em; When You Have ‘Em, You Don’t Want ‘Em,” was published. Though this initial effort created little interest, “Swanee” (lyrics by Irving Caesar) — turned into a smash hit by Al Jolson in 1919 — brought Gershwin his first real fame.
In 1924, when George teamed up with his older brother Ira, “the Gershwins” became the dominant Broadway songwriters, creating infectious rhythm numbers and poignant ballads, fashioning the words to fit the melodies with a “glove-like” fidelity. This extraordinary combination created a succession of musical comedies, including LADY, BE GOOD! (1924), OH, KAY! (1926), FUNNY FACE (1927), STRIKE UP THE BAND (1927 and 1930), GIRL CRAZY (1930), and OF THEE I SING (1931), the first musical comedy to win a Pulitzer Prize. Over the years, Gershwin songs ha