Rhapsody in Blue is a piece for piano and orchestra that mixes jazz with classical music. George Gershwin wrote it in 1924, when he was 25. It lasts about 16 minutes, and it starts with one of the most famous sounds in music: a clarinet that slides up like a siren.
Quick facts
- Composer: George Gershwin, who lived from 1898 to 1937
- First played: February 12, 1924, in New York
- Length: about 16 minutes
- Played by: a solo piano and an orchestra
- The title: a rhapsody is a piece in one stretch with many moods. “Blue” points to the blues.
The story of a rush job
In January 1924, Gershwin read in a newspaper that he was writing a jazz piece for a concert the next month. This was news to him. The bandleader Paul Whiteman had announced it without a finished promise from Gershwin.
Gershwin had about five weeks. He got his best ideas on a train to Boston. He said later that the rattle and rhythm of the wheels gave him the plan for the whole piece.
He wrote the music for two pianos. Another musician, Ferde Grofé, turned it into parts for Whiteman’s band, page by page, as Gershwin finished them. Read Ferde Grofé for kids.
At the first concert, Gershwin played the piano himself. Some of his solo part was not written down yet. He made it up as he went, and the conductor waited for a nod from him to bring the band back in.
The clarinet slide
Gershwin wrote the opening as a fast run of separate notes up the scale. At a rehearsal, the clarinet player, Ross Gorman, smeared the notes together into one long wail as a joke. Gershwin loved it and told him to play it that way at the concert. Clarinet players have done it ever since.
The slide has a name: a glissando. Read the clarinet for kids.
Five tunes to find
The piece has no story. It is a string of tunes, one after another, with piano solos between them.
| Tune | Where it comes | What it sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| 1. The opening tune | Right after the clarinet slide | Lazy and sly, on the clarinet |
| 2. The strut | Soon after | A swaggering tune with a heavy beat |
| 3. The train tune | A few minutes in | Fast and chugging |
| 4. The shuffle | Before the middle | Bouncy and off the beat |
| 5. The big slow tune | About two thirds of the way through | Wide and warm, on the strings. This is the one in the films and adverts. |
Musicians who study the piece count five main tunes. The names here are ours. At the end, the early tunes return, louder than ever, for a grand finish.
What makes it “blue”
Blues singers bend some notes of the scale a little low. On a piano, a player gets the same feeling by using the black key just below the bright note. Gershwin filled the piece with these “blue notes.” They are the reason it sounds like jazz, though an orchestra is playing.
Where the name came from
Gershwin planned to call it American Rhapsody. His brother Ira had just seen paintings by James McNeill Whistler, who gave his pictures titles from music, such as Nocturne in Black and Gold. Ira said, why not Rhapsody in Blue?
The city in the music
Gershwin said he heard the piece as a kind of musical kaleidoscope of America, with its mix of people and its rush. Many listeners hear New York in it: traffic, trains, and tall buildings. Disney’s film Fantasia 2000 sets it to a cartoon of one day in the city. Read the Fantasia music list.
Things to do together
- Slide with the clarinet. Crouch down and rise as the opening note climbs.
- Hold up fingers. Show one to five as each tune arrives.
- Draw a city. Add something new to the picture for each tune: a train, a crowd, a park at night.
- Piano or band? Call out who has the tune. Notice how often they trade.
- Find a blue note. At a piano, play C, E, G. Then play C, E-flat, G. Slide between the two middle notes.
Questions to ask
- Does this sound like jazz, like classical music, or like both?
- Which tune do you want to hear again?
- Where does the piano play alone?
Words to know
- Rhapsody: a free piece in one movement with changing moods
- Glissando: a slide from one note to another
- Blue note: a note played a little lower than usual for a blues sound
- Solo: music for one player
Print and play
Draw the city on a listening journal page. To learn about the man, read Gershwin for kids. For more music from the United States, read American composers for kids. More guides are listed in classical music listening guides for kids.
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This article is part of Classical music listening guides for kids: famous pieces, one at a time.
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Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.