Ferde Grofé for kids: his life, his music, and what to play first

Ferde Grofé was an American composer and arranger who lived from 1892 to 1972. He painted American places in sound: the Grand Canyon, the Mississippi River, Niagara Falls. He was also the arranger who turned George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue from a piano sketch into the piece for band and orchestra that the world knows. The best first piece for a child is “On the Trail” from the Grand Canyon Suite, where a donkey clip-clops down the canyon.

Quick facts

• Born: 1892, in New York City
• Died: 1972, in Santa Monica, California
• Era: Modern
• Played: piano, violin, and viola
• Known for: the Grand Canyon Suite, the Mississippi Suite, and the orchestration of Rhapsody in Blue

The life in short

Grofé came from a family of musicians. His father sang, his mother played the cello, and his grandfather and uncle played in orchestras. The family moved to Los Angeles when Ferde was small, and his mother taught him the piano and the violin.

At 14, he left home. He worked as a newsboy, an elevator operator, a truck driver, and a bookbinder. At night, he played the piano in dance halls.

He also had a serious job in music. For about 10 years, he played the viola in the Los Angeles Symphony. He learned how an orchestra works from the inside.

In 1920, the bandleader Paul Whiteman hired him as a pianist and arranger. Whiteman led the most popular dance band in America. Grofé wrote out the parts for every player, and his skill gave the band its rich sound.

In 1924, Whiteman planned a concert to show that jazz could be serious music. George Gershwin wrote a new piece for it in a hurry, for two pianos. Grofé had only days to arrange it for the band. He knew each player well and wrote each part with that player in mind. That piece was Rhapsody in Blue.

Grofé then turned to his own music. He had seen the Grand Canyon as a young man and never forgot the sunrise. He finished the Grand Canyon Suite in 1931.

What an arranger does

A composer writes the tunes and the harmony. An arranger, or orchestrator, decides which instruments play what. The same tune can sound sweet on a flute, bold on a trumpet, or sleepy on a cello.

Grofé was a master of this. He used the orchestra as a paintbox.

What the music sounds like

Grofé’s music shows you things. You can hear hooves, thunder, a steamboat, and the first light of day. The tunes are simple and friendly. The orchestra is big and colorful, with touches of jazz.

Pieces to play first

“On the Trail,” from the Grand Canyon Suite. A violin brays like a donkey at the start. Then coconut shells clip-clop the hoofbeats, and a lazy cowboy tune rides above them. Listen for the music-box sound of the celesta near the end, when the riders reach a cabin.

“Sunrise,” from the Grand Canyon Suite. It begins with a soft drum roll in the dark. Light spreads through the orchestra until the whole sky blazes.

“Cloudburst,” from the Grand Canyon Suite. A storm in the canyon, with a wind machine and thunder in the drums.

“Huckleberry Finn,” from the Mississippi Suite. A short, cheeky portrait of the boy from Mark Twain’s book.

Things to do together

Ride the donkey. Play “On the Trail.” Clip-clop with two cups on the table. Stop when the donkey stops.

Sunrise in slow motion. Play “Sunrise” with your child curled up on the floor. They rise as the light grows and stretch their arms wide at the end.

Storm sounds. In “Cloudburst,” name the instruments that make the wind and the thunder.

Paint a place. Ask your child to pick a place they know: a beach, a forest, a busy street. Which instruments would they use to paint it?

Hear his arranging. Play the opening of Rhapsody in Blue and listen to how the band answers the clarinet. See Gershwin for kids.

Print and play

Fill in a composer study notebook page for Ferde Grofé. Draw the canyon on a listening journal page. Read about more composers in American composers for kids, and find more music with a picture in it in classical music that tells a story.

For more composers by era, see classical composers for kids.