I remember hearing that George Gershwin was once commissioned to write a piece of music, and promptly forgot about it. He was then reminded of his obligation less than a month before the due date, and in a fit of panic, wrote “Rhapsody in Blue.”
Is there any truth to this story? If so, can someone provide a cite/web site that tells the full tale?
Or is this just an obscure myth?
thanks much,
Fezzik
Dang. I guess I’ve learned a lesson about using quotation marks in a subject heading.
The subject line should read: "Did Gershwin compose “Rhapsody in Blue” in three weeks?
I fixed it for you, Fezzik. It’s a bummer of a bug, ain’t it. Sorry for the inconvenience, and welcome to the Straight Dope Message Board.
The story is essentially, true, but I don’t offhand know if it was three weeks or more. Gershwin had promised Paul Whiteman that he’d write a piece for him, and promptly forgot about it. Ira Gershwin read an article about the concert and reminded George that he had to do something. That something was “Rhapsody in Blue.”
According to my source, Gershwin told Whiteman just before Christmas that he couldn’t write something for the concert, which was scheduled for February 12, 1924. Whiteman insisted, and Gershwin managed to put it together. But it was longer than three weeks – figure six to seven.
I heard on NPR a few weeks ago that it was even more dramatic than that: he wasn’t able to finish the piano part in time for the concert, so he improvised some parts when he was up there performing. All this at the tender age of 25 – talk about a virtuoso!
http://www.ffaire.com/gershwin/rhapsody.html
This page says that on 1/4/24, Gershwin read about the “jazz concerto” he was supposed to be writing. It was to appear in a concert on 2/12. That’s 39 days, which works out to 5 weeks and 3 days.
Compare this with Handel’s Messiah, written from August 22 to September 14, 1741. 24 days. Admittedly, Handel did reuse some material from his prior works.