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(131,370 posts)erronis
(15,460 posts)I got a copy of Paul Whiteman's recordings (Birth of the Blues) early in my life and fell in love with Gershwin. Later when I had reasons to travel I would relish matching the cacophony/musicality of Paris with Gershwin's adroit interpretations. Now I have St. Germaine.
unblock
(52,489 posts)there are a few parts in there that, looking at the sheet music, i couldn't believe were humanly possible with only two hands.
yet there it is....
i have a longer version on cd, recreated from piano rolls from an actual gershwin performance. i think it's around 12 minutes.
every once in a while i fumble through bits of it. i'll never come close to being able to play like that, but one can dream...
pinto
(106,886 posts)All the horns and accompaniments, as well. Love it. A signature piece of music. Think New York in that day - traffic, taxi cabs, horns, hopes and dreams, failures, accomplishments. That's some of what I hear.
hollysmom
(5,946 posts)The story was that Gershwin made piano rolls and his playing is preserved in that way. They orchestrated around the rolls for the recording.
Oops. see that it was posted above me. should read all posts before replying.
Rod Beauvex
(564 posts)The one from 1949? XD
Loudly
(2,436 posts)Surprising how the original version sounds so much like a kazoo band.
But arranged for a full philharmonic orchestra it's enough to make you weep.
GTurck
(826 posts)the comparison is stark. George Gershwin, Irving Berlin and others from the 1910's to the 1940's and Milley Cyrus, Taylor Swift now. Has anybody heard a good singer with a good song written in this century to rival earlier creations? We live in a cultural desert right now.
sdfernando
(4,948 posts)No internet, no television, no hi-fidelity recording, radio was king as was live performance, almost every household had a piano and people learned to play them. So a lot more people were actually taught music and music theory rather than just banging out a few chords on an electric guitar.
grilled onions
(1,957 posts)I picture future play writes writing their first endeavor to this masterpiece, a designer in the garment industry, engineer of the next skyscraper, or simply someone bedridden,a student of music an elderly couple remembering when music was music. We may be in a musical desert when it comes to this kind of music, but thankfully we have the works of Gershwin,Cole Porter etc on line and for sale for future generations to appreciate.