The first performance of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue occurred on February 12, 1924, at New York's Aeolian Hall with the composer at the piano. The now-famous Rhapsody was part of a concert entitled "An Experiment in Modern Music", which marked the first significant rapprochement between jazz and classical music. Gershwin was not correctly a jazz musician, but his sensitivity to African-American music allowed him to create music intelligently colored by its textures and rhythms.
That evening, the German-born American conductor Walter Damrosch was present. Attracted by the novelty, the next day he contacted Gershwin to compose for the New York Symphony Orchestra a large-scale piano concerto in the full line of classical formality.
By this time, Gershwin was working on three Broadway musicals, so he only began sketching the Concerto in May 1925. Returning from a trip to London, he began writing for two pianos. By the end of July, he finished the first movement, in August the second, and the third in September. The complete orchestration of the three movements was finished on November 10.
At the end of that month, Gershwin hired, at his own expense, an orchestra of 55 instrumentalists for a general rehearsal, with the assistance of the commissioner, Walter Damrosch, who was delighted although he suggested some revisions.
At The Carnegie Hall
George Gershwin, at 37
(1898 - 1937)
The work was finally premiered at Carnegie Hall in New York on December 3, 1925, with the composer as soloist and Damrosch conducting. It was a huge box-office success, warmly applauded by the audience. However, his colleagues had mixed opinions. Prokofiev called the work "amateurish". But Arnold Schoenberg praised it without qualms.
George Gershwin lived only 38 years. On February 11, 1937, he played his Concerto in F in a special evening dedicated only to his music. Gershwin was a very gifted pianist, at least playing his own music, but that night suffered from coordination problems and forgetfulness. On July 9 of that year, he had to be hospitalized and fell into a coma. His doctors suggested that he might be suffering from a brain tumor. Indeed, two days after a large tumor was removed. The composer died that same night, on July 11, 1937.
Concerto in F major
On the day of its premiere, despite the success of the public, the critics did not hide their astonishment, unable to define whether they were in front of jazz music or a classical concert.
But Gershwin himself provided a brief but very accurate description of the concerto.
"The first movement employs the charleston rhythm. It is fast and pulsating, and represents the young and enthusiastic spirit of American life. It begins with a rhythmic motif given by the timpani.... The main theme is announced by the bassoon. Later, the piano introduces a second theme. The second movement has a poetic, nocturnal atmosphere similar to American blues, but in a purer form than usual. The final movement returns to the style of the first. It is an orgy of rhythms, which begins violently, maintaining the same vivacity throughout the movement."
Movements:
00:00 Allegro
14:00 Adagio - Andante con moto
26:25 Allegro agitato
The performance is by brilliant Yuja Wang, accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by American conductor Tilson Thomas.
