THE STORY BEHIND: Gershwin's "An American in Paris"

Title: An American in Paris

Composer: George Gershwin (1898-1937)
Last time performed by the Rhode Island Philharmonic: Last performed February 25, 2012 with Larry Rachleff conducting. This piece is scored for three flutes (third doubling piccolo), two oboes, English horn, three clarinets (third doubling bass clarinet), two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, three saxophones, timpani, percussion, celesta and strings.

The Story: Most composers begin studying composition in earnest long before their first major success. Not so with George Gershwin. It wasn’t until after the rousing triumph, in 1924, of his Rhapsody in Blue (scheduled for a Rhode Island Philharmonic performance later in the season) that Gershwin started seeking out some of the musical giants of his day for lessons. This quest ultimately led him to Paris in the early spring of 1928, where he met many of the most distinguished composers of the time. Ravel, Berg, Prokofiev, Milhaud, Poulenc, and others. This heady company, combined with the sights, sounds, and smells of the “City of Light,” caused Gershwin’s creative juices to start flowing, and ideas for An American in Paris (some of them quite innovative) began to emerge. Before leaving, he included in his sightseeing itinerary some Parisian garages, where he bought several used taxi horns. Upon returning to New York, he promptly handed them to conductor Walter Damrosch for use in the work’s premiere performance with the New York Philharmonic. This urban love-letter of a piece follows an extensively detailed story line that the composer created with the eminent music critic and composer, Deems Taylor. In short, it goes something like this: 

In early summer an American is walking down the Champs-Elysées, enjoying the sounds of the city, including taxi horns, passing by a café and hearing a tune from the old century in the trombones. He continues walking with a new theme in the clarinet. Yet a new walking theme takes him across the Seine to the Left Bank, where perhaps a whiff of anise muddles him a bit (accompanied by the little cadenza in the solo violin – the attentive listener here may think of Debussy, and the composer more or less acknowledged it). Our hero becomes a bit homesick, and we hear the blues, but as he sinks lower, he is rescued by the Charleston, announced by a pair of trumpets. Various previous tunes are recapped, as the American obviously decides to enjoy Paris, and the orchestra, in a riotous finale, decides to make a night of it.

Program Notes by Jamie Allen © 2024 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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