Friday, February 04, 2005

Enraptured by Rhapsody

George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue is one of my favorite pieces. I played it in high school, and I love to listen to it, but I have never thought about the actually music. I just like how it sounds. Gershwin takes the main theme and changes it rhythmically and its registration. It is played loud and soft, simple and hard, but he sticks to the theme. I like how one can hear the melody passing through instruments and changing timbres and styles. I never really thought about this before until i listened to it tonight with the view of analyzing it and understanding it. Also, the jazz chords he uses are strikingly uncommon for a "piano concerto" and it is interesting to think how revolutionary this piece is in the development and acceptance of Jazz music. *sigh* i love this piece...

1 comment:

Scott said...

Do you have a favorite performer for this work?