Posts: George Gershwin

Rhapsody in Blue: A Young Clarinetist’s Obsession

January 16, 2024

New York Times music critic Olin Downes described the opening passage of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue as “an outrageous cadenza of the clarinet” after the piece’s premiere in 1924. 100 years later, this passage is considered an iconic orchestral excerpt for professional and amateur clarinetists alike. We talked to California Symphony principal clarinetist Cory Tiffin about his history with the piece ahead of his solo in GERSHWIN IN NEW YORK.

2023-24 Season, Blog, Cory Tiffin, George Gershwin, GERSHWIN IN NEW YORK

Program Notes — GERSHWIN IN NEW YORK

January 2, 2024

Samuel Barber (1910­–1981) Symphony No. 1, in One Movement, Op. 9 (1936, rev. 1942) It must have been lonely to be Samuel Barber there for a while. Almost alone of mid-twentieth-century American composers he eschewed the era’s prevailing bleak modernism in favor of a rich musical language that emphasized melody, opulent harmonies, and traditional structures….

2023-24 Season, Barber, George Gershwin, GERSHWIN IN NEW YORK, Jason Marsalis, Marcus Roberts, Martin Jaffe, William Dawson