UW Symphony: An American in Paris

An American in Paris (1928) George Gershwin
(b. 1898, Brooklyn, NY; d. 1937, Beverly Hills, CA)
When Gershwin was commissioned to write an orchestra piece for the New York Symphony Society in 1928, he was already far more than “just” a fabulously successful Broadway composer. Rhapsody in Blue was four years old and already world-famous, and the Piano Concerto had also been performed and was growing in popularity. In March of that year he visited Paris, bought the four Parisian taxi horns that he wanted to use in the new work, and set about composing. The première, in New York in December 1928, was conducted by Walter Damrosch. Before the first performance, Gershwin issued these thoughts about the piece.
“This new piece, really a rhapsodic ballet, is written very freely and is the most modern music I’ve yet attempted. The opening part will be developed in typical French style, in the manner of Debussy and the Six, though the themes are all original. My purpose here is to portray the impression of an American visitor in Paris, as he strolls about the city, and listens to various street noises and absorbs the French atmosphere.
“As in my other orchestral compositions, I’ve not endeavored to represent any definite scenes in this music. The rhapsody is programmatic only in a general impressionistic way, so that the individual listener can read into the music such as his imagination pictures for him.
“The opening gay section is followed by a rich blues with a strong rhythmic undercurrent. Our American friend, perhaps after strolling into a café and having a couple of drinks, has succumbed to a spasm of homesickness. The harmony here is both more intense and simple than in the preceding pages. This blues rises to a climax followed by a coda in which the spirit of the music returns to the vivacity and bubbling exuberance of the opening part with its impressions of Paris. Apparently the homesick American, having left the café and reached the open air, has disowned his spell of the blues and once again is an alert spectator of Parisian life. At the conclusion, the street noises and French atmosphere are triumphant.”
In 1951 MGM made a film called An American in Paris, starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron. It includes a dance version of the composition, an 18-minute ballet that alone cost a half million dollars to film. Also in the film are hit songs taken from various Gershwin Broadway show. It’s a wonderful movie, but it is important to remember that that the musical composition was just that: a concert work. The film and ballet came twenty-three years later, after the music was firmly established in the orchestral repertoire.

[@Sheiladonato]

watching from Curitiba/Brazil.

[@Timpanista58]

Molto bravi!!!Great job!!!

[@Timpanista58]

Congratulations timpani and percussion !!! Molto bravi à tutti!!!

[@adairdeoliveirareisdada8632]

Bravo

[@billnguyen6762]

👏👏👏

[@adairdeoliveirareisdada8632]

Vovis from Brazil