On a very short list (like one that you could count on one hand) of American master-class genius composers sits George Gershwin, and this timeless work from 1924 is truly his magnum opus. In 16 1/2 minutes he encapsulates America at its best, as it sat astride the world at the dawn of its glory days prime. Sit back and listen to what it sounds like, from long before United Airlines lifted a brief section to hawk round trip tickets, performed brilliantly in this case by the Slovak Philharmonic.
If I may be so bold, Dave Grusin has an excellent album of Gershwin pieces: The Gershwin Collection. Track On is actually a rare recording of Gerswhin playing the piano
ReplyDeletehttps://www.amazon.com/Gershwin-Collection-Dave-Grusin-1991-09-17/dp/B01K8MD8DU/
That's a wonderful performance, but there's something about the clarinet in the 1924 Paul Whiteman recording that really gets me.
ReplyDeleteIt's at a much brisker tempo, though, which was done in order to get it all on two 12" 78 rpm discs.
Appreciate that Aesop. When this country was still sane.
ReplyDeleteGershwin, Copeland, and John Williams...I don't think I'm leaving any out am I?
ReplyDeleteI'd add Sousa. Closely followed by Elmer Bernstein and a few other transcendent film composers.
ReplyDeleteTrivia note: One of "Johhny" Williams' first efforts: the 1960s Lost In Space theme. See if you don't hear some of it in Star Wars twenty years later.
Spot on, Brother; in both the post and the comment above.
ReplyDeleteBG
Listen to Stravinsky, Copland, Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich and you've heard most of John Williams. Of course, all composers borrow from each other and themselves.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't you have found an American performance of "Rhapsody in Blue"?
There's Leonard Bernstein's with the NYPhil, but at that point in his career his ego was bigger than his talent, and he hosed it up. I wanted a version as pristine as possible. So that's what you got.
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