Rhapsody in Blue: How Gershwin broke the mold
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- Опубліковано 19 лют 2020
- Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue is a unique genre-defying piece, it breaks all the rules, crosses all the boundaries and has remained massively popular despite regular getting a drubbing from the critics. In this video I take a look at what makes it tick.
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VIDEOS
How to play Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" opening clarinet solo
• How to play Gershwin's...
Swanee
• Swannee (Recorded 1920)
Gershwin's recording of the Rhapsody on piano roll
• George Gershwin - Rhap...
Leonard Bernstein performing
• George Gershwin - Rhap...
Original jazz band version
• Gershwin - Rhapsody in...
Modern performance of jazz band version:
• Rhapsody In Blue - Pau...
I’m so excited that rhapsody in blue went to public domain. So many people are going to start playing it more.
Yay for public domain!
People should perform pieces because they're good. Not because they're free.
@@charlescoleman5509, that's true but many times there are pieces that you want to perform but cannot because it is not free. Now that won't happen with this song
I thought it has to be written over 100 years ago for it to be public domain? It was written in 1924.
@@milesdrambus Date of publication + 95 years
Call it what you want, Rhapsody In Blue remains one of my favorite pieces of music. I've been listening to it for many decades, and it still moves me like it always has.
"If you're tired of Gershwin you're tired of life". Perfect summary.
no, just tired of New York
@@siglerproductions He went way beyond New York. You can't incorporate black, Jewish, Russian, and classical influences and be thought of as expressing purely a New York sensibility.
No, if you’re tired of Gershwin, you’ve spent the last thirty years working for United Airlines.
Donald Saigh yes you can, those all exist in New York
@@obamna666 They may exist in N.Y. but they do not reflect a solely N.Y. sound. The black influence came originally from New Orleans. The Russian and Jewish influence is the result of Gershwin's familial tradition, and the classical influence comes from Europe. Listen to the score of "Porgy and Bess" and tell me that it gives you a metropolitan New York feel.
I just had the thought that maybe the "jazziest" aspect of Rhapsody In Blue might just be it's resilience to rearrangement and re-editing that Bernstein noted as a flaw in it. It feels like it says something about the piece as a unified but modular whole that you could do as he said and just cut or re-arrange pieces and it's still Rhapsody in Blue. There's the improvisation or at least extemporaneous aspect of Jazz brought into the score-worship Classical aspect.
Or something like that.
I was just going to put a timestamp where he talks about it and write “Yea It’s settled its jazz as fuck” but you said it better
I think it also hammers home the New York aspect too.
New York is New York, distinct and true above most cities. For you can take bits and pieces out, look at New York every decade, and its still New York.
It's like a hologram one piece can recreate the memory of the whole. Namaste
I don't think bernstein is right. Maybe if you forced all of the themes into 1 key but then a lot of sections wouldn't fit in. I would imagine he most likely tried to do it, since he is a great man. But I think he would have changed some things to make them fit together.
I’m 70....I remember vividly how, in a 7th grade “Music Appreciation” class, the opening clarinet part grabbed me by the throat, and laser-focused my attention on the rest of the piece....Few musical performances transport me the way “Rhapsody in Blue” does....Thank you, David, for taking me along on this examination....Rhapsody in Blue is, and will alway be, a place I can go to be motivated, calmed and thrilled, as I listen....
I'm 20 years behind you and still regularly listen and then have a text conversation with my sister about what I just heard. Always something new.
Whether it's a "composition" or not, it's one of the greatest pieces of music ever written. It never fails to stir my soul.
The Rhapsody is one of those pieces that is so wonderful you never get tired of listening to it. I have been enjoying it for 78 years and every time feels fresh, engaging, and alive. Gershwin was an amazing genius...much misunderstood and under appreciated except by those without prejudice. Hey, Schoenberg loved his music and Arnold knew a thing or two about composition. This video hints at the underlying glue that holds the whole thing together. We must remember this is not a concerto but a rhapsody and as such succeeds masterfully. Gershwin had an excellent ear and amazing hands and this is the result of that potent synergy.
Are you related to Edward Jablonsky, Gershwin's foremost biographer?
@@donaldsaigh8785 Everyone knows one Jablonsky. It is a name that is just rare enough for people to inquire if I am related to the Jablonsky they know...and in every case the answer is negative. In the world of music there are two Steve Jablonskys who are both composers. One writes music for TV and movies and the other is a professor of music theory and composition at the City College of New York. If you are curious you can check out my UA-cam channel. I have lots of good stuff posted there.
Gershwin actually did record a 15-16 minute version of Rhapsody In Blue. It was done on the (IIRC) Duo-Art Piano Roll. The Duo-Art not only recorded the notes, but also the intensity with which the performer played them. That recording is on the 2LP collection Gershwin by Gershwin. Probably one of the best recordings of the Rhapsody, IMO.
Yes I noticed that mistake in the video also. The piano roll was the only medium, other than maybe movie film, on which he could record a full version. In recent years Michael Tilson Thomas used the Gershwin piano roll as a basis for a jazz band recording of the Rhapsody In Blue. So finally Gershwin's playing is heard in modern stereo. ua-cam.com/video/5nQNqGgiZSM/v-deo.html
Great video as always David! I never realised the history behind this piece. Similar videos on other great works would be great!
I always loved Rhapsody in Blue. It always felt like the perfect bridge between classical and jazz. And the modular nature of the song just makes it that much cooler.
As a piano concerto, Rhapsody in Blue is a masterwork. It’s so inventive and technically challenging yet exhilarating and evocative.
My all time favorite piece............in fact i left a message in my Will to have the Love Theme played as people leave the chapel. IT'S MY MUSIC......IT IS LIKE A SMALL CAPSULE OF WHAT I AM ALL ABOUT.
Thanks for the mention of klezmer. When I listen to the earliest recordings, I hear something of this influence in the piece. The European Jewish influence in American popular music was huge in the first half of the twentieth century, but it declined after the Second World War. I would love to hear a recording of the Rhapsody that highlighted this element more clearly.
Adam Neely's next video: "Microtonal Rhapsody in Blue"
In 5/8 of course
Don't give me hope
vaguely balkan
@@bonniejunk with djent elements
Anon and don’t forget the lick
I well recall first hearing Rhapsody in Blue as a kid in a movie on TV and was blown away by it.
Was it Gremlins 2?
@@atimholt No, more likely the 1945 movie Rhapsody in Blue. Such movies were on lunchtime TV when I was a kid.
You mean, lots of wind?
Beaming up the coast on the clear channel at night to Seattle, my Mom would listen to the Ira Blue talk show on KGO 810 AM from San Francisco. This would have been the late 1960's. Ira used Rhapsody in Blue as his theme music for my introduction. Between Ira's voice and off beat topics, the spooky mystery of the long distance radio, and especially the Love Theme from Rhapsody in Blue, the combination was mesmerizing.
The Rhapsody in Blue animation from Fantasia 2000 was a real highlight of that movie
me: *displays astounding knowledge of the intricacies of rhapsody in blue*
every girl within a 100 mile radius: 16:27
Not being a musician, I have never been privy to an extensive analysis of the piece. But certainly, as an American whose life has spanned 2/3 the life of the piece, I am very familiar with it.
It never occurred to me that there could be many who could be critical of it, so I have to say that I am pleased to have heard my first serious analysis here.
One of my favorite pieces of music. A work of musical, intellectual, and virtuosic sophistication and genius. Every version I've heard of it sounds authentic, and that speaks to the greatness that is Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. 😎
Whoa ..really well said !
As much as I love Gershwin, the pointy stick was my favorite part.
ok so: great high-quality video embeds of bands and orchestras old and new, as usual, great comments and insights, as usual, OMG I love the toy hand playing color-dot keys!!, erm.. great extracts of commentary by other composers, as usual, OMG he's making cutout-animations of Gershwin, erm.. a truly well-composed pre-recorded videophonic communication... as usual : )
I'm not so sure about the pointer hand's technique, though!
Ah, Rhapsody in Blue, or "Hey man, Rhapsody in Blue isn't the ONLY clarinet piece you can warm up with." I've always wanted to dig into this piece, it just seems like it always has something new, despite being nearly 100 years old!
Honestly, I'm a fan of the OG clarinet from the 1924 recording. Bernstein called it "a cat in heat" and I disagree, it's always seemed like it's laughing it's ass off, and not just the beginning, but throughout the piece. Just my two cents, lol!
I've felt for most of my 70 years that this work is the finest preformance of truly American Modern Clasical Soul.
I am 67. When I was 6 years old child, my mother would play rhapsody in blue using her 78 record and a record player! I have always loved that song!!!
If you are new to Gershwin, remember to also check out his other compositions written in the same manner. Rhapsody in Blue is the most well known but you might like the others equally.
the love theme consistently brings me to teary eyed joy.
"Joys contradictions disappointments ..." and the rest of the commentary. Wow. Double WOW! David Bruce: if this is the attention you pay to an occasional piece in the repertoire then you are the successor to ... I dunno ... DF Tovey at least. You do a great service to humanity in that you present and you show the joy and you engender the humanity and you present the happiness of art to the Y'tube community. Appreciated! !!
Good analysis, but I'm not sure that Gerswhin completely "broke the mold." Perhaps more accurate to say that he took existing forms - primarily rondo and theme and variations - stretched them to their limits and combining them in new ways in the form of a concertino.
More like what Beethoven did with 18th-Century Classical music, I think...but I suppose the only thing two music theorists ever agree on is how a third one got it wrong XD
Dude, Gershwin is cool.
Spread the word, Ryley. Your generation needs to know.
Awee, ofcourse Yesh. :')
Basically, every part of Rhapsody in Blue sounds like an intro to the next section, which, in turn, sounds like an intro to the following section etc. till the end. He keeps playing with the listener's expectations, never fulfilling them, but all of the material is so tuneful, that the listener doesn't seem to mind. A composer of Classical or Romantic era would use the straight up aaba form (also known as rounded binary) as a part of a larger form; the way classical forms work that such song forms are interspersed and connected by less stable structures.
Boy this is great! Fun fact-the library of congress a few years ago had a Gershwin exhibit with many of his personal affects including his piano which against all rules, I reached over the railing and touched!! This immediately set of alarms and a loud (prerecorded?) voice announcing "DO NOT TOUCH!" But hey, I did it!!
I've loved Rhapsody in Blue ever since I heard it in a Tom & Jerry short as a little kid.
I don't think this music was ever played in Tom and Jerry, only some tones were similar to the musics that were played in some episodes of TOJ, but if you've ever flown United Airlines, you probably have heard this music in their safety video or some of their advertisements. Here's the safety video: ua-cam.com/video/oFZeCWaihNg/v-deo.html
I was a french horn player in High School and we did all of Gershwin's works , Porgy and Bess , American in Paris and finally in my Sr year Rapsody in Blue. Took first place at the Rio Honda college Wind Ensemble contest that year . R. I. P Mr Bruce Giford . You touched many young lives and I think you saved me . I absolutely loved playing Gershwin. He was a genius .
I will echo praise you'll read below for Oscar Levant's playing. His performance had a feverish barely-in-control feeling that slayed me when I was a kid ... back in the late 50's.
This video actually explains everything about Gershwin's amazing masterpiece very well! Since the piece itself is public domain, I ended up making my own 2024 orchestra arrangement of it that contains mostly 1924 influences + other favorite interpretations/performances that were inspired.
What Rhapsody in Blue does is take you on a driving tour of New York City. All these amazing stories but you’re only catching snippets of each. Just enough that you know something is happening but not fully what it is and you’re whisked off to another story. And it does it again and again. In the end, you’ve never heard a single, full story yet you’ve gained a true picture of the city and her people. There’s very little else that truly compares to it. A work of pure genius that other musical geniuses can’t fully replicate.
Beginning of video: "Hm, wonder if David has moved to New York?"
End of video: "Nope, that's very much still Britain".
My first time hearing this song was in Fantasia 2000 and it became my most favorite song from the movie. Pines of Rome and Firebird Suite are my other favorite pieces in that film
I'll bet Roy Disney, and his uncle Walt, would be happy to know that. The idea of Fantasia was bring this music to people for them to enjoy. I'd hoped Fantasia 2000 would be followed by another instalment, but sadly, just like the original 1940 edition, it became more of a curio in the Disney archives. I was really happy that they included Rhapsody In Blue in Fantasia 2000.
Our symphony has performed Rhapsody in Blue and Firebird Suite together 3 separate times since 1986. I listened to the first performance on the radio, but was in attendance for the performance in the 1990s and in 2016. Having the extreme pleasure of hearing both pieces performed live was fantastic. I’ve attended many popular rock concerts by bands that have composed decent songs. In small theaters and in stadiums where thousands of fans cheer crazily for the performers, yet, not a single one comes close to the emotional thrills of these two pieces performed by a great symphony live.
Same here! Fantasia 2000 may be a forgotten piece, but it made me fall in love with music as a kid. Rhapsody in Blue was one of my favourites too, it's a superb piece of storytelling that I've only come to appreciate more the older I've grown and the more I've learned about the piece and the composer.
I hope Disney make another Fantasia someday.
"Al Johnson?" That's as bad as, "George, and his lovely wife, Ira."
As music lover who hasn't got a traditional musical education, I find your videos insanely digestable and I actually understand what you're putting down. So helpful. Just an AWESOME video!
This is a wonderful video. Thank you!
I have been longing for a merger of jazz and classical music, along the lines of what Gershwin (and Grofe) did, for most of my life, ever since I first heard one of those orchestrated versions of Rhapsody in Blue on about six 78 sides, played on a gramophone (wind up, no electricity involved).
The Dave Brubeck/Leonard Bernstein album "Bernstein Plays Brubeck Plays Bernstein" attempted some of that combination in the 1960s, with mixed success. The tune "Maria" from West Side Story, jazzified, is a favorite of mine from that collaboration.
By the way, that singer near the beginning is Al Jolson, not Johnson.
Ralph Dratman I can't believe I haven't heard of that album! I also love Maria as a jazz piece; however the version I know is from a bossa nova album. It's really sublime!
@@AndromedaCripps Which bossa nova album?
Ralph Dratman It's a Si Zentner album- I think it's called Bossa Nova Beat or Desafinado (or both). Definitely recommend it!
@@AndromedaCripps Thanks -- I will look for it.
Good comment, I will look for it.
Al Jolson, not Jonson.
I'm not a huge fan of Bernstein's version. I love the Oscar Levant version recorded in the early 1950s. He also had the advantage of knowing Gershwin. Any chance we could get an analysis of American in Paris?
When I was a small boy my parents had Oscar Levant's version on an album of 78s. I remember listening to it and wondering why I liked it so much. I sensed that its sophistication was beyond my years and was puzzled over my attraction to it.
Oscar Levant playing anything is just pure musical magic. I'm sure he could have recorded a monumental rendition of Row-Row-Row Your Boat.
One of my all-time favorite compositions! This is a brilliant commentary on Rhapsody In Blue! An excellent analysis of the thematic material, and wonderful observations about the styles in the piece! I once used it in an 'intro to music' class and gave students an assignment to find particular themes throughout the piece. You have brought more depth to it for me! Thank you!
This video randomly popped up in my feed - and what a blessing that was! David Bruce is a good teacher who shared details about this piece that were new to me. It is for videos like this that UA-cam was created! Thank you for sharing your insight with all of us!
Great video! You reminded me of Argentinian composer Gerardo Gandini, who said that academic and popular music are completely different, separate things and that there is no possible mixture of them. After speaking about this in an interview, he mentions Gershwin as a possible exception to the rule.
The ability to just shift bars around or start/stop at seemingly random points in each one explains why I remembered so many videogames themes from the 8 and 16bits era while listening to it.
It is amazing the power of a piece like this and to think it echos so far forward without a clear connection to newer audiences
Before today I've only know Gershwin through a Benny Goodman performance of "Gershwin Medley" =)
So, hear me out. To me, those aren't just loosley connected themes. What I hear is all a big "joke". This song always teases you. It teases you with the big moment you had in the beginning, and when you feel like it's coming, it pulls the rug from under your feet and goes to a tangent. And each time the joke becomes more and more proposterous. That's where I personally find the genius of this piece. The edging. The anticipation. The humour in it. It's a trully complete piece.
Gershwin loved edging I guess
Quite possibly the best 15 minutes of instrumental music in American history.
Thank you for creating and posting this video. Raised on Gershwin, I first heard the Rhapsody at a tender age via my parents' WWII era 78 records. (Rhapsody arranger Ferde Grofe and my father were acquainted.) Your deconstruction of the work is intelligent and cogent. You've given me a much better understanding of why I love the work.
I love your videos and keep returning to them.Thank you,David.
I'm surprised that you didn't mention the 1976 Columbia recording, in which Gershwin's piano roll version was recorded with a Whiteman-sized jazz band playing the original jazz orchestra version. Michael TIlson Thomas conducted. Still one of my favorite recordings of this work.
My favorite as well.
Good comment, I will look for it, thanks.
So interesting, how I can rewatch some your videos without boredom. There is so much details and interesting arrangements. Rhapsody in Blue actually opened the window to „classical“ music for me on an emotional (listening for pure enjoyment) level
This is the ultimate fusion of jazz and classical music.
Love how you explain complex musical pieces and styles. This one and your flamenco video appeal to me the most but all your stuff is great!
Excellent lecture, well prepared and thought out with insight and plentiful information.
Great video! This is one of the finest on Dave Bruce's channel that I have seen until now. It has really deepened my understanding of this iconic piece of music.
A brilliant analysis and review. Thanks so much for taking the time to make such a beautiful video.
What a marvelous video. On all counts. As beautifully done as the composition itself.
I've just watched the video of Bernstein performing "Rhapsody..." with the NY Philharmonic in 1976 - it was exquisite (I cried a loving tear)! I'm astonished that among the audience at the premiere were Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, Sousa, and Willie "The Lion" Smith. Gershwin created an immortal piece, and yes, we are grateful.
So much effort, and interesting insight in this video. Amazing. Thank you so much!
Wonderful commentary and analysis! The combination of commentary and production is superb.
WAIT A WEEK AGO??? Dude this is such a perfect timing you have no idea. Thank you
Great video! Thank your for putting so much effort in making once again such a clear and deep analysis of this iconic piece of music.
I love all Gershwin songs! I feel all kinds of emotions when I hear his songs!!
Fantastic lecture on one of the greats! (composers and masterpiece tunes). Great work David!
The timing for the release of this video is incredible! I'll have a live show all based on Gershwin the 28th of this month and you just uploaded an analysis of Rhapsody in Blue (which, by the way, will be the opening piece). Great and in-depth pieces of information here, I'll treasure them.
Oh, it'll be a rearranged jazz trio gig, so we chose the dark (or should I say blue..?) side for this piece lol
We are talking about this piece in my music history class tomorrow. Now I will be even more prepared. Thank you
Well done Mr. Bruce. Im just a Singer/Songwriter from Texas but I really dig your channel and the vids ya put out, sir... I learn something cool every time...
Timing is everything. I was listening to an old Miles Davis song (It never entered my Mind --Rogers and Hart), and this video popped up in the list of those to autoplay ... (which is turned off!) But I LOVE Rhapsody in Blue so I had to watch. My Mom had the piano music, and my older sister used to play it (she passed away in 1968 at the age of 16). This has always been a very special song to me, and I loved your analysis of the piece! Yes: Liked, Subscribed, and "clicked the Liberty Bell" so I can watch more of your reviews!
Great video David: insightful and illuminating.
Thank you for this very interesting analysis of this masterpiece! "Rhapsody in Blue" holds a special place in my memories as a musician because my first ever listening to a live orchestra was with this piece being performed. After that experience I knew I was in love with music and I wanted to become a musician. Thank you again!
Thank you, David Bruce - very inspiring introduction to Rhapsody in Blue. Especially your refernce to Klezmer is very insightful. :-)
Thank you, Mr. Bruce. This video was very interesting and well done.
4:28 loved the detail of the smoke xD
Great video! I'm not even a new yorker and I've loved this piece for years! (thanks to disney). It was about time that someone made such a good analysis of it. Thanks!
Awesome analysis...beautiful layout of the inner workings!
Gershwin is my all time favorite composer and inspiration!!! thank you for this!
The video i've been waiting for, thank you :D
Great work David, eclectic creative amusing. Great time travelling nice touch with the pointy pencil.
The details in the editing are fantastic
Amazing video, as always, thank you. I learn a lot from your analysis.
If you've never been to New York as soon as you hear the Rhapsody you have experienced its soul.
I loved your video, it is so iinteresting from beginning to end and the visuals are fantastic. I understand better the structure and the history of the piece. Thank you!
Great breakdown of this timeless piece. In final analysis ,melody is king. The melodies allow the arranger to improvise ,but still be recognized as Rhapsody in Blue. I love the nicknames to the melodies!
Thank you so much for explaining my favorite musical piece. I have to listen to it periodically. From now on, I will better understand why I love it.
I love the Fantasia animations for Rhapsody In Blue. So awesome
Thank you for analyzing one of my most favorite pieces since childhood
listening to the full piece always brings tears to my eyes... love the ending. perfect.
Your little special effects were icing on the cake of an excellent explanation.
My favorite piece of music ever. Play this at my funeral! I prefer George's own playing of it - he plays it SO MUCH faster than anyone else does. LOVE this song :)
Fascinating. Thank You for this video.
The beginning of this piece always brings me to tears. The clarinet glissando is so *chef's kiss*
Excellent Video Presentation. I learn quite a lot about the piece of Music Gershwin wrote which
I love so much. Thank you. Out.
13:00 I like how you go in and show how some parts are connected to others or "hinted at" (I like to say.) This reminds me of many modern progressive rock concept albums...They mostly all do this and it's one of the reasons I have so much appreciation for them. (Especially Neal Morse and Dream Theater concept albums). Great video!
Arrangement by Liquid Tension Experiment
Album: LTE3 (April 16, 2021)
a wonderfully illustrated analysis of Gershwin's classic. It is densely populated with historical asides, incisive observations and genuinely affectionate moments. Thank you,.
great channel, good work, many thanks for making them!
This video is as long as the piece itself...
you bloody genius
Nice! I’ve always wondered how Gershwin combined so many themes together. I like all the historical background too.
that is one of the pieces that made me choose clarinet as a kid. havent played it in years. but great to be reminded.
Great video. Really good analysis 👍🏻
Pan Tadeusz on your shelf has been noticed.
Sam tego nie przeczytałem a tu patrz Anglik ma na półce i to nawet wysunięta jakby używana 🤔
@N1gerTV Be kind bru. This is how we learn. I will be expanding my horizons by reading this 'last epic poem of Europe'.
@N1gerTV I wish I had a culture I could cheer for. Let it be Music. Peace.
@N1gerTV Nothing soecific to Polish, in fact haven't seen this frequently enough to even remember one case now. I do remember seeing it with other "minority languages" tho, like mine (Hungarian). We notice more that we are sensitive more to.
Great video! Nicely done.