Carnegie Hall

After a string of popular songs and Broadway hits, George Gershwin’s next work was written for the concert stage. Rhapsody in Blue was so successful that it prompted Broadway composer Irving Berlin to call Gershwin “the only songwriter I know who became a composer.” More concert triumphs lay ahead, including the Carnegie Hall and world premiere of his An American in Paris.

Composing An American in Paris

After Rhapsody in Blue premiered in 1924, Gershwin felt he needed to refine his compositional skills. In 1926, he went to Paris with the intention of studying with Maurice Ravel. The French composer gently rejected Gershwin’s request for composition lessons, telling him, “Why be a second-rate Ravel when you can be a first-rate Gershwin?”

Paris invigorated Gershwin, and after his return to the United States he began composing a work that recalled his visit. The result was a snippet of music called “Very Parisienne.” He hoped to complete the piece during a 1928 trip to Europe with his brother Ira. During that trip, the sounds of Parisienne taxi horns inspired him. Accompanied by a friend, he went hunting in automobile shops to find the right horns to use in his work. Those taxi horns add unforgettable local flavor to his richly orchestrated tone poem, which also includes saxophones and celesta along with the traditional strings and percussion.

The Sounds of Paris

An American in Paris is a vivid musical postcard. Gershwin said, “My purpose here is to portray the impressions of an American visitor in Paris as he strolls about the city, listens to the various street noises, and absorbs the French atmosphere.” The American tourist comes to life in a bluesy trumpet solo, rollicking syncopated rhythms, and sweeping, romantic melodies.

World Premiere

Walter Damrosch conducted the New York Philharmonic in the world premiere on December 13, 1928, which also included Franck’s Symphony in D Minor, Lekeu’s Adagio for Strings, and Wagner’s Magic Fire Music from his opera Die Walküre. Damrosch was no stranger to Gershwin’s music; he commissioned the Piano Concerto in F and premiered it at Carnegie Hall with the composer at the keyboard in 1925. An American in Paris was warmly received by the audience, but some critics questioned its appropriateness on a serious music program.

Epilogue

An American in Paris took on new life on the stage and screen years after Gershwin’s death. In 1951, an MGM movie producer asked Ira if he would be interested in making a musical based on the songs he wrote with his brother. Ira agreed, and the classic film with Gene Kelly went on to win six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Musical Score.

In 2015, famed choreographer Christopher Wheeldon created a Broadway musical inspired by the film. Wheeldon used several Gershwin songs that also were in the film in addition to others, excerpts from the Concerto in F and Second Rhapsody, and the magnificent orchestral work that premiered at Carnegie Hall and lives on in concert halls around the world.

Gershwin said of its appeal, “It’s not a Beethoven symphony, you know. If it pleases symphony audiences as a light, jolly piece, a series of impressions musically expressed, it succeeds.” Almost a century later, it still does.

Photography: Gershwin, Rosenberg, and Crooks courtesy of the Ira and Leonore Gershwin trusts; Berlin by Ray Lee Jackson; Ravel courtesy of Durand Salabert Eschig; Ira Gershwin courtesy of CORBIS; George Gershwin and Damrosch courtesy of the Carnegie Hall Rose Archives; An American in Paris poster courtesy of Saul Bass and Loews Cineplex Entertainment.