Ravinia 2024 Issue 2

Now is the night one blue dew. Now is the night one blue dew, my father has drained, he has coiled the hose. Low on the length of lawns, a frailing of fire who breathes. Parents on porches: rock and rock. From damp strings morning glories hang their ancient faces. The dry and exalted noise of the locusts from all the air at once enchants my eardrums. On the rough wet grass of the back yard my father and mother have spread quilts. We all lie there, my mother, my father, my uncle, my aunt, and I too am lying there. They are not talking much, and the talk is quiet, of nothing in particular, of nothing at all in particular, of nothing at all. The stars are wide and alive, they seem each like a smile of great sweetness, and they seem very near. All my people are larger bodies than mine, with voices gentle and meaningless like the voices of sleeping birds. One is an artist, he is living at home. One is a musician, she is living at home. One is my mother who is good to me. One is my father who is good to me. By some chance, here they are, all on this earth; and who shall ever tell the sorrow of being on this earth, lying, on quilts, on the grass, in a summer evening, among the sounds of the night. May God bless my people, my uncle, my aunt, my mother, my good father, oh, remember them kindly in their time of trouble; and in the hour of their taking away. After a little I am taken in and put to bed. Sleep, soft smiling, draws me unto her: and those receive me, who quietly treat me, as one familiar and well-beloved in that home: but will not, oh, will not, not now, not ever; but will not ever tell me who I am. GEORGE GERSHWIN (1898–1937) Rhapsody in Blue Scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets and one bass clarinet, two bassoons, three horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, crash cymbals, bass drum, suspended cymbal, gong, snare drum, triangle, bells, two alto and one tenor saxophones, banjo, five-part orchestral strings, and solo piano Paul Whiteman announced a provocative con- cert in the New York Tribune on January 4, 1924. The stated purpose of this musical event was to decide “What is American music?” According to the four-paragraph article, Whiteman had assembled a distinguished panel of musicians— Serge Rachmaninoff, Jascha Heifetz, Efrem Zimbalist, Alma Gluck, and critic Leonard Leib- ling—to decide the question. Among other mu- sic, the program would contain three new com- positions: a jazz concerto by George Gershwin, a “syncopated tone poem” by Irving Berlin, and an American suite by Victor Herbert. Ira Gershwin brought this article to his brother’s attention. George apparently had forgotten about the “jazz concerto” project, which he had discussed in vague terms with Whiteman. With less than six weeks before the concert, the sur- prised musician began mapping out ideas. Ger- shwin’s account of the creative process appeared in 1938, one year after his tragic death from brain cancer: “I had no set plan, no structure to which my music must conform. The Rhapsody , you see, began as a purpose, not as a plan.” Sometime before January 7, Gershwin had combed his “tune books” for useful melodic ideas. Shuttling between New York and Boston for the tryout of his musical The Perfect Lady (produced on Broadway as Sweet Little Devil ), Gershwin’s imagination came alive to the sounds of his passenger train “with its steely rhythms, its rattlety-bang. … I suddenly heard—even saw on paper—the complete construction of the Rhapsody from beginning to end.” Gershwin imagined a grand nationalistic essay, “a musical kaleidoscope of America—of our vast melting pot, of our incomparable national pep, our blues, our metropolitan madness.” Ad- ditional themes materialized in unlikely places. Gershwin apparently invented the melodious “love theme” while improvising at a friend’s par- ty in Boston. Ira claimed credit for urging his brother to include the famous clarinet opening, originally written as a rapid scale spread over more than two octaves. The glissando effect orig- inated with a prank concocted by Whiteman’s clarinetist, Ross Gorman, during a rehearsal. The composer liked the effect and encouraged Gorman to add a jazzy “wail” at the top end. George considered the title American Rhapsody , Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra but Ira reportedly suggested Rhapsody in Blue after viewing James McNeill Whistler’s paintings Nocturne in Black and Gold and Arrangements in Gray and Black (known as Whistler’s Mother ). Whiteman’s “An Experiment in Modern Mu- sic” took place as scheduled on February 12, 1924. Countless socialites and musical dignitar- ies crowded Aeolian Hall for this major event. (David Schiff explained in his detailed study of Rhapsody in Blue that New York City had not yet emerged as a major jazz center. This situa- tion would change over the next few years with the arrival of Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, and other im- portant jazz performers.) Whiteman explained to his audience that his concert was to be “purely educational.” The program was subdivided into several thematic sections contrasting older and modern examples of true forms of jazz, comedy, legitimate vs. jazz scoring, and dance rhythms, as well as symphonic arrangements and piano improvisations by Zez Confrey. Rhapsody in Blue occupied the next-to-last sec- tion. Given the press of time, Gershwin allowed Ferde Grofé to orchestrate the score. The regular arranger for the Palais Royal Orchestra, Grofé understood better than anyone the abilities of Whiteman’s 23 musicians. He discussed orches- tration ideas with Gershwin on a regular basis and completed a rough score on February 4. However, the exact nature of their individual contributions later became a point of contention between composer and orchestrator. Whiteman conducted from an incomplete score. Gersh- win improvised many solo piano passages, then nodded to the conductor when the orchestra should enter. The audience greeted Gershwin’s work, ac- cording to critic Olin Downes, with “tumul- tuous applause.” No one denied that Rhapsody in Blue possessed awkward spots, but this one composition abundantly justified Whiteman’s experiment. Gershwin finally gained wide- spread acknowledgement as a legitimate com- poser. He also earned a quarter-million dollars from royalties and rentals over the next decade. Grofé modified the instrumentation numerous times for tours and concert appearances by Whiteman’s orchestra. He published a full-or- chestra version in 1942. Schiff observed that these transformations have completely reversed the original stylistic balance: “In the original scoring, the band is playing jazz while the piano introduces the classical elements; in the sym- phonic version the orchestra seems to be the classical element while the soloist takes on the burden of sounding ‘jazzy.’ ” The commonly heard orchestral version, estab- lished after the composer’s death, may be out- lined at various levels. Rhapsodic elements exist in the numerous tempo changes and the long unaccompanied piano solos. On the other hand, the specific tempo sequence might be viewed as RAVINIA.ORG  • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 75