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George Gershwin (1898 - 1937)
Variations on "I Got Rhythm"
In early 1934 Gershwin planned a month long tour of the USA , playing concerts in a different city every night. The marketing tag for the tour was the 10 th anniversary of Rhapsody in Blue, and George decided he needed a new work to form a companion piece to the Rhapsody . To relax before the tour he spent time with a friend at Palm Beach , and there he began to write a set of variations for piano and orchestra on the tune I Got Rhythm . He completed it in January 1934, in time for performances on the tour. It has never gained the popularity with the public accorded to Rhapsody in Blue, probably because it is less in your face, though in many ways it is a better piece of music.
"I Got Rhythm was always one of Gershwin's favourites among his songs. He wrote it along with his brother Ira (George wrote the music, Ira wrote the lyrics) for a show in 1930 called Girl Crazy , which also included the song Embraceable You . The show was a huge hit, with a cast that included the young Ginger Rogers and Ethel Merman, and a phenomenal band in the pit that included Glenn Miller, Jack Teagarden and Benny Goodman.
The variations start with a four-note phrase on the clarinet, based on the opening bars of the song. This is repeated by the piano, then by the full orchestra. The piano plays the complete chorus of the song, and then the orchestra launches into a brilliant series of variations. They demonstrate how far Gershwin had come since his early orchestral pieces like Rhapsody in Blue these variations are very inventive, skilfully put together and great fun. The first is very energetic, the second gentle and sad. There is a Chinese variation which is totally crazy it even has the violins playing squeaky noises on the wrong side of the bridge. The last two variations are full of energetic jazz drive.
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