Page 23 - SRMF 2024 Season Program Book

mentally alter the course of American music in just over a in response to the vociferous outcries of pleasure that
month. greeted him and his work. In their enthusiasm for the Rhap-
On a train from NYC to Boston, heading for rehearsals of sody, many in the hall quickly forgot their disenchantment
Sweet Little Devil, Gershwin sketched out the architecture of with the earlier part of Whiteman’s ‘experiment.’ Gershwin
the new work. He recounted to biographer Isaac Goldberg: had saved the day.”
“It was on the train, with its steely rhythms, its rattle-ty Gershwin’s Rhapsody achieved and retains landmark
bang, that is so often so stimulating to a composer.... I status as a masterwork, and though George deserves much
frequently hear music in the very heart of the noise. And of the credit for its success, it is also apparent that with-
there I suddenly heard—and even saw on paper—the out the help of numerous other individuals, the work may
complete construction of the rhapsody, from beginning never have gone beyond its premiere. After all, there were
to end. No new themes came to me, but I worked on the other works on the same program that did not achieve
thematic material already in my mind and tried to conceive the same level of success. Without the contributions of Ira
the composition as a whole. I heard it as a sort of musical Gershwin, Ferde Grofé, Paul Whitehead, and the clarinetist
kaleidoscope of America, of our vast melting pot, of our who altered the opening, the Rhapsody likely wouldn’t be
unduplicated national pep, of our metropolitan madness. the cultural icon as we regard it today. With all that said,
By the time I reached Boston I had a definite plot of the George Gershwin still deserves most of the credit, as he
piece, as distinguished from its actual substance.” was an uncanny crafter of songs and highly skilled compos-
He began the work of putting pen to paper on January er that ultimately altered the course of American musical
7, according to the original 2-piano manuscript that was history.
supplied to Grofé for the orchestration a mere 10 days
before the first rehearsal. Grofé and Gershwin worked Symphony No. 6, ‘Pastoral’
closely together on the orchestration, with Grofé com-
ing to Gershwin’s apartment to pick up new pages of the Ludwig van Beethoven
manuscript, where the two could discuss instrumentation (baptized December 17, 1770 – March 26, 1827)
ideas. Many credit Grofé for helping to launch the Rhapsody
into the stratosphere, as not only did he have an excellent Op. 68, composed and premiered in 1808
command of orchestration, but also a deep familiarity with I. Erwachen heiterer Empfindungen bei der Ankunft auf
the members of the Whiteman ensemble that would pre- dem Lande (Awakening of cheerful feelings on arrival
miere the work. Grofé also later made the full symphony in the countryside)
orchestra arrangement that has become ubiquitous among II. Szene am Bach (Scene by the creek)
orchestras around the world. III. Lustiges Zusammensein der Landleute (Joyful gather-
Grofe’s work on the arrangement was complete by ing of the country folk)
February 4, 1924, leaving 8 days until the world premiere. IV. Gewitter, Sturm (Thunderstorm)
Rehearsals began in earnest, and though intensive given V. Hirtengesang. Frohe und dankbare Gefühle nach dem
the scope of the program (the concert would feature not Sturm (Shepherd’s song. Joyous and grateful feelings
only Gershwin’s new work, but 10 others), the process went after the storm)
relatively smoothly. One of the more famous gestures of Instrumentation: 1 piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clar-
Rhapsody in Blue is the opening clarinet lick. Gershwin’s inets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones,
original manuscript has the line written out as a seventeen timpani, and strings.
note chromatic run up to the top note. In a moment of lev- Duration: 39 minutes
ity during rehearsal, the clarinetist in the ensemble added
a noticeable glissando instead of playing the chromatic run. In the wake of the Heiligenstadt Testament, wherein Bee-
Gershwin loved the change to this opening gesture, and thoven expressed his despair over his impending hearing
asked the clarinetist to perform it that way at the impend- loss, the great artist forged a new path in his output as a
ing premiere. composer. He had discussed this new path with students
With all the preparations made, the concert began on and colleagues near the turn of the 19th century, but
February 12, with many notable musical luminaries in atten- hadn’t fully pursued it until he composed his Third Sympho-
dance, including Leopold Stokowski, Sergei Rachmaninoff, ny. And so launched Beethoven’s middle period, when he
John Philip Sousa, and Fritz Kreisler. The lengthy concert created some of the finest works ever written in the canon
began to wear on a weary audience, until Gershwin took of European classical music.
the stage for the penultimate work on the program. The This middle period, sometimes also referred to as the
wailing clarinet launched the Rhapsody, grabbing the atten- “Heroic” period, saw Beethoven the composer at his most
tion of the audience. Everyone, musicians and audience successful from a financial perspective. With the decline
alike, almost immediately knew they were in for something in his hearing, his hand was somewhat forced in making a
special. The biographer Charles Schwartz recounted the living as a composer, since he couldn’t perform on key-
reaction to the piece: board as regularly as when he was younger. Whether out
“When the Rhapsody ended, there were several seconds of necessity or pure artistic desire, Beethoven’s output
of silence and then all hell broke loose. A crescendo of as a composer increased significantly around the turn of
tumultuous applause and enthusiastic cries swept the the century, while his performing career steadily declined.
house… Gershwin was recalled to the stage again and again Continued on next page

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