Download - George Gershwin and Rhapsody in Blue A Music Masters lesson Ms. Godfrey’s Geckos May 14, 2015
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George Gershwin and Rhapsody in Blue
A Music Masters lesson Ms. Godfrey’s Geckos
May 14, 2015
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New York City, early1900s
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Who is George Gershwin?
Born Jacob Gershwine in 1898New York City
Died 1937, Los Angeles, CA
• Russian immigrant family• Childhood in NY tenements• 1st job as a song plugger for a song
publisher; • Gifted pianist & composer• Collaborated with brother Ira
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“Rhapsody in Blue”
• Debuted in 1924• Symphony vs. concerto• Like a concerto?
• First Jazz work performed in traditional concert hall
• Instance success!
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What makes an orchestra?
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What makes an orchestra?
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Orchestration of Rhapsody in Blue
A full symphony orchestra is scored for solo piano Woodwinds: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 B-flat clarinets, 2 bass
clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 alto saxophones (E-flat) and 2 tenor saxophones (B-flat)
Brass: 3 French horns in F, 3 trumpets in B-flat, 3 trombones, tuba;
Percussion: timpani, crash cymbal, snare drum, bass drum, gong, triangle, Glockenspiel, and cymbals;
Strings: bango, violins, violas, cellos, double basses
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Opening solo passage
• glissando• What is the instrument?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynEOo28lsbc
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhapsody_in_Blue
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Gershwin, on the composition:
“It was on the train, with its steely rhythms, its rattle-ty bang, that is so often so stimulating to a composer – I frequently hear music in the very heart of the noise.... And there I suddenly heard, and even saw on paper – the complete construction of the Rhapsody, from beginning to end. No new themes came to me, but I worked on the thematic material already in my mind and tried to conceive the composition as a whole. I heard it as a sort of musical kaleidoscope of America, of our vast melting pot, of our unduplicated national pep, of our metropolitan madness. By the time I reached Boston I had a definite plot of the piece, as distinguished from its actual substance.”
-1931, to his biographer
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Listening for themes
5 major themes plus a sixth “tag” Train theme? Virsuosic piano passages Improvision All of the themes rely on the blues scale How would you describe the music?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLTManObB40