1st Recording/Original Version - Gershwin: Concerto in F - Hot!
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- Опубликовано: 15 сен 2024
- Recorded in 1928. Roy Bargy with Paul Whiteman Orchestra
1. Allegro
11:30 2. Adagio - Andante con moto
19:03 3. Allegro agitato
Roy Bargy sounding like Gershwin, plays Ferde Grofé's arrangement with Paul Whiteman's Concert Orchestra. Bix Beiderbecke plays the stunning cornet solo.
Concerto in F is a composition by George Gershwin for solo piano and orchestra which is closer in form to a traditional concerto than the earlier jazz-influenced Rhapsody in Blue. It was written in 1925 on a commission from the conductor and director Walter Damrosch.
Damrosch had been present at the February 12, 1924 concert arranged and conducted by Paul Whiteman at Aeolian Hall in New York City titled An Experiment in Modern Music which became famous for the premiere of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, in which the composer performed the piano solo.[1] The day after the concert, Damrosch contacted Gershwin to commission from him a full-scale piano concerto for the New York Symphony Orchestra, closer in form to a classical concerto and orchestrated by the composer.
Gershwin would later receive formal training and lessons from influential figures like Henry Cowell, Wallingford Riegger and Arnold Schoenberg in advanced composition, harmony and orchestration; however, in 1924 he had had no such training. Under the pressure of a deadline to complete the work in 1925, Gershwin bought books on theory, concerto form and orchestration and taught himself the skills needed. Because of contractual obligations for three different Broadway musicals, he was not able to begin sketching ideas until May 1925. He began the two-piano score on July 22 after returning from a trip to London, and the original drafts were entitled "New York Concerto". The first movement was written in July, the second in August, and the third in September, much of the work being done in a practice shack at the Chautauqua Institution. This had been arranged through the Australian composer and teacher Ernest Hutcheson, who offered seclusion for Gershwin at Chautauqua, where his quarters were declared off limits to everyone until 4 p.m. daily. Thanks to this, Gershwin was able to complete the full orchestration of the concerto on November 10, 1925. Later that month, Gershwin hired a 55-piece orchestra, at his own expense, to run through his first draft at the Globe Theatre. Damrosch attended and gave advice to Gershwin, who made a few cuts and revisions.
The Concerto in F shows considerable development in Gershwin's compositional technique namely because he orchestrated the entire work himself, unlike the Rhapsody in Blue which was done by Ferde Grofé, the orchestrator for Paul Whiteman's orchestra. The English composer William Walton commented that he adored Gershwin's orchestration of the concerto, he himself being a famous orchestrator. Gershwin scored his concerto for 2 flutes and a piccolo, 2 oboes and an English horn, 2 B flat clarinets and a B flat bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 French horns in F, 3 B flat trumpets, 3 trombones and a tuba, 3 timpani - 32", 29" and 26" (one player), 3 percussionists (first player: bass drum, bells, xylophone; second player: snare drum periodically muffled and with regular and brush sticks, wood block, whip; third player: crash cymbals, suspended cymbal with sticks, triangle and gong), solo piano and strings.
Full Wikipedia article on Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F:
en.wikipedia.or...
Wikipedia article on Gershwin:
en.wikipedia.or...
Roy Fredrick Bargy (1894--1974), born in Newaygo, Michigan, he grew up in Toledo, Ohio, where he was exposed to the music of pianists Johnny Walters and Luckey Roberts. In 1919 he began working with Charley Straight at the Imperial Piano Roll Company in Chicago, performing, arranging, and composing. He was the leader, pianist and arranger of the Benson Orchestra of Chicago from 1920 to 1922 (when he was replaced by Don Bestor), and later worked with the orchestras of Isham Jones and of Paul Whiteman and recorded piano solos for Victor Records.
In 1928 he was the first pianist to record George Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F (in an arrangement by Ferde Grofé; with Paul Whiteman and his Concert Orchestra).
From 1943 until his retirement he was music director for Jimmy Durante.
Roy Bargy died in Vista, California at the age of 79.
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Thank you for letting me hear what Gershwin was trying to tell me.
Magnificent performance. It's great to hear the original recording. I feel like we are in Gershwin's mind as he writes out the notes, and we can hear the exact sounds that he has in mind. Thanks for posting!
Wow! What a revelation this recording is! The dance aspect of this is very strong. It's like listening to the music for a ballet. Much more varied tempi than we are accustomed to today. THANK YOU for posting!
My favorite Gershwin's work!! Wonderful.
What awesome orchestration and style!
Unpopular opinion but this is way better than Rhapsody in Blue
Anyone with good ears would agree with you. Thanks for listening.
I love both but this wins. This is an awesome find. 😊 thanks
Always thought the same
A divine piece of music. My favorite Gershwin.
It is his best instrumental work. Thank you for listening.
Wonderful to hear this great post! The arrangement finds sounds that evoke essence; what a trip into music history....
Outstanding Recording. The music was played the way it was supposed to be played and I loved it. Thanks for the upload. Out.
Ferde Grofe scored Rhapsody in Blue for Gershwin. He was Whiteman's main orchestrator. Grofe scored this Whiteman version of Concerto in F for a Columbia Records date.Grofe, Whiteman and Gershwin all had a working relationship so I wouldn't be too quick to assume that Gershwin was opposed to the Whiteman recorded version of the Concerto.
Never realized the prominence of double reeds in jazz work...
Perhaps Gershwin was proud to include them in a full-fledged 3 Movt. Piano Concerto.
I grew up with the recording of Oscar Levant playing this concerto. Even Gershwin preferred Oscar's performance of his works!
Fascinating.. Note the mostly very swift tempos. Many recent interpretations lose the momentum of this work with slower tempos and big tempo fluctuations That is not the case with this performance.
Most modern interpretations perform it like a piece of classical music, instead of as a work of jazz
@@edwardhelms Which it is. It is a piece of classical music. Hence the term "concerto". One does not study jazz with such composers as Arnold Schoenberg and Maurice Ravel...
Glorious!!!!!! What a fun piece!
I am rapidly becoming a Paul Whiteman and orchestra fan. Excuse me for my ignorance but I am just coming around to the influence this band had on American music. He also did the first recording 'Slaughter On Tenth Avenue'. All on the classical concert circuit now days.
The last time I listened to the most. I also think that the 1930s are the best expressions of American music, which expresses entirely Greshwen's expressions. I listened to many pianists and orchestras but this was more important to me. Thank you for sharing
I agree and you're welcome. Thank you for listening.
This was recorded in 1928.
wow. ..what an amazing performance, document. all from th same crucible that hatched th rhapsody. it bears repeated listenings....
+Roger Wiesmeyer
I am glad you appreciate this recording. It is a wonderful composition and the playing matches that quality. Thank you for listening.
It proves; never let classicists near jazz!!
It's a fascinating arrangement, though there's much to be said for the full version... and Bargy is indeed great - though I think George had a bit more panache and verve. I do love hearing this music in 'historical' recordings too! Thanks for the post!
Parts of the 2nd and 3rd movements are deleted. Very excellent and brilliant piano performance by Roy Bargy.
It was common to abridge performances during the 78 rpm era. Records were expensive. His two recordings of the Rhapsody with the Whiteman Orchestra are very much abridged. Both are presented on two sides of a 78 rpm disc, which means a total of nine minutes or so.
My dad had a 78LP recording of Rhapsody In Blue with the composer at the piano. Would love to hear Gershwin do this one too.
There is a solo piano version of Rhapsody in Blue with Gershwin playing but the only recording with the Whiteman Orchestra has Bargy at the piano. Thank you for listening.
@@2ndviolinist Gershwin recorded the Rhapsody not once, but TWICE with the Whiteman Orchestra. Victor 55225 acoustically recorded in June 1924, and Victor 35822 electrically recorded in April 1927. I, and many other collectors, have copies of both versions. He also recorded a solo version of the Andante section, which served as a filler for his recording of the Three Preludes. He also made a piano roll of the solo version, and it is believed that it was overdubbed because of the density of the texture. He did not record the Concerto with the Whiteman Orchestra.
Many thanks for uploading this gem!
Recorded in September and October, 1928, and arranged for Paul Whiteman by Ferde Grofe. Yes, that's Beiderbecke in the second movement, at 11:33.......
Thanks for the info.
My pleasure.
Some discographer types are arguing nowadays that it isn't. Personally tho, I think they're hard of hearing. :)
Oh yeah…maybe you noticed but the last few seconds of the first movement drop out. Starts about 11:28.
+Paul Lindemeyer
Thanks for letting me know. The 2 recordings I have are complete. I have no idea what happened. I will upload that movement or the whole thing again.
Eine ganz besondere Inspiration!
I am glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for listening.
Ich danke Ihnen, 2ndviolinist!
Durch einen Freund Bavo vor kurzem auf Ihre Musik zu hören.
Wait-- all the stuff about Gershwin's orchestrational skills and then we find it is the Grofe arrangement? Or is something just not right?
So much better than all the live versions I’ve heard. They just lack that something, maybe it’s the slower tempo but rlly modern versions of this work don’t compare.
Thank you so much
Thanks to the Columbia Phonograph Company! Without a doubt Columbia made the best recordings in the late 1920s. Records from this period are routinely referred to as "Early electrical recordings". But in no way were they crude or primitive. From the very beginning in 1925 recordings made with the electrical recording process developed by the Bell Telephone Laboratories between 1919 and 1924 possessed an amazing fidelity - Gershwins Concerto In F being a prime example. This is clearly a studio recording, which gives a very "up front" sound to the performance. There is a wonderful clarity and separation of instruments here. I've been lucky enough to have an original album of this work - with its 3 records bearing the Whiteman "Potato head " labels. Always on of my favorite recordings.
I believe this was done by Decca.
@@MrRicksStudio NO ! You didn't read my comment. It was recorded by Columbia. Geez...
According to DAHR, it was released on Decca. Geez II: The Sequel...
@@MrRicksStudio DAHR is dead wrong!! Gershwins Concerto in F was recorded by Columbia in 1928. I"VE GOT THE ORIGINAL RECORDS ! Decca did not exist in the US until 1934. GOD! How wrong can you be?
Paul Whiteman and his Concert Orchestra DID record this work for Decca in 1937. That is what DAHR is referring to. I have the records.
Beautiful and historical !
Thanks
Gershwin didn't record this concerto with Whiteman. This recording features Paul Whiteman's orchestra with their staff pianist Roy Bargy.
Fine, interesting, historic recording. Have had a number of Bargy's solo discs for years, but until now was never aware of his association with Whiteman, the other band leaders, not to mention Durante! Thank you, Doug --
Was the second movement adagio trumpet part played by Bix?
This is THE ONE AND ONLY truly well played Gershwin Piano Concerto!
I agree. Thank you for listening.
Gershwin was present at these recording sessions, if that adds anything to the perception of authenticity . Also the only recording of this work made during Gershwin's lifetime.
I do wish the piano had been closer to a microphone.
Thank you for the info. At least we have a recording. Thank you for listening.
VERY WHITEMENESQUE. THE "GONG" AT THE END OF THE 3rd MOVEMENT MADE ME LAUGH. I WASN'T EXPECTING THAT! IT WAS NICE HEARING IT FOR THE FIRST TIME--VERY IMPORTANT, HISTORICALLY--BUT I'LL STICK TO THE RECORDING LEVANT MADE WITH KOSTELANEZ.
Unbelievable!!!!
WOW Doug!!! thanks for uploading!!!!!!
In this recording, Grofe not only re-orchestrated the original but added to it here and there. By the way, the last chord of the first movement has gotten cut off.
dp53 Plante
Thank you for the info. Sorry about the last chord. Thanks for listening.
Beiderbecke's presence on this recording is debated. For starters, he apparently couldn't read music and played by ear--this might be a problem when performing a semi-classical score instead of truly improvised jazz. In addition, he suffered a serious breakdown in 1928. BUT--Bix loved and listened avidly to modern classical music--to Stravinsky and Debussy in particular--and even composed some short piano pieces in this vein (dictating them to someone who could write music, I suppose). So he could have worked his way through the Gershwin, familiar as he was with modernist classical tonalities. To me, the trumpet solos in this recording sound like Bix, but there's no way to prove it. In any case, despite all the rough patches (or maybe even BECAUSE of them), I think that this is the best and most powerful recording of the Concerto in F, especially the last movement. And Bargy's piano is superb and soulful, something you rarely get in recordings by bonafide classical performers. This recording is a treasure of American Modernism.
That has surely got to be Beiderbecke on open horn, presumably cornet, playing the famous solos in the second movement. No one else sounded like that. My understanding is that he did not sight read well but not that he could not read music at all.. Furthermore he allegedly had a prodigious musical memory and once he heard something he could play it himself with no trouble. Finally the "breakdown" occurred in Nov. of 28 and there are other recordings he made with Whiteman that year up through September
I agree that's Beiderbecke but will disagree that it's the cornet open. Being a player myself, I can hear the felt crown of a hat over the bell in this version (at least I think I do). Like you, I think it's gorgeous.
Walter Damrosch conducted the New York Symphony Orchestra at the first performance of the Concerto in F in 1925. Both Damrosch and the New York Symphony recorded for Columbia records. I have always wondered why they - and George Geshwin - who also recorded for Columbia at this time - were not selected to record the Concerto in F. Wouldn't that have been a terrific historic document. Damrosch , who founded the New York Symphony, promoted modern music, and was a friend of Gershwin. Yesterday I listened to a recent performance of the Concerto by a hundred piece symphony orchestra. The sound was so bloated that it was absolutely dreadful !! I wonder if Damrosch jazzed up his performance with the New York Symphony. With Gershwin there, it's a real possibility.
Superb. This is far better than the string-overloaded 'orchestra version'--clearer, cleaner, more transparent, and with modern non-string playing, of course, the fewer strings the better. :) Clearly the piece benefits greatly from being played by a *jazz* orchestra as opposed to a square *classical* one (although in those days a *classical* orchestra would never have been square or dull...)
Here is a performance of the concerto with a synthesized orchestra!
Mvt I
ruclips.net/video/p2c8h3CCaXo/видео.html
Mvt II
ruclips.net/video/JksXNjhK-Hw/видео.html
Mvt III
ruclips.net/video/OthJEBAUvP0/видео.html
The first person to play Rhapsody in Blue in public was George Gershwin. It was presented at Aeolian Hall February 12 1924 by Paul Whitman with George Gershwin at the piano. It is hard for e to believe that no recording of this performance was made. There must have been a recording of it made, if not on that night, than as a practice piece before. I can't believe that with all the people who knew and admired him and musical big shots he knew, he never made a single record. It makes no sense at all. Someone has got to have it... not necessarily orchestrated.
There is a recording of the first performance of Rhapsody in Blue. It’s on RUclips. Enjoy.
The Gershwins in control of his estate are holding because there can't be no Geoege recorded. It was like the new internet Era when radio and record recordings were so in. Hmmm.
@@billbrimmer1739 I believe it is the first recording. In 1924, it would have been difficult to record the live performance. It was before the days of microphones.
Interesting from a historical point of view and I did enjoy it very much. Think I will stick with Earl Wild or Oscar levant though.
That’s very old wow
So is this actually George playing, I can't seem to find him actually playing
No. It is Roy Bargy.
Fine accompaniment for Oswald the Rabbit and his merry pranks.
I can see that. Thank you for listening.
Yeah, I'd listen to that... fingers crossed! In the meantime...
go to soundcloud . com / peter-mintun / sets / music-by-gershwin-radio
(reduce the spaces with the slashes and the dot com - RUclips won't allow the posting of web addresses in comments)
esecuzione eccentrica ma interessante
This version sounds very dated - not a bad thing. It's very 1920s. I love the Oscar Levant one...so full, powerful and exciting.
It is a conundrum. Dated with lasting power. In my opinion, Oscar Levant is not in the same league as Bargy. To my ear, this is the most exciting version ever recorded. Regardless, thank you for listening.
Levant also recorded the Rhapsody for Brunswick in the early electric 78 rpm era, with Frank Black and his orchestra.
This version dies NOT sound dated ! It's all the later "symphonic" versions that sound dated !!