<George Gershwin>
Zax, David. "Summertime for George Gershwin." Http://www.smithsonianmag.com/. Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Aug. 2010. Web. 12 Oct. 2013.
Zax, David. "Summertime for George Gershwin." Http://www.smithsonianmag.com/. Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Aug. 2010. Web. 12 Oct. 2013.
Historical Perspective
Rhapsody in Blue was composed by George Gershwin in 1924 for piano and jazz band, which combined the elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects. The piece was written for Paul Whiteman, a bandleader, who is also known as the “King of Jazz.”
<Paul Whiteman and his Ambassador Orchestra – 1920>
Songbook. "The Japanese Sandman." Songbook. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2013.
Songbook. "The Japanese Sandman." Songbook. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2013.
During 1920s, The Harlem Renaissance was emerging in America. It was a cultural movement which encompassed the new African-American cultural expressions across the urban areas in the Northeast and Midwest United States affected by the Great Migration, of which Harlem was the largest. Impact on music was huge during this period. A new way of playing the piano called the Harlem Stride Style was created and new style of jazz was developed. The traditional jazz band was composed primarily of brass instruments and was considered a “poor music.” However, the piano was considered as an instrument of the wealthy.
With this instrumental modification to the existing genre, the wealthy blacks now had more access to jazz music. Its popularity soon spread throughout the country and was consequently at an all time high. Innovation and liveliness were important characteristics of performers in the beginnings of jazz.
Some influential people during Harlem Renaissance were Jazz vocalist, Billie Holiday, Jazz trumpeter,Henry Allen, poet, Arna Bontemps, Jazz pianist and a conductor, Duke Ellington, Jazz dancer, Florence Mills, painter Jacob Lawrence, and our favorite, Louis Armstrong. These people are considered to have laid the foundation for future American artists including George Gershwin.
With this instrumental modification to the existing genre, the wealthy blacks now had more access to jazz music. Its popularity soon spread throughout the country and was consequently at an all time high. Innovation and liveliness were important characteristics of performers in the beginnings of jazz.
Some influential people during Harlem Renaissance were Jazz vocalist, Billie Holiday, Jazz trumpeter,Henry Allen, poet, Arna Bontemps, Jazz pianist and a conductor, Duke Ellington, Jazz dancer, Florence Mills, painter Jacob Lawrence, and our favorite, Louis Armstrong. These people are considered to have laid the foundation for future American artists including George Gershwin.
"Famous Harlem Renaissance People." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2013
"Billie Holiday - The Very Thought of you" YouTube. YouTube, 16 Mar. 2011. Web. 11 Oct. 2013.
"Duke Ellington - It don't mean a thing" YouTube. YouTube, 16 Mar. 2011. Web. 11 Oct. 2013.
"Louis Armstrong - Hello Dolly" YouTube. YouTube, 16 Mar. 2011. Web. 11 Oct. 2013.
Lastly, the 1920's was a time period of diverse change in Woman’s life. After World War I had ended, people were feeling free spirited, women were given the right to vote, and the prohibition movement began. Among all of the changes that took place during this era, one vivid image stands out from the rest, that being the image of the flapper.
Flappers were a "new breed" of young Western women in the 1920s who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior. Flappers were seen as brash for wearing excessive makeup, drinking, treating sex in a casual manner, smoking, driving automobiles, and otherwise flouting social and sexual norms.
The flapper fashion statement did not actually debut until 1926. The typical flapper girl had very short but sleek hair, wore an above the knee straight shift dress, and had a boyish figure. She also demonstrated her rebellious side by smoking long cigarettes in public, applying make-up in public and dancing the night away with her bare limbs exposed. The shift style, waistless flapper dress itself was relatively easy to make at home, which allowed the middle class women to blend in with the highly fashionable upper class. The flapper fashion era lasted from 1926-1928.
"Sophie and Anna's Blog: Style Era (Part 1) :1920s / Flappers." Sophie and Anna's Blog: Style Era (Part 1) :1920s / Flappers, 26 Nov. 2012. Web. 12 Oct. 2013.
Women also gained the voting right as 19th Amendment was ratified in August 18, 1920.
"Women's Suffrage in the United States." Flickr. Yahoo!, n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2013.
Overall, George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue represents casual and emerging Jazz feelings of 1920s America. Although Gershwin himself spoke of the rhapsody as "a musical kaleidoscope of America", Rhapsody in Blue has often been interpreted as a musical portrait of New York City; it is used to this effect in the films Manhattan and Gremlins 2: The New Batch, as well as extensively in this context in a segment from the film Fantasia 2000,in which the piece is used as the lyrical framing for a stylized animation set drawn in the style of famed illustrator Al Hirschfeld, to critical acclaim.
Dono. Scan from Greenberg, Rodney (1998). George Gershwin, p. 77. Phaidon Press. Original cover from the British Library, London. 21. Jun. 2006
David Schiff Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue. Cambridge University Press, quotation is from jacket copy 1997 10 Oct. 2013
"The New Negro Movement - Exhibitions - myLOC.gov (Library of Congress)."n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2013.
Rosenberg, Jennifer. "Flappers in the Roaring Twenties". About.com. 25. Apr.2010 Web. 12. Oct. 2013
Charles Solomon . "Rhapsody in Blue: Fantasia 2000's Jewel in the Crown". Animation World Magazine. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007.
This page was created by Paul K.
"The New Negro Movement - Exhibitions - myLOC.gov (Library of Congress)."n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2013.
Rosenberg, Jennifer. "Flappers in the Roaring Twenties". About.com. 25. Apr.2010 Web. 12. Oct. 2013
Charles Solomon . "Rhapsody in Blue: Fantasia 2000's Jewel in the Crown". Animation World Magazine. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007.
This page was created by Paul K.