Second Rhapsody

Last updated

The Second Rhapsody is a concert piece for orchestra with piano by American composer George Gershwin, written in 1931. It is sometimes referred to by its original title, Rhapsody in Rivets.

Contents

The Second Rhapsody was seldom performed in the twentieth century, and only in recent years has critical and popular attention turned to the work. [1]

Composition

In 1930, George Gershwin, together with his brother Ira Gershwin, was invited to go to Hollywood to provide the music for the film Delicious . After completing work on most of the film's songs and "The Melting Pot" sequence, George began sketching music to accompany an extended visual montage, where a character wanders the streets of New York. The initial title of this sequence was Manhattan Rhapsody, and renamed during the course of the film's production to New York Rhapsody, and finally to Rhapsody in Rivets. Gershwin completed the sketch just before returning to New York in late February 1931.

In New York, Gershwin began working on a full score of the Second Rhapsody on March 14, 1931, and completed the score on May 23. He was proud of this work, and commented: "In many respects, such as orchestration and form, it is the best thing I have written" [2]

For use in the Delicious film sequence, the score was edited to fit into the sequence's length of seven minutes, eliminating more than half of the original music. This editing was possibly done by Hugo Friedhofer, a staff musician at the Fox film studio who had worked with Gershwin on his early sketch of the Rhapsody. [3] Gershwin himself later deleted the opening trio with piano, cello and violin.

Premiere

On June 26, 1931, Gershwin conducted New York musicians and played the piano solo in a run-through of the Rhapsody. He had the rehearsal professionally recorded, but it was never commercially issued. Years later, Ira Gershwin provided the recording so that it could be issued on LP. In 1991, the historic performance was issued on CD by Musicmasters. [4] [5] Orchestrations differ greatly in several areas from Gershwin's final version (and McBride's later reorchestration). Several piano solos and other parts of the Rhapsody that were later deleted by Gershwin can be heard on this recording.

The piece received its premiere in Boston Symphony Hall by Boston Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Serge Koussevitzky on January 29, 1932, with the composer himself playing the piano part. The New York premiere was given a few days later.

Rescoring by publisher

The form most commonly heard today is a re-orchestrated version by Robert McBride created fourteen years after Gershwin's death. McBride was assigned by Frank Campbell-Watson (the music editor for Gershwin's publisher New World Music) to completely rescore the piece. Since this version is the only one offered by the publisher, it has been almost impossible for orchestras to perform the piece as Gershwin envisioned it. However, the 1931 recording of a run-through of the music, with Gershwin playing the solos and conducting the orchestra, gives some idea of the original version; this recording has been released on CD, Gershwin Performs Gershwin - Rare Recordings 1931-1935 (Jazz Heritage-512923A, 1991).

Most of Gershwin's orchestrations have been vastly simplified. Many string passages were reassigned to other instruments (for example, the string quartet portion of the adagio was rescored for violin, clarinet, oboe, and cello), or instruments that formerly had solos now have other instruments doubling their passages. Also, eight measures excised by the composer were re-added to the recapitulation by the editor.

Michael Tilson Thomas has been a promulgator of Gershwin's original 1931 version. He sought out the original manuscript in the library as the basis of his 1985 recording [6] and for his later performances. In 2008 Gershwin specialist Jack Gibbons made his own restoration of the original 1931 orchestration of Second Rhapsody, working directly from Gershwin's original manuscript, performing it for the first time at London's Cadogan Hall on June 4, 2008 with the New London Orchestra conducted by Ronald Corp [7] The original version (including Gershwin's original extra piano cadenza) was also performed at Carnegie Hall in New York on May 7, 2013, by the Albany Symphony Orchestra and pianist Kevin Cole. [8]

Preservation status

On September 22, 2013, it was announced that a musicological critical edition of the full orchestral score will be eventually released. The Gershwin family, working in conjunction with the Library of Congress and the University of Michigan, are working to make scores available to the public that represent Gershwin's true intent. It is unclear if the critical score will include the material Gershwin later deleted from the Rhapsody, or if the scores will document changes in the orchestration during Gershwin's composition process. It is also unknown if the critical score will also include McBride's subsequent reorchestration (in order to provide context to historical recordings of the work). [9]

Though the entire Gershwin project may take 30 to 40 years to complete, it is likely that Second Rhapsody will be an early release. [10] [11]

Related Research Articles

<i>An American in Paris</i> Symphonic tone poem by George Gershwin

An American in Paris is a jazz-influenced symphonic poem for orchestra by American composer George Gershwin first performed in 1928. It was inspired by the time that Gershwin had spent in Paris and evokes the sights and energy of the French capital during the Années folles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Gershwin</span> American composer and pianist (1898–1937)

George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions Rhapsody in Blue (1924) and An American in Paris (1928), the songs "Swanee" (1919) and "Fascinating Rhythm" (1924), the jazz standards "Embraceable You" (1928) and "I Got Rhythm" (1930), and the opera Porgy and Bess (1935), which included the hit "Summertime".

<i>Rhapsody in Blue</i> 1924 composition by George Gershwin

Rhapsody in Blue is a 1924 musical composition written by George Gershwin for solo piano and jazz band, which combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects. Commissioned by bandleader Paul Whiteman, the work premiered in a concert titled "An Experiment in Modern Music" on February 12, 1924, in Aeolian Hall, New York City. Whiteman's band performed the rhapsody with Gershwin playing the piano. Whiteman's arranger Ferde Grofé orchestrated the rhapsody several times including the 1924 original scoring, the 1926 pit orchestra scoring, and the 1942 symphonic scoring.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferde Grofé</span> American composer, arranger, pianist and instrumentalist (1892–1972)

Ferdinand Rudolph von Grofé, known as Ferde Grofé was an American composer, arranger, pianist and instrumentalist. He is best known for his 1931 five-movement symphonic poem, Grand Canyon Suite, and for having orchestrated George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue for its 1924 premiere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serge Koussevitzky</span> Russian and American conductor (1874–1951)

Serge Koussevitzky was a Russian and American conductor, composer, and double-bassist, known for his long tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924 to 1949.

Concerto in F is a composition by George Gershwin for solo piano and orchestra which is closer in form to a traditional concerto than his earlier jazz-influenced Rhapsody in Blue. It was written in 1925 on a commission from the conductor and director Walter Damrosch. It is just over half an hour long.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Russell Bennett</span> Musical artist

Robert Russell Bennett was an American composer and arranger, best known for his orchestration of many well-known Broadway and Hollywood musicals by other composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, and Richard Rodgers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lily Pons</span> French-American operatic soprano (1898–1976)

Alice Joséphine Pons, known professionally as Lily Pons, was a French-American operatic lyric coloratura soprano and actress who had an active career from the late 1920s through the early 1970s. As an opera singer, she specialized in the coloratura soprano repertoire and was particularly associated with the title roles in Lakmé and Lucia di Lammermoor. In addition to appearing as a guest artist with many opera houses internationally, Pons enjoyed a long association with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, where she performed nearly 300 times between 1931 and 1960.

<i>Blue Monday</i> (opera) Jazz opera by George Gershwin

Blue Monday was the original name of a one-act "jazz opera" by George Gershwin, renamed 135th Street during a later production. The English libretto was written by Buddy DeSylva. Though a short piece, with a running time of between twenty and thirty minutes, Blue Monday is often considered the blueprint to many of Gershwin's later works, and is often considered to be the "first piece of symphonic jazz" in that it was the first significant attempt to fuse forms of classical music such as opera with American popular music, with the opera largely influenced by Jazz and the African-American culture of Harlem.

Catfish Row, originally titled Suite from Porgy and Bess, is an orchestral work by George Gershwin based upon music from his famous opera Porgy and Bess. Gershwin completed the work in 1936 and it premiered at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia on January 21 of that year, with Alexander Smallens conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra. Gershwin played the piano part, including the piano solo in the opening moments. This piece preserves some of the darkest and most complex music Gershwin ever wrote.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Concerto No. 4 (Rachmaninoff)</span> Composition by Sergei Rachmaninoff

Piano Concerto No. 4 in G minor, Op. 40, is a major work by Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, completed in 1926. The work exists in three versions. Following its unsuccessful premiere, the composer made cuts and other amendments before publishing it in 1928. With continued lack of success, he withdrew the work, eventually revising and republishing it in 1941. The original manuscript version was released in 2000 by the Rachmaninoff Estate to be published and recorded. The work is dedicated to Nikolai Medtner, who in turn dedicated his Second Piano Concerto to Rachmaninoff the following year.

<i>Shall We Dance</i> (1937 film) 1937 film by Mark Sandrich

Shall We Dance is a 1937 American musical comedy film directed by Mark Sandrich. It is the seventh of the ten Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers films. The story follows an American ballet dancer (Astaire) who falls in love with a tap dancer (Rogers); the tabloid press concocts a story of their marriage, after which life imitates art. George Gershwin wrote the symphonic underscore and Ira Gershwin the lyrics, for their second Hollywood musical.

<i>Rhapsody in Blue</i> (film) 1945 film by Irving Rapper

Rhapsody in Blue, subtitled The story of George Gershwin is a 1945 American biographical film about composer and musician George Gershwin, released by Warner Brothers. Robert Alda stars as Gershwin. Joan Leslie, Alexis Smith, Hazel Scott, and Anne Brown also star, while Irving Rapper directs. The film was released in the United States on September 22, 1945.

Nadine Dana Suesse was an American musician, composer and lyricist.

Variations on "I Got Rhythm" is a set of variations for orchestra and piano solo composed by George Gershwin in 1933–34. The piece is dedicated "to [his] brother Ira".

<i>Delicious</i> (1931 film) 1931 film

Delicious (1931) is an American pre-Code Gershwin musical romantic comedy film starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell, directed by David Butler, with color sequences in Multicolor.

<i>Strike Up the Band</i> (musical)

Strike Up the Band is a 1927 musical with a book by Morrie Ryskind, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and music by George Gershwin. It first ran as a satirical show in Philadelphia that year, unsuccessfully, and on Broadway in 1930 after the original book by George S. Kaufman was revised by Ryskind. The show concerned a cheese manufacturer who sponsors a war against Switzerland because it will be named after him. Much of the satire of the 1927 version was replaced in the new version by silliness, leading Ryskind to recall, "What I had to do, in a sense, was to rewrite War and Peace for the Three Stooges." In the 1930 version the opening of Act I of the musical was reset from a cheese factory to a chocolate factory, and much of the work was a re-imagined as occurring during a dream sequence.

Rob Fisher is an American music director, conductor, arranger and pianist. He was the founding music director and conductor of the New York City Center Encores! series from 1994 to 2005. He is the leader of the Coffee Club Orchestra, which was the house band for Garrison Keillor’s radio broadcasts from 1989 to 1993.

<i>Arias and Barcarolles</i> 1996 studio album by Michael Tilson Thomas

Arias and Barcarolles is a 78-minute contemporary classical studio album of music by Leonard Bernstein, performed by Thomas Hampson, Frederica von Stade, Simon Carrington, Neil Percy and the London Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. In addition to the song cycle which gives it its name, the album includes the Suite from Bernstein's opera A Quiet Place and the Symphonic Dances from his musical West Side Story. It was released in 1996.

References

  1. ↑ "George Gershwin". Encyclopædia Britannica.
  2. ↑ Goldberg, Isaac (1931). George Gershwin: A Study in American Music. Simon and Schuster.
  3. ↑ Wierzbicki, James (2007). "The Hollywood Career of Gershwin's Second Rhapsody". Journal of the American Musicological Society. 60 (1): 133–186. doi:10.1525/jams.2007.60.1.133. hdl: 2123/15851 . JSTOR   10.1525/jams.2007.60.1.133.
  4. ↑ Carnovale, Norbert (2000). George Gershwin: A Bio-Bibliography - Norbert Carnovale - Google Books. ISBN   9780313260032 . Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  5. ↑ Gershwin, George. "Gershwin Performs Gershwin: Rare Recordings 1931-1935" . Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  6. ↑ Michael Tilson Thomas Performs and Conducts Gershwin. "Michael Tilson Thomas Performs and Conducts Gershwin: Music" . Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  7. ↑ mencap.org.uk. "Mencap announces new classical concerts" . Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  8. ↑ "WQXR - New York's Classical Music Radio Station".
  9. ↑ "New, critical edition of George and Ira Gershwin's works to be compiled - The Rundown - PBS NewsHour". PBS NewsHour. 2013-09-14.
  10. ↑ "The Editions". Gershwin. 2013-09-08.
  11. ↑ "Musicology Now".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.