Jazz at Carnegie Hall (95-98)

George Gershwin was featured on what magazine? In what year?

TIme Magazine; 1925 ( year after Rhapsody in Blue was premiered)

What effect did Rhapsody in Blue have on its listeners?

IT legitimized jazz

What childhood event influenced Gershwins career?

His attending of his aunts wedding

What is one of the most regarded examples of the merging between classical and jazz?

George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue

A song by which composer influenced Gershwin at the wedding?

Jerome Kern

At what age did Gershwin get a job as a song-plugger? For which publisher?

15 years old; Remick

Which other composer got a job at Remick as a song plugger?

Vincent YOumans

OVer time Gershwin was given opportunities to produce compose for Broadway including revues by who?

George White

George white was the producer of which other work?

Runnin’ Wild’s “The Charleston”

Which song was a big boost to Gershwin’s reputation?

Al Jolson’s recording of Gershwin’s TPA song “Swanee”

What year was AL Jolson’s recording of Swanee produced?

1920

Compared to the success of “Rhapsody in Blue,” Swanee’s success was what ?

paled in comparison to the Rhapsody’s triumphant debut 

Rhapsody in Blue has been described as the brainchild of who?

Paul Whiteman

What was Paul Whiteman’s vision?

“An experiment in Modern Music,” a concert which would demonstrate the evolution of American popular music from primitive to sophisticated

Which performance is largely forgotten?

The performance at Aeolian Hall, NY

When was the forgotten Aeolian Hall performance?

Feb 12, 1924

How long does the upward scale the clarinetist plays at the beginning of RHapsody in Blue last?

2.5 octaves

How does the dramatic glissando compare in the views of  present listeners compared to contemporaries of the work?

To us it’s distinctive but it was a fairly common novelty effect in African-American orchestras at the time

Who was Whiteman’s clarinetist who performed the upward glissando?

Ross Gorman

How did the upward glissando come into fruition?

Gorman added the jazzy effect as a joke during a tiring rehearsal  and Gershwin loved it so much he wanted as much of a “wail” as possible on the upper notes".

What was the glissando nicknamed?

The icebreaker

What was Whiteman’s ambition?

To make art music more accessible to fans of popular music . e wanted to provide a stepping stone which would make it simple for the masses to understand and enjoy a symphony and

What would Deborah Mawer consider Rhapsody in Blue?

“Classicizing jazz”

Who described the Rhapsody as providing :a link between the jazz camp and the intellectuals?”

Deems Taylor

Was support among art-music critics universal?

No, some art-music critics were initially less than sold on the piece

How many times did Whitemean repeat the program with modifications?

2

On what date was the Rhapsody performed at Carnegie Hall?

APril 21 Wha

What is the US most prestigeous venue?

Carnegie Hall

How is Carnegie pronounced?

car-NEG-ee

Whitemna’s national tour of Rhapsody i Blue made it evident that the Rhapsody was what?

A hit from the start 

What was Gershwin’s initial format for his Aeolian Hall concert?

a 2 piano work

Who was Whiteman’s orchestrator?

Ferde Gorfe

Who arranged Rhapsody in Blue into a 23 player work?

Ferde Gorfe 

What instruments did the expanded piece contain?

The core members of WHitemans jazz band, some added strings and Piano played by Gershwin

What would Gorfe do in regards to notating the piano part of the piece on the expanded score?

He wouldn’t notate the entire part at times since Gershwin would be playing it. At times he’d even put “wait for nod”

^{During the 30’s Gershwin performed what version of Rhapsody in Blue?}

a concert orchestra version

When did Gorfe publish the most commonly used orchestration for RHapsody in Blue?

1942

When did Gershwin die?

1937

What is the customary version of Rhapsody in Blue today?

solo piano plus orchestra; Piano concerto

What is the highlight of a concerto?

its cadenza

What happens during a cadenza in a concerto?

the orchestra stops playing and lets the soloist perform inventively without accompaniment

Whats different about the cadenza in Rhapsody in Blue compared to tradtiaional cadenzas?

It isn’t improvised, rather it was fully notated by Gershwin

Why do some jazz musicians today not consider Rhapsody in Blue   geniunejazz?

Since it contains no improvisation 

What aspects of Rhapsody in Blue pull it away from being a purely classical work?

ITs syncopated rhythms and jazzy harmonies

Who described the Rhapsody as an “impudent flair that tells more about the Roaring Twenties than could a thousand words?”

Orrin Howard

Orrin Howard writes for what publication?

Los Angeles Philharmonic