Every day we will bring you some listening to broaden your cultural horizons and introduce you to lots of different music. Here’s our first piece:

Written by American composer George Gershwin in 1924, Rhapsody in Blue is a concerto-like piece with a piano solo, which brings jazz and classical styles together. Gershwin wrote the first draft on a train journey, and wanted the piece to be a ‘kaleidoscope of all America’.

Listen out for:

  • the clarinet solo at the start, with a rapid scale (glissando) followed by a slide (portamento) that the clarinettist does with their embouchure (tightening the lips around the mouthpiece)
  • the interplay between the piano and the orchestra
  • all the jazzy touches in the music

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