With the
instant success of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody
in Blue in 1924, Paul Whiteman and his orchestra performed the piece an
additional 83 times that year. The Victor Blue label decided to record the work
and it ended up selling over one million copies. People across the nation heard
it either in live performance, on the radio, or through recordings. Gershwin
was even surprised to see that the sheet music was a hit! Print reviews
continuously raved that this new work bridged the gap between serious and
popular music.
With its great
success, it’s no wonder that we see melodies reminiscent of those in Rhapsody in Blue pop up in some of
Gershwin’s later songs. Some of these titles include “The Man I Love,” “Fascinating
Rhythm,” “Bidin’ My Time,” and “Embraceable You.”
Rhapsody in Blue was not only a
hit among classical music listeners, but it became somewhat of a popular
American icon as well. One popular
modern-day usage of Rhapsody themes
can be found in United Airline advertisements. United bought the rights to
Gershwin’s work in 1987 for $300,000 per year.
Is Rhapsody in Blue your favorite of
Gershwin’s works? If not, what other piece do you prefer?
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Al
Hirschfeld Drawing of George and Ira Gershwin
Courtesy of pinterest .com |
