Subjective
One of the most celebrated works of the American composer George Gershwin is entitled Rhapsody in Blue, which features a notable crossover between the sounds of a classical piano piece and Jazz masterpiece. It is not first the time that such musical piece grazed the concert halls and the ears of critiques, but what sets Gershwin’s piece apart from genre is its unique sound, which conveys specific mood. Rhapsody in Blue encompasses happy trails on a gloomy avenue kind of mood like riding down the yellow brick road in a wicked forest. The piece sustains the same mood throughout until the end, which makes it an ideal piece for shifting one’s cloudy day into a fine sunny afternoon. Hearing the piece would make one to think of something related to their childhood such as a story of a cat and a mouse in a never-ending chase. The music is almost like a reminder of Tom and Jerry show. The way the music goes up and down conveys a picture of a dubious cat trying to catch a mouse, but in a rather in a comedic kind of way that is comical in proportion.
Objective
Overall, hearing the piece conveys positive reaction because of the composition’s progressive nature. In contrast to the criticism that Gershwin’s work, Jazz does not always exists in the New York clubs 1920s, but its essence can also be combined to serious compositions such as the Rhapsody in Blue. The music encompasses a successful fusion of instrumentation, jazz rhythm, traces of blues in its tone and well integration to the elements of classical music. The typical aspect of Rhapsody is mad up of six segments in which a fugue was played on trumpet, saxophone, and double bass. Meanwhile, the other section of the piece incorporates the use of two violins played against a bassoon that created the traditional “cakewalk” rhythm in the composition. In addition, there is an apparent existence of penultimate section that introduces clarinet solos with strings and piano accompaniment and hints of percussion. Furthermore, the piece also introduces a technique in playing clarinet that showcases quaver glissando patterns observed in 98-102 bars.
All of these elements make up the Jazz components of the composition. The music’s medley of five songs resembles the piano ensemble with each of the song showcasing 32-bar chorus in four phrases and fixed pattern. The phrases generally resembles the phrases: AABA, ABAB, ABCA or AABCs, which are common melodies in most Jazz compositions. The harmonic and melodic structure of the piece is not so difficult to notice because they were placed prominently in the piece. In addition, elements such as recapitulation and key change define the classical component of the piece. The piece starts and ends in B flat, however, effective modulation became apparent as the music progresses particularly towards the diatonic scale’s fourth degree of tone and revert to B flat at the end. On the classical side of the piece, it encompasses the common characteristics of rhythms, variation of melodies and dynamics with diminuendo, crescendo and sforzando accompanied by constant changes in timbre and mood. This characteristic is observable during the transitions between bars 1 to 72 with the use of 9-key signature. The methods and techniques applied by Gershwin in his composition are quite difficult for average musicians to achieve, but this complexity speaks the ingenuity of the Gershwin’s work.
