Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue

What inspired Gershwin to write this composition?

• His train ride & time running out
• Love
• Sadness
• His city

How can we tell that there are jazz characteristics in the piece?

• The improvisation
• It says it's a jazz piece
• Ragtime rhythms & Charleston dance rhythms
• Only used minor scales

What does the piece use very often?

• The harpsichord
• An instantly recognisable motif
• String instruments
• Drums

What is special about the instrumentation of the piece?

• It doesn't just use normal orchestral instruments
• They make the players sit in different places so it sounds different
• Only piano is used throughout the song
• There is no piano throughout the song

How did the famous clarinet glissando come into being?

• Gershwin wrote it in
• Gershwin's brother told him to put it in
• Gershwin's girlfriend said it would be cool
• The clarinettist suggested it

How was the composition received by critics?

• They said the sections were  simply stuck together & didn't like it very much
• They loved it
• They didn't say anything
• They were too shy to critique it

What texture does the flutter tongueing of the woodwind players put across?

• Anxious
• Spanish
• Happy
• Blurred and fleeting

How did the composition influence Gershwin's career?

• It established his reputation as a serious composer
• It ended his career because it was so bad
• He was too shy to compose again
• He remained a semi professional composer