Gershwin's father Morris once said of An American in Paris: "It's very important music - it takes 20 minutes to play!" This "important music" was commissioned by Walter Damrosch, a conductor and advocate of contemporary American composers during the 1920s and 30s. It was first performed on 13 December 1928 by the New York Philharmonic under Damrosch at Carnegie Hall, and was another triumph for Gershwin, after his successful Rhapsody in Blue and the Piano Concerto in F, in spite of the mixed reviews it received. It is regarded today, along with these works, as a milestone in the development of the independent American concert repertoire. From the 1890s through the 1920s, Paris was the undisputed center of bright, innovative culture, a magnet for American composers, artists, poets and tourists. Gershwin was in no way immune to the charms of the City of Lights, and An American in Paris is a loving and nostalgic evocation of the sounds of the French Capital. In 1926 Gershwin went to England to prepare the London production of Lady, Be Good, starring Fred and Adele Astaire. A short holiday across the Channel produced a big dividend: an idea for a tone poem about Paris. He departed with a highly original notion, the saucy walking theme with which An American in Paris gets under way. "This is so complete in itself, I don't know where to go next," he confided to his host, Mabel Schirmer. When she took him shopping on the Avenue de la Grande Armée, then lined with auto parts dealers rather than chic stores, he purchased several taxi horns, which he later incorporated into the colorful score. Soon he was brimming with new thematic ideas. Two years passed before Gershwin completed the work during a return visit to Paris. In an early interview the composer explained: "This new piece, really a rhapsodic ballet, is written very freely and is the most modern music l've yet attempted. The opening part will be developed in typical French style, in the manner of Debussy and The Six, though the themes are all original. My purpose here is to portray the impression of an American visitor in Paris, as he strolls about the city, and listens to various street noises and absorbs the French atmosphere. As in my other orchestral compositions, I've not endeavored to represent any definite scenes in this music. The rhapsody is programmatic only in a general impressionistic way, so that the individual listener can read into the music such as his imagination pictures for him. The opening gay section is followed by a rich blues with a strong rhythmic undercurrent. Our American friend, perhaps after strolling into a café and having a couple of drinks, has succumbed to a spasm of homesickness. The harmony here is both more intense and GEORGE GERSHWIN (1898-1937) ca. 20 mins. A N A M E R I C A N I N P A R I S
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