Concerto in F is a composition by George Gershwin for solo piano and orchestra which is closer in form to a traditional concerto than his earlier jazz-influenced Rhapsody in Blue. It was written in 1925 on a commission from the conductor and director Walter Damrosch. A full performance lasts around half an hour.

Genesis of the Concerto

Damrosch had been present at the February 12, 1924 concert arranged and conducted by Paul Whiteman at Aeolian Hall in New York City titled An Experiment in Modern Music which became famous for the premiere of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, in which the composer performed the piano solo. The day after the concert, Damrosch contacted Gershwin to commission from him a full-scale piano concerto for the New York Symphony Orchestra, closer in form to a classical concerto and orchestrated by the composer.

Because of contractual obligations for three different Broadway musicals, he was not able to begin sketching ideas until May 1925. He began the two-piano score on July 22, after returning from a trip to London, and the original drafts were entitled "New York Concerto". The first movement was written in July, the second in August, and the third in September, much of the work being done in a practice shack at the Chautauqua Institution. This had been arranged through the Australian composer and teacher Ernest Hutcheson, who offered seclusion for Gershwin at Chautauqua, where his quarters were declared off limits to everyone until 4 p.m. daily. Thanks to this, Gershwin was able to complete the full orchestration of the concerto on November 10, 1925. Later that month, Gershwin hired a 55-piece orchestra, at his own expense, to run through his first draft at the Globe Theatre. Damrosch attended and gave advice to Gershwin, who made a few cuts and revisions.

According to a newspaper reporter in attendance, the pipe "wandered in and out of his mouth all through the rehearsal. In particular, he used it to point accusingly at members of the orchestra who were not solving their jazz problems successfully."

The Concerto in F shows considerable development in Gershwin's compositional technique, particularly because he orchestrated the entire work himself, unlike the Rhapsody in Blue which was scored by Ferde Grofé, Paul Whiteman's section pianist and principal orchestrator. The English composer and orchestrator William Walton commented that he adored Gershwin's orchestration of the concerto.

Instrumentation

In addition to the solo piano, the work calls for 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets in B♭, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 Horns in F, 3 trumpets in B♭, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, 3 percussionists (first player: bass drum, glockenspiel, xylophone and triangle; second player: snare drum, woodblock, whip; third player: cymbals, (crash & suspended), triangle and gong), and strings.

Form

The concerto is in the traditional three movements:

  1. Allegro (F major)
  2. Adagio - Andante con moto (D-flat major)
  3. Allegro agitato (G minor → F minor → F major)

There are strong thematic links among the three movements, all of which are heavily influenced by jazz. However, there exists, in each movement, a very subtle structural integrity that, while perhaps not immediately apparent to the listener, is rooted in the classical tradition.

The first movement begins with blasts from the timpani, introducing elements of the main thematic material. After an extended orchestral introduction, the piano enters with a solo section, introducing another melody found throughout the movement. From here, the music alternates with contrasting sections of grandiosity and delicacy. The climax is reached at the Grandioso, in which the orchestra resounds the piano's original melody, accompanied by a large triplet figure in the soloist. There is a cadenza of quick triplet ostinatos which leads to the final section: speeding octaves and chords, culminating in a large run of the triplet ostinato up the keyboard along an F Major 6 chord, bringing the movement to a close.

The second movement is reminiscent of the blues - beginning with an elegant melody in a solo trumpet accompanied by a trio of clarinets. A faster section featuring the piano follows, building gradually until near the end, at which point the piece deceptively pulls back to the original melody, now given to the flute. The movement ends in a peaceful, introspective cadence.

The final movement is pulsating and energetic with several references to ragtime, featuring both new material and melodies from the previous movements. A false climax is found in a Grandioso section identical to that of the first movement, which in turn evolves into another build to the true pinnacle of the concerto, again dominated by the F Major 6 chord, bringing the piece to a close.

In his own words Gershwin wrote a description of the concerto:

Allegro

The first movement weaves together three rhythms and themes: Charleston, pentatonic runs and sultry. The timpani begins the movement with wham-bok beats, then the orchestra introduces a pentatonic melody accompanied by the Charleston in the horns and percussion. Thirty seconds in, the timpani and orchestra alternate wham-bok beats with the pentatonic melody. After the strings lull, the piano introduces the main sultry theme used throughout the piece. It is repeated again with an orchestral counter-melody played by the cellos and strings at the same time, followed by pentatonic runs in the piano and continuing accompaniment in the orchestra. It climaxes to a chromatic scale run in the piano and resolves with Spanish-sounding syncopation in the orchestra. Piano Charleston syncopation reintroduces the sultry theme heard at the beginning of the piece. This time the piano plays the counter-melody while the orchestra plays the sultry theme. A "micro-cadenza" then a trumpet solo. By the first minute, the trumpet solo sounds very similar to the sultry theme heard in the first movement. Gershwin continues with improvised and variant themes of the blues melody. The trumpet then repeats the theme played at the beginning. When the trumpet solo ends, the piano enters with a pentatonic variant of the first theme before transitioning into a faster, upbeat second theme. This theme foreshadows the melody of the third movement- through repeated notes. This theme is also a variant of the one heard in the first movement. A violin solo bridges this theme and reintroduces the first theme played at the beginning. The piano then takes over with another variation in a cadenza of both the theme and accompanying arpeggios. After the cadenza, Gershwin passes the original theme to the orchestra, then back to the piano and a flute. He then builds to the climax of the piece, alternating between the piano and the orchestra. The movement ends with the piano playing the theme from the beginning, soft flute and string accompaniment, and a D-Flat Major cadence. The concert was sold out and the concerto was very well received by the general public. However, the reviews were mixed, with many critics unable to classify it as jazz or classical. Indeed, there was a great variety of opinion among Gershwin's contemporaries. Sergei Prokofiev found it "amateurish".

Arnold Schoenberg, one of the most influential composers at the time, praised Gershwin's concerto in a posthumous tribute in 1938:

Damrosch himself provided a note praising Gershwin's work:

Radio broadcast

Although Gershwin never recorded the concerto, he was invited by Rudy Vallee to play the third movement from the concerto on an NBC radio broadcast in 1931, which was preserved on transcription discs and later issued on both LPs and compact discs. Vallee used a special arrangement prepared for his studio orchestra. Gershwin also played a few of his popular songs on the broadcast.

Figure skater Yuna Kim of South Korea skated to a four-minute edited version of this piece at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, as well as 2009 Trophée Éric Bompard, 2009 Skate America, and 2009–10 Grand Prix Final, winning the gold medal for ladies' figure skating and breaking the world record score for the women's long program. When she competed in the 2010 World Championships, she won the silver medal totaling 190.79 points.

References

Citations

Sources

  • Kennedy Center/National Symphony Program Notes by Thomas May
  • San Francisco Symphony - Program Notes by James M. Keller
  • Interview with conductor Riccardo Chailly and pianist Stefano Bollani by Gian Mario Benzing
  • Piano Concerto in F major (1925), analysis of the concerto by Steven Schwartz on Classical Net