How Gershwin Wrote His GREATEST Piece...In 5 Weeks

[@CharlesCornellStudios]

Does Rhapsody in Blue pass the chill test for you too?? I've always LOVED this piece and I've always wanted to talk about it on the channel. Finding out more about its history is fascinating. Gigs are gigs, even for George Gershwin in 1924! To us, it feels like a MASSIVE turning point in history. To him though, it was just a gig. He just happened to be Gershwin. ANYHOO...HEY if you want to check out some free course material and get some cool downloads, check out the info for this year's Black Friday sale and sign up at this link! cornellmusicacademy.com/blackfriday

[@_yoursalad44]

cheesburger

[@thembill8246]

For one thing, musicology is just fun. For another, I just wanted to mention that I have a recording on vinyl of the piano reels that Gershwin himself recorded for this to be done on player piano, of Rhapsody in blue and of an American in Paris. Also Gershwin writing a piece that he didn't want to do, for a thing he didn't want to be in, and it becoming one of his most iconic things reminds me a lot of Michelangelo and the Sistine chapel. He didn't want to work for the Pope. He didn't want to do all that, it was back breaking work and he hated every minute of it, but it's one of the best things in art history.

[@alessandroserpico7815]

Charles Cornell, will you ever talk about Nikolai Kapustin? I would love to hear you talk about his music.

[@Meatloaf_TV]

I hope u cover the prince of egypt in the future the music is phenominal

[@DesertRat2001]

I have what's called the tear test - if a piece *really* hits me, I start tearing up. It's like the piece just takes over and controls my emotion. This one totally does it for me.

[@bg3929Z]

I cannot describe the emotional journey every teenaged clarinetist goes through seeing the opening bars of this sheet music for the first time. The dawning horror of “you want me to play *what*?!?” to realizing it’s gonna be ok, it’s just a scale. Then you do the mental math and realize the speed and technical implications of what fingering needs to happen. And then you weep. Then you try it. And it’s not as bad as you thought? But good god do you have to flub the last, highest bit for a while before you can get it in time….

[@jsogman]

love this "from inside the mind of a clarinetist" moment.... got any more for other peices?

[@danieltsan5141]

i've never related more to a comment before.

[@bg3929Z]

@@danieltsan5141 It was sophomore year. I was 15 years old. There were 3 days until the concert when the Band Director handed me this so I could pinch hit as the soloist for someone in Jazz Band who was going to be out. I was not a member of the Jazz Band. I will Never Forget. #MusicTrauma 😂

[@Vivi-Mage]

As a first-year clarinetist, I absolutely cannot wait to go through this moment and learn this piece

[@hantao2115]

Ok this isn't exactly accurate, it's written as a "scale" but it's played as a gliss, and glissing on clarinet requires the right embouchure, tongue position, and support. The fingering is just smearing your fingers off the tone holes

[@nicholasz2510]

Rhapsody in Blue's original instrumentation was actually just an expanded jazz big band-- Ferde Grofé, the orchestrator of the version popular today, deserves a lot of credit as well! edit: as pointed out by replies, Gershwin actually just wrote a 2-piano reduction and Grofé even orchestrated the 1924 jazz band version too

[@TheIrenepiekarski]

Originally written for two pianos, Grofe made it what we know it as today, an orchestral piece.

[@richardodonnell7465]

Grofé is so underrated. Grand Canyon Suite and Mississippi Suite are amazing.

[@mcbill7352]

It was actually originally written for 2 pianos because gershwin was an inexperienced orchestrator. Grofé orchestrated it for Paul Whiteman's jazz band

[@jsogman]

are you saying Gershwin intended a Jazz Big band or that Grofe orchestrated it that way and THAT was the original version? just am unclear, thanks!

[@nicholasz2510]

​@@jsogman Gershwin always intended for the first-performed version to be for solo piano and jazz band, but instead of writing it out that way he wrote it for 2 pianos and handed that version off to Grofé to adapt for the performance version

[@user-ig1ip6yt9c]

I played this at the 1984 opening ceremony for the Los Angeles Olympics (along with 83 other pianists). Still have the memories and the powder blue tuxedo.

[@counterfit5]

Can you still fit in it? 😉

[@user-ig1ip6yt9c]

No. Can't play it anymore either

[@petebenes948]

@@user-ig1ip6yt9chow does one play a powder blue tux? 😂😂😂

[@EH23831]

🙌🏻 what a fantastic memory to have! 🎉

[@kaziiqbal7257]

This is the most 80s thing I’ve ever heard

[@marco_cee_]

Gershwin and Grofe really defined the sound of that era. Unmistakable.

[@kingeddiam2543]

What are some pieces by grofe you recommend?

[@channingbloom7125]

200

[@redyankeerose]

This is my favorite song. I was so excited a a kid when I heard it in Fantasia. So much imagery! Glad you’re covering it!!

[@helenasmagala9922]

Yes! Fantasia is where I know this piece from, and I’m so grateful for that

[@humanchalk2835]

played the sorcerer's apprentice from fantasia my last concert and that is the hardest piece I've ever played. principal cellist turned around the first rehearsal and told me that he played it in highschool for all-state and he had nightmares about it

[@bastiangugu4083]

You're right. The imagery of this piece in Fantasia is great. For me, it encapsulates the emotional rollercoaster of the musical journey perfectly. I simply love it, both the music and the animation. Such a great style too.

[@ThePwig]

It was technically Fantasia 2000, FYI for the people reading

[@peterrealar2.067]

Seriously, Fantasia 2000 was WONDERFUL. Underrated as hell for a concert feature. I'm sad we've never had one since.

[@general_hayes]

Wrote a paper on this concerto back in college...like a separate comment mentioned Fantasia 2000 bringing this concerto back to the public. One of my favorite remarks I remember researching was...that the piano part wasn't written until 'after' the concert...and that Gershwin improvised the entire performance. Not to mention the opening slide was originally envisioned as a scale and Whiteman's clarinet player changed it as a joke into the iconic slide/glissando.

[@InventorZahran]

Glissando literally means 'slide' in Italian.

[@wjones28]

​@@InventorZahrancool.

[@healdogtoe2c]

Chills E V E R Y time I hear this. If its a recording with an audience, tears will flow. Nothing like hearing the applause of a bunch of people transported by great music.

[@melissafrye76]

I "found" this piece when I was a child and played it over and over again on my cassette player... I LOVE LOVE LOVE Rhapsody in Blue.

[@softwarephil1709]

Same for me. I’ve loved for more than 60 years.

[@susanelliott5209]

The cymbol player living his best life. I'd be grinning like an idiot.

[@40sgoingonfit]

Man, your energy and enthusiasm in this video is contagious. This was one of your most fun videos to watch just because of how much fun you were having.

[@NoName-zn1sb]

hated it

[@CowardEdd]

Agreed. Seemed very emotional in parts, something I haven't seen in many of his other videos.

[@randomizerca]

Thank You, Thank You for showing Leonard Bernstein's performance where he conducts AND plays. This is - in my opinion - the best performance out there. Bernstein nailed it perfectly - ok, not perfectly - which makes me love it more. BTW, tell us about An American In Paris sometime. That iconic final melodic line (which we have to wait almost to the end to hear) is one of the best closing phrase ever written. F - E flat - B flat - G - G flat - slide back up to F.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

As to, "It's not perfect." - If you want perfect, program a computer to play it. If you want music with feeling and nuance, get humans to play physical instruments.

[@srj34]

Yes, Charles Cornell can tell it's not perfect. Many pianists in the comments maybe can tell. As a 30-year guitar player, maybe with enough listens and the sheet music on hand, maybe I could even tell. In an audience of 10,000 people, listening live, how many would be able to tell? Maybe two?

[@nathanwall37]

Man, I just can't stop hearing the inspired train elements throughout the piece. I never knew that! +1 more thing to love about Rhapsody in Blue.

[@EH23831]

Same! Never would have spotted that- now I can’t unhear it. 😮

[@jerrythemouse28]

At United, we're connecting people. Uniting the world and doing it safely. From all of us, we sincerely thank you and enjoy your flight!

[@justinbradshaw5098]

Lol every time I hear this it reminds me of the first day of vacation... Sitting in the seat, ready to take off.

[@youtubesmulmans1835]

It’s a great piece, and really enjoyable to play piano-solo. A much more recent composer who fused classical and jazz that I still would like to see discussed on this channel is Nikolai Kapustin. If you haven’t heard his work before, you’re in for a treat 😊

[@sanders_billy]

OMG KAPUSTIN YES 🤩 I'd love to see Charles's take on his etudes

[@cranemon]

Kapustin is like the perfect evolution and maturation of what Gershwin started, and I've yet to come across anybody who blended jazz and classical music as seamlessly as he did!

[@olliemartinelli4034]

The Kapustin piano concertos are so so cool. I’d love to see them live but I don’t know where or how :(

[@markdougherty9917]

He’s awesome. I’ve been learning his Pastorale Etude. Not easy!

[@NoName-zn1sb]

@@sanders_billy not

[@eirikstave3804]

Thank you for this video! I´m currently studying music in Copenhagen, and this was the first complete piece I ever played with an orchestra. It really is a masterpiece!

[@noncrediblecase341]

This and American in Paris are two of my favorite pieces of symphonic music. The jazz influences and the beautiful orchestrations that are present in these melodies are just out of this world.

[@vincentmoore1058]

I still remember hearing Rhapsody in Blue for the first time! I heard it as I was driving my car, right out of high school, listening to the local classical radio station. Needless to say; my mind was blown!

[@gabymoruza]

Oh my gosh really?! I bet it was!

[@softwarephil1709]

Yes! I understand. For me it was like seeing an incredibly beautiful woman and thinking “Who is she?!”

[@LiamPearce246]

The joy that he gets from this music is amazing. The way that this piece encorperates everything from a xylophone to a piano. What a song. Gershwin is one of the most amazing composers in history. Thanks for the spotlight!

[@LiamPearce246]

How is this also how J.R.R. Tolkien also wrote The Lord of the Rings Trilogy? His close friend C.S. Lewis "stole" his book and published it, even though tolkien didn't want to publish it. Coincidence, I think not!

[@private577]

My most favourite piece ever. I am currently learning this on the piano as a mostly self taught pianist. It is very difficult though extremely fun and beautiful. Love the piece.

[@thomasjamison2050]

"To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time." - Leonard Bernstein

[@melliemu123]

found my new favorite quote HAHAHAH

[@ThePwig]

It’s my favorite piece of all time. So satisfying

[@moskillz76]

Today Rhapsody in Blue turns 100 years old. A timeless classic that will remain relevant for another 100 years.

[@bestiekyla5909]

This piece makes me cry every single time. Somehow Gershwin managed to put every single emotion in this song. Chills, tears, smiles, anger. They're all in there. Love it.

[@johnwasson4039]

Charles, you are one of my FAVORITE people to listen to music with. What a blast! You have captured exactly how I (and many others) respond to Gershwin's genius (and Bernstein's too). Well done! YES!

[@aarondolan1992]

This was actually the piece that made me want to learn piano. My brother was in the high school jazz band when he was in sixth grade and they brought in a pianist named Yasko Kubota and the way she played it just made it so obvious that I needed a piece for myself. Such a gorgeous piece ❤️❤️

[@CorCor-mq8vm]

Yeah but bloody difficult.

[@SpitfireRoad]

Same here. I eventually learned to play it but it took me 2 years after 8 years of lessons and virtually nonstop practice.

[@DizzyEyes94]

Thank you Charles. The music teacher who inspired me to take such joy in music as I see you do passed away in 2016. Since that day I constantly seek the impulse towards music appreciation that it feels like I lost then and your channel brings a piece of it back to me every time. It is a civil service that you perform and it's important to people. Never stop being this way~

[@noahhelsee1340]

this is my favorite piece of music ever written. someone once asked me to "pick a song that represented the shape of my soul" and w/o hesitation this was my choice.

[@syphon47]

Charles your love and passion for music is so infectious. I love seeing your reaction to the music as you hear it

[@roxannenelson8094]

I always have chills listening to this.

[@TenMinuteTrips]

It should be mentioned that it is Ferde Grofe’s 1942 arrangement for full symphony orchestra of Rhapsody in Blue that most of us are familiar with today. Ferde Grofe was Paul Whiteman’s arranger from 1920 to 1932. He’s more known to me as the composer of The Grand Canyon Suite.

[@jamiegodfrey1860]

The absolute beauty/magic about Rhapsody in Blue is that everyone in the ensemble gets to have fun. If you watch different live recordings, all of the players genuinely look like they are having fun. This piece is jazz/ragtime/classical and 100% American. This piece couldn't be composed anywhere but NYC (to Boston). When I lived in NYC, and rode the subway every day, I did what a piano teach told me: listen to the world around you, not your headphones. And I could hear Rhapsody in Blue, in NYC, on the subway, 100 years later.

[@Anglaide]

That song has always made me feel like I was flying, going higher and higher and then throwing me down to the ground in the finale. Wow!

[@atomic32205489]

It is a very emotional piece for me. Joy, chills, chuckles and tears are all there, thanks George.

[@nbeutler1134]

7:44 that chord change is indeed godly

[@Beth_runs_Disney]

Absolutely one of my favorite pieces of all time. I love the joy and awe it elicits. It’s definitely a goosebumps piece!

[@parkermogensen642]

This piece is by far Gershwin's best work. I can't imagine having to write this in five weeks. but at the same time, I have made several songs in one day, so I can understand a bit.

[@counterfit5]

His piano concerto is pretty damn good too

[@leob4403]

You can understand really? Have you written anything even close to this level in your life?

[@AlfredPeeler-yj6sw]

First heard this amazing piece when I was 7 years old. It gave me chills and tears. It still has the same effect 64 years later.

[@bethanynking]

Yes! It’s my all time favorite of Gershwin. I remember it originally hearing it as a girl….on tv. The United Airlines theme song! But later in my adolescence, I was lucky enough to see Dudley Moore perform Gershwin songs on piano with a symphony, in Portland, OR. This song was the highlight. 🤩

[@mbcarlson]

Absolutely brilliant! Hats off to Ferde Grofe for orchestrating it so perfectly.

[@kylejohn4543]

Man, I'm in love with this piece. From the first time I heard it as a kid, it's probably my favorite orchestral piece. The energy, the motion, the power, the variety! Thanks for sharing - I love your enthusiasm for music!!

[@TBlev215]

When Gershwin premiered this, his fingers literally bled on the keys by the time he was finished. His hands were bandaged to thundering applause.

[@peterrealar2.067]

OH, HELL TO YES. One of my all-time favorite classical pieces. I was waiting for this!

[@peterkampenhout792]

This has always been my favorite piece of music. I listen to everything from Heavy Swedish Metal to South-Western Country, and yet I always come back to this piece when I’m bored of my musical selection.

[@marioromero5068]

The Fusion of Jazz and Classical/ Jazzical. Rhapsody in Blue one of the most beautiful Jazz Compositions.

[@Imaginationoverloadi]

This absolutley is my favorite Gershwin piece. I love how it just sounds like the city and as a former clarinet player, it was my dream to do that solo, but I never got the chance. My local symphony is performing it March and I am so excited to see it.

[@katherinehunter9526]

Oh my heavens, thank you! Yes, it is one of the GREATEST songs of all time in my books! My folks had this album, and it became mine! Still have it today. I saw the George and Ira stories on a late night TV show at 9, and it finishes me. Then, a few weeks later, the same TV station played American in Paris. OMG, it changed my life! Hooked for LIFE! I have been a lover of this music for over 6 decades now. It still gives me delight and physical rush to hear this song. Just yesterday, I had a young kid 3 or 4 dancing along with me in the building laundry room as I played the song on my smartphone, and we waited to change over the loads! On my smartphone!? Gawd, my parents would be so blown away to think of these great intentions that allow us to play this classic song on a handheld device. Now if we could just learn to live in Peace and Love and let the Music wash over us and let us know we can live in harmony as the notes and instruments show us in this song that blends it all together to create a masterpiece! Thank you for sharing your DEEP LOVE of my favorite song and breaking down the different changes! I learned to dance to this song in my living room as an 8 - and 9 year old kid and still love to dance to it wherever I can! I had my oldest son on George's birthday! September 26. Our CBC radio station was doing a Birthday tribute to George that night so on his first night of life my son in 1987 was listening to music I fell in love with because of my mother and fathers great record collection! They weren't around anymore, but the music will always be here! Talk about feeling blessed! Thanks again! What a wonderful surprise to pop up in my feed! 🕊💕 🎹 🥁 🪈🎺🎷🎶💃🎉

[@TheViliukas]

I heard this piece for the first time in my childhood watching Fantasia. The animation fitted perfectly and made the composition even more emotional. I now get teary eyed listening to this piece because of the nostalgic childhood memories.

[@psycoNaughtplaysMCPC]

Rhapsody in Blue was one of the pieces that inspired me to try my hand at being a musician. I 've fallen out of practice due to not having the space to do so but I thoroughly was enthralled by it, I always wanted to be that solo clarinetist playing the orchestra into the wall of sound. It's a powerful moving piece that always gives me chills whenever I hear it

[@isntitrich000]

I will be honest, I did get teary eyed too when I first heard of this piece. Still get teary eyed until now

[@jeremyellismusic]

For some chronological reference, Louis Armstrong started having hits in 1925, one year after Rhapsody in blue. Gershwin was smack dab in the middle of Jazz history. What a guy. 1899 - Maple Leaf Rag - Scott Joplin 1905 - Jelly Roll - All the greats saw him between 1905-10 as he toured the states 1912 - Memphis Blues - WC Handy 1915 - Jelly Roll Blues published, but composed 10 years prior 1921 - Carolina Shout - "The Most Solid Foundation" - James P. Johnson 1924 - Rhapsody in Blue - George Gershwin 1925 - The Charleston - Pure Pop Music 1925 - Sugar Foot Stomp - Fletcher Hernderson, Louis Armstrong 1925 - Bessie Smith/Louis Armstrong - St. Louis Blues - Further solidifies the Harmony 1925 - Sweet Georgia Brown 1926 - Heebie Jeebies - Louis Armstong and the Hot 5 1927 - Backwater Blues - Bessie Smith & James P Johnson - first blues recording 1928 - Pinetop Smith - Pinetop's Boogie 1928 - The Mooche - Duke Ellington's first hit and best scat ever? 1929 - Aint Misbehavin' - Rhythm Changes before I Got Rhythm 1930 - I Got Rhythm - Ethal Waters' voice, whoa. George hand speed, whoa.

[@CathyMcD]

I was a child of the 80s and this will always be the United Airlines song to me. That's probably what inspired my love of all things Gershwin and big band.

[@SamTheBattleshipp]

I was blown away as a kid when I found out that intro was a clarinet. This is my favorite Gershwin piece!

[@DannyBuenaflow]

Omg thank you for covering one of my favorite songs of all time. I heard that all of the different themes have names and I wish I knew what they are. Also, the bit at 10:50 always sounds like Tom & Jerry to me lol.

[@HedgeFundOfOne]

It's like Gershwin said "take this!" Just to spite his friend and brother for throwing this project at him with such short notice, and he threw everything into it ingeniously including the kitchen sink. And the world is so much the richer for it. 😊

[@philipcollura2669]

As a teenager & budding drummer in the 60's my teacher showed me the 1920's Charleston beat. You can hear it in passages (da-da!_da-da!) around 9:30. 1st time KZbin brought me your way. Gershwin's music, in particular the Rhapsody is always with me. Thank you for a great anaysis.

[@user-vv1kp2op4u]

Thank God this piece was on the Wynton Marsalis CD I bought way back in time, when I studied the trumpet at music uni. The trumpet played the clarinet/piano part and I totally fell in love. That was all I knew about this piece but I didn't need anything more, I was sold. Now, at 43, I still am . 🥰🥰

[@michaelcherry8952]

Gershwin used to keep notebooks with little scraps of melodies that he wrote and would sometime later incorporate into the pieces he was writing. He had pretty much worked out Rhapsody In Blue, but he thought it was a bit short. Ira (his brother) suggested he put in a slow section based on one of those melodic ideas from his notebooks. The sheer serendipity of the various elements coming together to form this magnificent work is amazing. The stars truly did align!

[@MeredithAvila]

Listening to you get excited about music is just like every conversation I'd ever want to have for the rest of my life.

[@matthewhoward-white463]

Would love to see a Ben Folds Five piano break down. Don't think BF gets enough credit these days, some great piano work.

[@TomStrahle]

The Nethercutt Museum in Sylmar California actually has a player piano with a scroll played by Gershwin himself playing Rhapsody in Blue. So cool.

[@benjamincislowski3339]

As a clarinetist, how can this not be my favorite of Gershwin’s works? *mwah* chefs kiss

[@pohldriver]

I first discovered it when I was like 7 or 8, thanks to it being used by American Airlines in their commercials. Shortly afterwards, my mom got a tape that included the whole piece. I listened to it a lot, only finding out then it was called Rhapsody in Blue. In those days, the nostalgic resurgence of steam locomotives was at its height, with quite a few steam trains running in the Reading, PA area, because it's Reading. The song absolutely conveys the essence of riding behind steam on bolted tracks, passing heavy industry, and watching the sun rise from your cabin as the city springs to life. Which, because I had experienced that, is what I always pictured in my mind.

[@OhrmuzdAhriman]

Thank you for flying United!

[@chong2389]

The high school orchestra performed Rhapsody in Blue back in the mid 60s. I remember it as if it were yesterday. My music teacher was a working professional musician who played in the orchestra at the local nightclub that hosted all the big name acts. (He got the job teaching due to his experience, not a music degree - the good old days when 'arts' teachers were actually professionals in their fields. His son, played the clarinet part, perfectly, of course. The pianist also nailed it. He ended up going to the Berklee School of Music. I was principal trumpet. Thanks to our music teacher, we did more than just play the notes on the page. He coached us through understanding and interpreting our parts. Yes, this was one of my favourite scores to have had the privilege to play. Mr. Curry inspired a group of teenagers (now in their 70s) to play beyond what they thought they could play. My apologies for wandering off topic.

[@davidwoods1337]

This is absolutely my favorite Gershwin -- and this is the first time I've heard some of the history behind how it was written. SO amazing.

[@donnaguy9057]

About 40 years ago, I found an album of Gershwin, playing Gershwin. They had found some piano rolls that he had made & then recorded them against a live orchestra, I wore that piece of vinyl out. I got to see Sean Hayes play this at the Goodman Theatre in his production of "Goodnight Oscar". Amazing. Hearing it live is beyond anything you can imagine.

[@SWo2007]

What a great educator you are, Charles!! So engaging and interesting. Wear your passion on your sleeve. Love it!!

[@alden1132]

Every time I hear 'Rhapsody,' I always get completely absorbed, and go on a little journey in my head. I can't *help* it, which speaks to the inherent energy and power of the piece.

[@ferdberffle]

Thank you. This was my uncle's favorite. He bequeathed his 78rpm record to me when he passed. So this has always been a special piece to me.

[@copernic7511]

That break makes me cry every time...

[@KYoss68]

My very favorite performance of this was done by the Santa Fe Orchestra with Emily Bear as the pianist. She's a pianist and composer and performed this at 13 as her Rhapsody debut. The orchestra is totally on point and she absolutely kills the piano part, playing the optional long versions of each piano solo with passion, without a single miss and with no notes. Absolutely spectacular.

[@rockahbilly76]

This year is the 100th anniversary of this fantastic piece. I trust that there will be many opportunities to see it performed nationwide. (Even as a celebration for this country's turning around to freedom by electing a proud American as president.)

[@cherylsimon7785]

My brother introduced me to this masterpiece, and, boy howdy, I will be forever grateful!

[@swysocki3920]

This was the favorite song of my father and me. I would help him prepare dinner and this would come on the radio. He and I would be conducting while we cooked. The best memory!

[@MarcoPolo-nx5tk]

The quintessential “New York” vibe! But my favorite is “Summertime” from the Opera he put together - Porgy & Bess

[@phred23]

One of my favorite bits of Bernstein trivia is that as much as he loved performing Rhapsody in Blue, he actually had a lot of contempt for it as a composition, calling it "much more intuition than tuition" for the way Gershwin tended to awkwardly stitch his motifs together rather than write more traditionally fluid transitions from one to the next.

[@timothyproksch2915]

Now that you mentioned it I can hear the train in it I live next to the train tracks and as a boy used to ride a train from Detroit to wabash Indiana. Thanks

[@iashakezula]

I can’t believe I missed this one. I LOVE this piece too ever since when I was a just a kid, I would get goose bumps every time I listen to this .Such an awesome work of art. Thank you for sharing how Gershwin wrote this, I could actually hear the train and chaotic yet rhythmic tempo and sound. When I came to the US decades ago this was the first music sheet for piano that I bought and since I didn’t have a piano back then , I would follow the notes as I listen . It’s great reading everyone input here. 😊

[@shadowstorm9787]

I'm about to play this piece for concert band in college, actually. I'm doing the clarinet solo! My band professor watches your videos by the way, you make great stuff! Wish me luck lol, I still need to learn how to pitch bend.

[@kollibriterresonnenblume2314]

This might be my favorite piece of music ever, and it was fun watching you enjoy it as much as I do,.

[@jeffk.4023]

When my wife and I were in the UK for our honeymoon, we stumbled upon the Museum of Mechanical Music, outside of Bath. It was full of antique music boxes, and musical clocks, and one of the first coin operated jukeboxes, among other things. But the most memorable item in the museum was a recorder piano, used to make player piano rolls. One of the rolls that they had was Gershwin himself playing Rhapsody in Blue, and we got to listen to it. ❤❤❤

[@anthonyhershiser7528]

I was a finance manager at a dealership for years and used to play this in the background while doing paper work. It served 2 purposes. The first is that is is appealing to the ear and didnt conform to a genre the customer might not like. The second is that the length of the piece along with the flow kept me on track so as not to keep them in my office for a longer time than needed.

[@lis.anwell638]

Watching you enjoy music is absolutely wonderful! 😊

[@patriciaaturner289]

This is one of three or four modern pieces I consider my favorites. Chills? You got’em! And this is my favorite version.

[@RwilsonPhoto]

As a kid growing up playing piano, my FAVORITE CD was the Gershwin Plays Gershwin album, all recordings of player piano rolls of Gershwin pieces played by Gershwin himself to make the rolls. I can't even count how many times I listed to it, and solo piano RiB was amazing!

[@five-toedslothbear4051]

My favorite, too. And that performance gives me shivers when I listen to it and a real thrill at the end.

[@begelston]

I was the principal trombonist in our city's (Rockford, Illinois) youth symphony orchestra when we had a guest pianist come and play Rhapsody in Blue. What a blast that was. It's hard to describe how amazing it was to be playing this piece together with a competent orchestra and prodigy pianist. As much fun to play as it was to listen to. From that day on I have carried so many details of that masterpiece in my head. Thanks for making it the focus of one of your excellent videos! (BTW - please consider covering El Concierto de Aranjuez by Rodrigo some time or Adagio for Strings by Barber)

[@masonwong6131]

One of my favorites. Thank you for covering this. You should check on some Kapustin concertos.

[@markdlondon]

Charles, your joy and wonder while exploring this piece with us is so captivating and amazing. It was like I was hearing it for the first time as a teenager all over again with you by my side! Thank you.

[@boriswilsoncreations]

The Love Theme (5:03) very often brings me tears to my eyes, it's just too beautiful to actually exist (but it does)

[@spiritvizion]

My Dad used to walk on the treadmill every day to this because it was the perfect length for him to time his exercise 😊

[@hilelpaley900]

Charles's enthusiasm is contagious

[@BlackTomorrowMusic]

This just showed up on my recommended list today. And the cool thing for me is that this song was already playing in my head all day at work.

[@randycrew]

Howdy Charles! You are the first person that enjoys this ALMOST as much as I do... yes... you're just shy of my enjoyment of the piece. I played the piano as a kid, I have a grand piano in our foyer, but I stopped playing the piano years ago... a bit old now to start back up, but if I didn't have to focus on my job to make a living I would love to start up. First piece of sheet music I bought was Rhapsody in Blue. All 14 pages (+ -). Thanks for the video, walking through how he wrote it. I had heard long ago he had written much of it on a train... fantastic! Have a great weekend and all the best!

[@Chipcen]

I’ve always loved this music. A few years ago I was listening this music and my son came in the room and asked me why I was listening to the United Airlines music. It always amazes me how we see the world differently from the window in our lives.

[@rachelsegal605]

This happens to be my all-time favourite piece of music in any genre. It has everything and takes you on an incredible journey of emotions. It is just sensational. Thoroughly enjoyed your detailed breakdown and the reactions you make to the multiple spine-tingling chords throughout.

[@JimYarbrough-dk6vd]

Thank You! I had forgotten how glorious this is. When I lived in San Francisco this is what I listened to when I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge. A perfect compliment.

[@maxgregorycompositions6216]

"The Rhapsody is not a composition at all. It's a string of separate paragraphs stuck together - with a thin paste of flour and water… I don't think there has been such an inspired melodist on this earth since Tchaikovsky… but if you want to speak of a composer, that's another matter." Leonard Bernstein

[@sirtoastifer]

I would love to see you cover some Sondheim on here his music is something else especially the opening to Follies “Beautiful Girls” or anything from Sunday in the Park With George!

[@swamigrazgraziano3551]

So glad you did this video!!! Greatest of all time and 100 years later- nothing compares!!