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Home , An American in Paris, Blue Monday (opera), Concerto in F (Gershwin), Deems Taylor, George Gershwin, Girl Crazy

Feb. 9-10, 2019, page 1

programby Dr. Richard E. Rodda notes

An American in (1928) in F, caused Gershwin to gather up his ■ Parisian sketches, and by January 1928, 1898-1937 he was at work on the score: An Ameri- In 1928, George Gershwin was not can in Paris. When he returned to New only the toast of , but of all York in late June, he discovered that the America, Britain and many spots in Symphony had announced Europe, as well: he had produced a string the premiere for the upcoming season, of successful shows ( and Funny so he worked on the piece throughout Face were both running on Broadway the autumn and finished the - that spring), composed two of the tion only a month before the premiere, most popular concert pieces in recent on December 13, 1928. An American in memory ( and the Paris, though it met with a mixed critical in F), and was leading reception, proved to be a great success a life that would have made the most with the public, and it quickly became glamorous socialite jealous. The pace- clear that Gershwin had scored yet setting Rhapsody in Blue of 1924 had another hit. shown a way to bridge the worlds of For the premiere, col- and serious , a direction Gershwin laborated with the composer to produce followed in the exuberant yet haunting the following insouciant description Piano the following year. of : “You are to He was eager to move further into the imagine an American visiting Paris, concert world, and during a side trip swinging down the Champs-Elysées. He in March 1926 to Paris from , starts off to the tune of The First Walking where he was preparing the English Theme. French taxicabs seem to amuse premiere of Lady Be Good, he hit upon him particularly, a fact that the orchestra an idea, a “walking theme” he called it, points out in brief episodes introducing that seemed to capture the impression four real Paris taxi horns. Our American of an American visitor to the city “as he strolls on through the medium of The strolls about, listens to the various street Second Walking Theme, which is an- noises, and absorbs the French atmo- nounced by the in French with a sphere.” He worried that “this melody is strong American accent. so complete in itself, I don’t know where “It may be that he continues down the to go next,” but the purchase of four Champs-Elysées, and that when The Parisian taxi horns on the Avenue de la Third Walking Theme makes its eventual Grande Armée inspired a second theme appearance our American has crossed for the piece. Late in 1927, a commission the Seine and is somewhere on the Left for a new orchestral composition from Bank. The end of this section is couched , of the in terms so pleasantly blurred as to New York Symphony and conductor of suggest that the American is in a café ex- the sensational premiere of the Concerto ploring the mysteries of Anise de Lozo. Feb. 9-10, 2019, page 2 “And now the orchestra introduces an An American in Paris, was soloist in the unhallowed episode. Suffice it to say that Concerto in F and Rhapsody in Blue, a solo approaches our hero (in the and accompanied soprano register) and addresses him in in a selection of his songs. The“I Got the most charming broken English. Of Rhythm” Variations, written for the tour, course, it is possible the whole episode gives some indication of the breadth is simply a musical transition. This may and imagination that Gershwin must well be true, for otherwise it is difficult have displayed in his improvisations — to believe what ensues: our hero be- hot jazz, mock Orientalism, coy waltz, comes homesick. He has the ; and if virtuoso bravura and grand symphonism the behavior of the solo be any all find a place here. Most of the com- criterion, he has them very thoroughly. position was written in December 1933 “However, just in the nick of time the in Palm Beach; the (which orchestra rushes another theme to the Gershwin bragged to his friends that he rescue, a noisy, cheerful, self-confident did himself) was completed on January Charleston without a drop of Gallic 6, 1934 in New York. The“” blood in its veins. Walking Theme Num- Variations was his last concert work. ber Two enters soon thereafter, enthusi- astically abetted by Number Three. The Appalachian Spring (1943- blues return but mitigated by the Second 1944) Walking Theme — a happy reminiscence ■ rather than a homesick yearning — and 1900-1990 the orchestra, in a riotous finale, decides In 1942, dancer and choreographer to make a night of it. It will be great to Martha Graham commissioned a new get home; but meanwhile, this is Paris!” ballet from Aaron Copland set to a scenario titled Appalachian Spring, based Variations on I Got Rhythm for on her memories of her grandmother’s Piano and Orchestra farm in turn-of-the-20th-century Penn- sylvania. Edwin Denby’s description of George Gershwin the ballet’s action from his review of the Gershwin loved to improvise on his New York premiere in May 1945 was songs for friends and it was for a concert reprinted in the published score: “[The tour in early 1934 with the Leo Reisman ballet concerns] a pioneer celebration in Orchestra, conducted by Charles Previn spring around a newly built farmhouse (great-uncle of André and later direc- in the Pennsylvania hills in the early part tor of music at Universal Studios), that of the 19th century. The bride-to-be and he immortalized some of his extem- the young farmer-husband enact the porizations as the Variations on “I Got emotions, joyful and apprehensive, their R h y t h m ,” the hit song from his 1930 new domestic partnership invites. An Broadway show, . The tour was older neighbor suggests now and then a series of one-night stands that began in the rocky confidence of experience. A re- on January 14, wound through vivalist and his followers remind the new two-dozen cities, and ended, after 12,000 householders of the strange and terrible miles, at ’s Academy of Music aspects of human fate. At the end, the on February 10. couple are left quiet and strong in their On each concert, Gershwin conducted new house.” Feb. 9-10, 2019, page 3

Rhapsody in Blue for Piano and Orchestra George Gershwin Orchestrated by ■ 1892-1972 For George White’s Scandals of 1922, the 24-year-old George Gershwin provided something a little bit differ- ent — an , a brief, somber one- acter called (later retitled 135th Street) incorporating some jazz elements that White cut after only one performance on the grounds that it was too gloomy. Blue Monday, however, impressed the show’s conductor, , then gaining a national repu- tation as the self-styled “” for his adventurous explorations of the new styles with his Palais Royal Orchestra. A year later, White- man told Gershwin about his plans for a special program the following Febru- ary in which he hoped to show some of the ways traditional concert music could be enriched by jazz, and convinced Gershwin to undertake a work for piano solo (to be played by the composer) and Whiteman’s 22-piece orchestra — and then told him that it had to be finished in less than a month. The premiere of theRhapsody in Blue — , Aeolian Hall, Febru- ary 12, 1924 — was one of the greatest nights in American music. Many of the era’s most illustrious musicians attended, critics from far and near assembled to pass judgment, and the glitterati of soci- ety, arts and culture graced the memo- rable event. Gershwin fought down his apprehension over his joint debuts as serious composer and concert , and he and his Rhapsody in Blue had a brilliant success. ©2018 Dr. Richard E. Rodda Allentown Symphony Orchestra

FEBRUARY 9 AND 10, 2019 8:00 P.M., SYMPHONY HALL

PROGRAM

DIANE M. WITTRY music director/conductor

An American in Paris GEORGE GERSHWIN

Variations on I Got Rhythm GEORGE GERSHWIN for Piano and Orchestra Piano Soloist: Simon Mulligan

intermission

Appalachian Spring AARON COPLAND Ballet Guild of the Lehigh Valley Karen Kroninger Knerr, Artistic Director

Rhapsody in Blue for Piano and Orchestra GEORGE GERSHWIN Orchestrated by Ferde Grofé Piano Soloist: Simon Mulligan