It is hard to overstate the effect that George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue has had on American music. Since its premiere in 1924, it has become an icon of 20th-century music, one that is recognized by both musicians and non-musicians alike. However, from the rushed preparation to the lukewarm reviews that the piece received, Rhapsody in Blue faced many challenges in its path to becoming an iconic part of American culture.
In 1924, George Gershwin was commissioned by Paul Whiteman to write a jazz piece to be featured in his concert “An Experiment in Modern Music”. Being mostly focused on other projects such as his upcoming musical, Gershwin reportedly did not start composing the piece until just over a month before the premiere. In fact, he wrote most of the piece as he was traveling to Boston for his musical, later recounting “It was on the train, with its steely rhythms, its rattle-ty bang that is often so stimulating to a composer that I suddenly heard — and even saw on paper — the complete construction of the Rhapsody from beginning to end. …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 the definite plot of the piece”
On February 12th, 1924, Rhapsody in Blue premiered at the Aeolian Hall at the end of a concert that aimed to show the progression of American jazz music, ultimately culminating in Gershwin’s modern take on the future of jazz. While Gershwin had managed to create the band’s parts in time, he had not written down much of his part, instead improvising what has since become an iconic piano solo. Despite the incredible performance that Gershwin and the band gave, there was a mixed reception in the concert hall and in the press afterward. For example, the Times published a review looking back on the piece praised its “definite symphonic construction” and some of its themes, but also remarked that it “has some pretension to be regarded as serious music” and that “the composer does not know what to do with his themes”. In the “Tribune”, critic Lawrence Gilman was much harsher, stating “How trite, feeble and conventional the tunes are; how sentimental and vapid the harmonic treatment, under its disguise of fussy and futile counterpoint! …Recall the ambitious piece on yesterday’s program and weep over the lifelessness of its melody and harmony, so derivative, so stale, so inexpressive”
While it is tempting to scoff at these reviews and simply say that the writers were wrong for not seeing the potential in Rhapsody in Blue, music itself has been and always will be subjective. At the time, many concertgoers did not listen to much jazz, with it being said by many critics that Gershwin brought jazz into the concert hall. As jazz grew in popularity and musical tastes became more modern, the general public started to appreciate the piece and it became a staple of American music. The lukewarm reception to Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue provides an important lesson for those in the arts, which is that if we are to push the envelope and create what has not been created yet, there will certainly be people who don’t understand it. However, much like Gershwin’s beautiful tribute to American life, most iconic pieces of art come from those who were not afraid to do something different and create something that will be iconic long past their own time.
Sources:
Farrington, Jim. “‘Rhapsody in Blue’ — George Gershwin, Piano; Paul Whiteman Orchestra (1924).” Library of Congress, 2002, www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/RhapsodyInBlue.pdf.
“George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” published by Harms Incorporated, New York..” Grove Music Online. . Oxford University Press. Date of access 30 Jan. 2021, <https://www-oxfordmusiconline-com.ezproxy1.library.arizona.edu/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-8000923200>
“Mr. Paul Whiteman’s Band.” Times, 10 Apr. 1926, p. 8. The Times Digital Archive, link-gale-com.ezproxy1.library.arizona.edu/apps/doc/CS135469706/TTDA?u=uarizona_main&sid=TTDA&xid=587b1fce. Accessed 30 Jan. 2021.
Schwarm, Betsy. “Rhapsody in Blue”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 6 Feb. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rhapsody-in-Blue-by-Gershwin. Accessed 30 January 2021.