Gershwin–An American in Paris, musical suite, Boston Pops

Instrumental Music: Part Three. George Gershwin, in his short life of 39 years, wrote any number of Broadway musicals, film scores and classical instrumental compositions. Oh, yes, he also wrote one opera, Porgy and Bess. We have already explored music from Porgy and Bess, Girl Crazy and Lady, Be Good. We highlighted Woody Allen’s brilliant use of excerpts from Rhapsody in Blue, with which he opened his movie Manhattan. We highlighted Oscar Levant’s interpretation of the Third Movement of Gershwin’s Concerto in F.

In 1928, Gershwin wrote a tone poem entitled An American in Paris. It runs around 18 minutes in length; and one of the best renditions is the 1989 performance by the Boston Pops Orchestra under the musical direction of John Williams (yes, Mr. Star Wars, himself). Around 7:50 on the Youtube clip, we get the beginning of an elegiac piece of music written for a muted trumpet solo. We have just transitioned from the hustle and bustle of Paris traffic, taxi horns, frantic activity to a quiet horn. Next, the violins take the lead around minute nine. The trumpet comes back around minute ten. Gershwin himself described the music as being the sounds of Paris that were impressed upon his receptive brain; but where, oh where, did this segment of music (about ten minutes) come from? It is a rhetorical question that cannot be answered.

One of the great things about good music is that it lives forever. New versions of the tone poem are still being played and recorded. However, for now, we are going to embed the Williams/Boston Pops version. (BTW, if you want to listen to the entire clip, just remove the end of the URL, =7m52s.)

In a new twist, we are going to post another version of this music in about two hours. The idea is to give you a visual depiction of the ballet used in the 1951 MGM movie.