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Rhapsody in Blue, by American Composer, George Gershwin (1898 – 1937) is a classic for clarinetists worldwide. Gershwin told his first biographer the following,
"It was on the train [from New York to Boston], 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." Howard, Orrin, "Rhapsody in Blue" (program notes for Los Angeles Philharmonic)
Take a listen, my friends. This is a great recording of some great clarinet playing!
"It was on the train [from New York to Boston], 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." Howard, Orrin, "Rhapsody in Blue" (program notes for Los Angeles Philharmonic)
Take a listen, my friends. This is a great recording of some great clarinet playing!
This performance is given by Libor Pesek on clarinet and the Slovak National Philharmonic Orchestra. All copyright belongs to its respective owners.