If you were to ask me what I think is the greatest piece of music produced in the 20th century--and, let's face it, I know you want to--despite the fact that the majority of my music listening comes from the blues/rock tradition, I wouldn't say "Like a Rolling Stone" or "(I Can't Get No ) Satisfaction" or "Stairway to Heaven". I'd give my vote to "Rhapsody in Blue".The George Gershwin masterwork should be pretty familiar to most. For most of my childhood I knew it as the theme song for United Airlines. It was also the music behind one of the Fantasia 2000 segments. But it really didn't start to resonate with me until I saw Woody Allen's Manhattan, which features the work in its opening scene.
I've lived in Orlando since I was a baby, but I was born in New York and so the city has a particular pull on me. I'd like to move back. It's a living, breathing city. The different scenarios Isaac (Woody Allen) goes through for the beginning of his book are all true, all valid ways to interpret the city. It's the breadth of experience that makes the city what it is and also what makes "Rhapsody in Blue" so dynamic. It's a collision of classical and jazz. There's the iconic clarinet intro. The bombast of the horns and cymbals. The cool and soothing piano that eventually becomes fractured, jumpy, staccato. It's full and dramatic, clean and elegant. It's also playful and (I think this sometimes gets lost) really flirty and sexy. It's all-encompassing. It is the city.
But enough talk, have a listen... [click on the pic]
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