Enchanted with George Gershwin

Rediscovering joy in my piano practice with three of Gershwin’s works arranged for two pianos

When I was a teenager, I discovered George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Every morning for months I would listen to it on cassette while getting ready for school, my late 1980s boom-box volume nob cranked as loud as I could make it. I never took the time back in those days to reflect on what about the piece in particular called to me, but looking back, I suspect it was the near-perfect blend of beautiful, catchy themes, energizing rhythms, and sheer showmanship in the piano part. For my teenage self, it was more energizing than a Nirvana show, more satisfying than a Beethoven piano sonata, and more familiar than my grandmother’s oatmeal butterscotch cookies. It spoke to me. And it still does. It’s spoken to many, many listeners since its world premiere in New York, on February 12, 1924.  

George Gershwin’s life was short, but his influence was huge on American Music. Born in New York City in 1899, he quickly fell in love with music, and more specifically, the new, innovative sounds coming out of music halls in Harlem. His work can be divided into roughly two categories: his songs, which number over 500, and his concert pieces. Gershwin’s songs were composed with his brother Ira (the lyricist), and make up a very large portion of what jazz musicians fondly refer to as the “great American songbook.” The chord changes of one song, I’ve Got Rhythm, became a standard template for be-bop musicians to use for their own high-energy pieces; hundreds of jazz songs were composed on what is now referred to as “Rhythm Changes.”  

The other half of his work was his concert pieces. These were attempts (in Gershwin’s own words) to “Make a lady out of jazz.” He wrote big symphonic pieces, piano concertos, piano preludes, and an opera. Overall, the audience loved his music, but the critics not-so-much, complaining about his loose use of form, or his lack of theme development.

My colleague and I had been tossing around the idea of a two-piano recital for a while, and with my 50th birthday happening in 2024, it seemed like 2024 was the year to do it. We both felt lackluster about repertoire until she found two-piano arrangements of Rhapsody in Blue and American in Paris on her music shelf at home. Immediately we became motivated. I had heard a few of the main themes of An American in Paris drifting down the music school hall this last decade when my colleague had a break between lessons, but had never really listened to it before in its entirety. But Rhapsody in Blue I knew, note for note. I’d just never played it before. We briefly debated if that would be too much Gershwin for one show, but as we were so excited about the music, we decided that it wasn’t. And more; we needed another Gershwin two-piano work to round it out, hence us adding Cuban Overture.

Cuban Overture was written for orchestra in 1932, following a two-week holiday in Havana, Cuba. Originally titled Rumba, it is filled with the Cuban rhythms Gershwin heard on his trip. It was very popular in its day, both at its premier in August 1932 to over 17,000 concert attendees, and in the months following. My colleague and I had never heard of it before, but we both quickly fell in love with it. I was mildly concerned about performing this big piece written for many, many instruments on just two pianos; would it sound muddy? A chaotic sea of notes? With this in mind, I tried to give the individual lines in my part different tones, and characters even, imagining a bass here, and a flute there. Did I succeed? You’ll have to give it a listen and let me know.  

An American in Paris was the piece I was the most nervous about. I’d heard the opening theme before, but that’s about it. I had trouble in those early days of practice wrapping my mind and my ears around it; that winter, I’d listen daily to it while out walking the dog, trying to get it in my head. I’d put my earbuds in and play along with the orchestra, often getting lost in the beginning, but eventually keeping up. It took a while, but finally, I was able to make sense of the notes I was practicing within the tapestry of themes and impressions Gershwin wove with this piece.

Gershwin wrote An American in Paris for orchestra in 1928, and labeled it a “jazz-influenced symphonic tone poem.” His influence for this piece was time spent in Paris during the French equivalent of its “roaring” twenties (the Annees Folles). Critiques claimed it was too abstract and lacked form, but I found, as both a performer and as a listener, that the beautiful themes and energy of the rhythms moved it along just fine.  

One of my favorite moments in An American in Paris was the most difficult to get together once rehearsals started. My part consisted of simple half notes and whole notes, while my colleague had these driving, rhythmically displaced eighth notes (classical folks call this a “hemiola”.) Over and over we rehearsed this short moment in the piece. I counted aloud, tapped my foot, kept my eyes glued to the score, and every time my world was turned sideways by Gershwin’s syncopated, clever rhythms and accents in my partner’s part.  

(I eventually did get that section, but was tickled every time I played it by how difficult Gershwin had made simple half and whole notes!)

Rhapsody in Blue was composed in 1924. It was written in a more traditional Piano Concerto format (a piano concerto is a piece written for a piano soloist with an orchestra backup). I claimed the Piano One part, the “soloist” part. This was the most technical out of all three pieces to learn, but I quickly found that while complicated, it fits into the hand easily when I used good fingering and careful practice. It was by far the most comfortable to play. And the easiest to put together with my colleague, as there were limited moments we played at the same time; rather it was “taking turns” between the Piano One and the Piano Two (orchestra reduction) parts. 

Spending the winter elbow-deep in three of Gershwin’s larger concert works was one of the best musical experiences I’ve ever had. His catchy themes would run through my head when I wasn’t practicing, putting a bounce in my step and a smile on my face, even with grey skies and cold drizzle outside. His sophisticated rhythms and beautiful harmonies drew me to the piano daily like no other music has for a long while; most pianists find that “practice” is a mix of a love of music and discipline to sit down and work on the hard parts over, and over, and over again. However, that was not the case with these three pieces. I happily ran to the piano each opportunity I had to play Gershwin.

I hope you enjoy these pieces as much as I did!

Gershwin’s Cuban Overture (click to listen)

Gershwin’s An American in Paris (click to listen)

Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue (click to listen)