Rhapsody in Blue (1924)

This piece was premiered by Paul Whiteman’s concert band in New York in 1924 with Gershwin on piano, and was attended by many important and influential composers, including Sergei Rachmaninoff. Its fusion of jazz and classical gives a very unique New York sound. Composed in a hurry in only a few weeks, it was somewhat incomplete, and Gershwin improvised much of the piano solo. This piece brought Gershwin worldwide fame, and established him as a serious composer. The piece was considered revolutionary, incorporating jazz techniques such as syncopated rhythms and the use of ‘blue’ notes (a minor interval where a major one was expected) into an orchestral setting.

Rhapsody in Blue was a commercial success; in the three years after its premiere, Whiteman’s band had performed it over eighty times, and the recording had sold a million copies. The critic’s response was mixed however, with a review of the concert in the New York Tribune saying:

‘Weep over the lifelessness of the melody and harmony, so derivative, so stale, so inexpressive!’

A reviewer for the New York Times however, said:

‘The composition shows extraordinary talent’ and ‘…the audience was stirred and many a hardened concertgoer excited with the sensation of a new talent finding its voice... There was tumultuous applause for Gershwin's composition’.