Tonight, one of my daughter's friends came over with a Korean exchange student who was surprised to find an American home with a piano in it.
That is sad on so many levels.
Posted by Jewel at January 29, 2013 3:44 PMThis is what Rachmaninoff would have sounded like if he'd been born and raised in New York City.
Posted by Jewel at January 29, 2013 5:14 PMThe Gershwin Piano Roll version of Rhapsody in Blue was used as the piano component of the jazz band version of the piece as conducted by Micheal Tilson Thomas and recorded on Columbia records in the 1970s. It is still probably available on CD and is hands down the best recorded version of Rhapsody ever made
Posted by Jerry at January 29, 2013 8:41 PMThe creation of art--music, painting, sculpture, dance, whatever--fascinates me. Gershwin took his inspiration from the sound of the train, where most people would just hear noise. Haydn, Beethoven, and many others took theirs from walking in the country. And Mozart, like Gershwin, could visualize entire compositions in his head. Much of Mozart's music sounds as if it were written effortlessly, because it was. (Playing it, however, is another matter). I have none of these talents, but I enjoy hearing and seeing the results of those who do.
Posted by waltj at January 30, 2013 10:35 AMI only listen to this once a year (on my birthday) but my preferred version is the June 1924 recording 4 months after Rhapsody debuted at Aeolion Hall in Feb for Paul Whiteman's Experiment in Jazz Concert (2 pm). It was arranged by Ferde Grofe. This 9 minute version has the great Ross Gorman on clarinet and it's as close as we can get to the original performance, even cut by 6 minutes. No, I know hardly anything about it ;-)
http://youtu.be/XIWrfW2M91U
Gershwin was one of the great geniuses of modern music AFAIC.
Amazing, just amazing. He puts more jazz into it than what I've heard before and plays with the tempo. Its great to hear what a composer thinks his music should be like.
Posted by Christopher Taylor at January 30, 2013 2:18 PMI'm in awe of his talent, as a piano player every bit as much as a composer.
Posted by pfsm at January 30, 2013 4:50 PMSomething wonderful...I loved it,we may need more.
Posted by judy at January 30, 2013 7:48 PMSomething wonderful...I loved it,we may need more.
Posted by judy at January 30, 2013 7:48 PM