Jazz At Carnegie Hall

Rhapsody in Blue

composed by George Gershwin, blends jazz elements, blues notes, and a classical orchestra; legitimized jazz for many listeners

Gershwin’s Inspiration

wanted to learn how to write music like Jerome Kern after hearing his music at a wedding

Gershwin’s Early Career

song-plugger for Remick in Tin Pan Alley, composed for Broadway (including George White’s revues)

Swanee

Gershwin’s Tin Pan Alley song, boosted his reputation after Al Jolson recorded the song in 1920

Paul Whiteman

popular bandleader, dreamed of a concert that would demonstrate the evolution of American popular music

An Experiment in Modern Music

Whiteman’s concert, performed on February 12, 1924 at Aeolian Hall

The icebreaker

clarinet glissando that opens Rhapsody in Blue, originally added as a joke; bends the pitches of a scale that spans 2.5 octaves, fairly common novelty effect at the time

Ross Gorman

Whiteman’s clarinetist

Classicizing jazz

Whiteman wanted to make art music more accessible to the masses by adding classical elements to jazz

Success of Rhapsody in Blue

well received by critics, program repeated twice, performed at Carnegie Hall, performed on a national tour (program consistently sold out)

Carnegie Hall

New York’s most prestigious concert-music venue

Initial Format of Rhapsody in Blue

two piano work

Ferde Grofe

Whiteman’s orchestrator, arranged Rhapsody in Blue for 23 players, did not always completely notate piano part

Grofe’s Orchestration

arranged for solo piano plus orchestra, turning Rhapsody in Blue into a piano concerto

Cadenza

part where orchestra stops playing and lets the soloist perform inventively without accompaniment; Rhapsody’s cadenza is fully notated, making some say that it is not real jazz

Musical style of Rhapsody and Blue

jazzy harmonies and syncopated rhythms

Division of Rhapsody in Blue

one movement with distinct sections

Sonata Cycle sections

I-Molto moderato, II-Scherzo, III-Andante moderato, IV-Finale (with a Coda)

Ritornello

returning material; syncopated tune opens both the piece and the coda; begins in Bb major, has flattened pitches (Ab, Gb, Db) which imitates blues scale

Train

melody inspired by a train ride

Stride/Shuffle

inspired by popular musical/dance styles of the time period

Love Theme

similar to melody that Tchaikovsky wrote for Romeo and Juliet

Tag

derived from the first 3 notes of The Man I Love, features a Db (blue note), serves as a tool for transitions

Arpeggios

notes of a chord are played in succession; in Rhapsody they are played when orchestra is performing a primary melody

Block Chord

chords pitches are sounded simultaneously

Impact of Rhapsody in Blue

showed that art music could absorb elements of different styles without losing its integrity