Thanks for sharing your research. No comparison between Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue (1924) and Bix's Modern Piano Suite (1927). Bix was streets ahead of George at merging Classical and Jazz imho.
The main difference is that Bix was a genuine "Jazzman" while George was more of an outsider looking in; Gershwin was a Tin Pan Alley songwriter first and foremost.
@@mrtchaikovsky Gershwin, an outsider looking in, as you put it. Bix was an insider looking out. Listening to a Debussy piano solo, can see his influence on Bix. Pity they didn't survive longer.
I think Gershwin was simply in the right place at the right time. Bix couldn't read music and relied on Whiteman's arranger Bill Challis to write these pieces down, and considering that this set includes almost all of Bix' compositions, I presume Whiteman didn't consider Bix to be capable of writing the kind of prestigious "Symphonic Jazz" he was hoping for, if he knew Bix was composing at all. I suppose he didn't ask his staff arranger Ferde Grofé, who actually orchestrated Gershwin's two piano score, for similar reasons.* Of the other big names in the business, none really fit the bill: Harold Arlen and Richard Rodgers were still too young to have made any impression, and Irving Berlin and Jerome Kern weren't really suitable for this kind of project (I'm pretty sure Kern loathed Jazz). On the other hand, not only did Whiteman work with Gershwin before, Gershwin also wrote a one-act "Jazz opera" titled "Blue Monday" in 1922, and so was a likely candidate. Curiously enough, Cole Porter was not yet established as a song writer in these days, but did have his only classical composition premièred in 1923, the Jazz ballet "Beyond the Quota"**, as a curtain raiser to Milhaud's "La création du monde", another early attempt to merge Jazz with classical music. Similar entries in that genre include George Antheil's "Jazz Symphony"***, and Martinů's "Le Jazz" from 1928. I invite you to take a look at Rhythm Boy Al Rinker's composition "Peter Peter punkin eater" on my channel, another example of early "Symphonic Jazz". *While Grofé went on to compose several well-known large scale pieces of his own, he only started doing so in 1924 with the symphonic poem "Broadway at Night", after the Rhapsody premièred. **Orchestrated by non other than eminent composer and music theorist Charles Koechlin. If you haven't done so already, I highly recommend taking a look at some of his music. ***Make sure to listen to the original 1925 version, not the de-fanged 1955 revision; the Maurice Peress recording is excellent.
Thanks very much for such an Indepth response. Very kind of you indeed to educate me. The name Koechlin rang a bell, and a quick search brought up his Violin Sonata. I play Jazz Violin, so this will be an interesting piece to get to know. Any help in that department is a rare thing, greatly appreciated. I will certainly spend some time exploring your channel. Tchaikovsky is my Classical hero you could say. Cheers, Jack@@mrtchaikovsky
Rhapsody in Blue was completed in January of 1924, when Bix Beiderbecke was still 19. Bix was fairly unknown; he had not even begun to record with the Wolverines, and Whiteman likely had never heard of him.
