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Rhapsody in Blue and Other American Greats Maple Leaf Rag and West Side Story
Paul Hurst - Piano George Gershwin Arrangement for Solo Piano
Maple Leaf Rag - Harp solo - Paul Hurst
West Side Story - Harp - De Wayne Fulton Orchestral Digital Keyboard -Paul Hurst
The Rhapsody In Blue track is an MP3 Exclusive Not available on Audio CD
Available at the Mperia online store
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The legacy of work left by these purely-American composers has become the stuff of legends. They helped shape and define the musical style of their time.
Since this music is part of Americana, simply listing the titles would suffice to identify the music. The names of George Gershwin, Scott Joplin and Leonard Bernstein are indelible on their works.
The History and Legends section is included below for your interest and enjoyment.
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Rhapsody in Blue Paul Hurst - solo piano
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Original score: 1924 Commissioned by: Paul Whiteman Composed by: George Gershwin Orchestrated by: Ferde Grofé
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Paul Hurst’s interpretation of Rhapsody in Blue is exactly as George Gershwin transcribed it for himself as a piano solo; with the exception of a few notes taken from the original orchestration by Ferde Grofé. Gershwin had to make some choice as he combined the orchestra and piano part to be played as a solo piano piece. Hurst feels Gershwin would approve of his alternate choices.
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Maple Leaf Rag Paul Hurst - solo harp Composer: Scott Joplin
Scott Joplin |
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Maple Leaf Rag was Scott Joplin first major publication in 1899. Paul Hurst transcribed this spirited piece for solo harp. Harp ??? Yes, tap your feet and clap your hands. |
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West Side Story Medley
De Wayne Fulton - solo harp Paul Hurst - Orchestral Digital Keyboard
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Opened: September 1957
Book by: Arthur Laurent Music by: Leonard Bernstein Lyrics by: Stephen Sondheim Director: Jerome Robbins Choreographer: Jerome Robbins
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This recording is taken from a performance piece done by the late De Wayne Fulton and Paul Hurst.
Hurst played the orchestral digital key board to accompany Fulton's virtuoso solo harp. This was not “prerecorded accompaniment”. Hurst used the keyboard as if there were an orchestra under his finger tips. The music really does sound like a full orchestra accompanying a brilliant soloist.
With their combined talents they created a stunning show. Fulton and Hurst thrilled audiences throughout the United States for eight seasons with their dazzling Columbia Arts Tours. |
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Rhapsody In Blue
George Gershwin’s first big success came in 1919, with Swanee (lyrics by Irving Caesar), a smash-hit for Al Jolson. Gershwin worked with a flurry writing songs and Broadway musicals in the early 20’s.
The Legend of Rhapsody in Blue: Paul Whiteman, the leader of one of the most popular jazz bands in America, heard Gershwin mention he would like to write a serious work that leaned towards jazz. George was involved with his new musical in Boston when the thunder struck. A January 4, 1924, New York Herald Tribune article announced Gershwin was in the midst of composing a jazz concerto for a Whiteman concert in New York, scheduled to premiere in mid-February. Despite Gershwin’s protest, and the obvious misunderstanding, Whiteman was able to convince him to accept the commission.
Gershwin recounts later that the train sounds on his ride from Boston to his home in New York were a source of inspiration for many of the passages and rhythms in Rhapsody in Blue. Time did not permit the writing of a full concerto, so Gershwin decided on a shorter one movement piece. He worked furiously on a two-piano version, which was rushed a page at a time to Whiteman’s arranger, Ferde Grofé, who did the orchestration.
As legend would have it, Gershwin did not have time to write out his own solo piano part, so on premiere night he played it from memory and no doubt relied heavily on his brilliance at improvisation. Whiteman would cue him when his solo was over and the orchestra would come back in.
Rhapsody in Blue was quite a hit, so George Gershwin published the two-piano version used for the original orchestration. Later he published the version he played himself as a solo artist. For this version, Gershwin combined orchestral elements and a brilliant merging of the two-piano parts to create a work of such complexity and speed as to seem unapproachable by most pianists.
Enter Paul Hurst: The Gershwin recording was played three time before Hurst realized, with a gasp, George was doing it solo; this was not the two-piano version. Rhapsody in Blue vividly illustrated to Paul what one man and one piano could do. With his youthful zest, Hurst ran out and bought Gershwin’s own transcription and painstakingly committed it to memory.
Paul Hurst’s love affair with Rhapsody in Blue has never ended. It is a command performance piece in his concerts. In more casual settings: friendship, a tuned piano and Hurst is all it takes to bring Rhapsody in Blue to life, always thrilling, always fresh.
Artist rarely play the Gershwin solo version in concert and recordings of the solo transcription are scarce. So, by popular demand from concert audiences, the Hurst interpretation of this masterpiece has finally been recorded.
Maple Leaf Rag
Scott Joplin: Scott Joplin’s music is the best preserved record of the life and times of this American legend. Music scholars have collected what scant information there is about the life of the man.
It is believe he was born sometime between June 1867 and January 1868, and census records put him in northern Texas by the age of two, so he was probably born there. Music historians, musicians and lovers of music all agree on his formidable talent, that he was, in fact, “The King of Ragtime”, and Maple Leaf Rag was the biggest sensation of the Ragtime-era. Joplin’s music is a benchmark in American music.
He was interested in writing opera, and in 1911 wrote Treemonisha. There were some setbacks and it was not performed in his lifetime. By the time of his death in 1917, ragtime had all but faded (remember no recordings) and jazz was the rising star.
There have been two ragtime revivals: One was in the 1940’s when jazz musicians dipped into music of the past to invigorate the style, with ragtime being incorporated in “traditional jazz”. The biggest revival was in the 70’s when the motion picture The Sting sparked interest in ragtime. Ragtime has remained a part of the rich American musical traditions. In 1972, his opera Treemonisha was successfully performed.
In recognition of his significant contribution to American music, the Pulitzer Committee gave him a posthumous award in 1976. A Scott Joplin postage stamp has been issued. There is a Scott Joplin Foundation dedicated to preservation of his personal history and works.
West Side Story
Leonard Bernstein (August 25, 1918 - October 14, 1990) lived music. His accomplishments and awards fill books. Bernstein put in place foundations and traditions that have become part of the American fabric. His is a legend and the maker of legends. People who worked with him became legends in their own right and many of his works are legends in and of themselves. West Side Story is one of those legends.
West Side Story opened in New York in 1957 and has been a part of the American musical landscape ever since.
It took nearly eight years to put West Side Story together due to Leonard Bernstein's non-stop schedule. In 1949 Jerome Robbins (director/choreographer) came up with an idea to do a “Romeo and Juliet” story set in the slums of New York. Time passed with all of the collaborators (Jerome Robbins, Leonard Bernstein and Arthur Laurent) remaining enthused about the project and informally they were refining their ideas. The decision was made to STOP postponing it and everyone cleared their calendar for the project.
So, in 1955 the serious preliminary meetings and productions sketches began to take form. The antagonists were to be two teenage gangs. One gang was made up of the newly-arrived Puerto Ricans and the other gang the self-styled Americans. From Bernstein’s Log: . . . . “Suddenly it all springs to life. I hear rhythms and pulses, and -- most of all -- I can sort of feel the form.”
Everyone agreed on the young lyricist, Stephen Sondheim, would be perfect for the project. Sondheim was invited in to sing some of his songs and was included in the project.
The original Broadway casting was done with forty kids who had never sung before. The “kid-like” quality of these non-professionals added a special dimension to the piece. Rehearsals for West Side Story began in July of 1957. It open in D.C. in August 1957 and in New York in September 1957. The rest is history and legend.
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