One of my favorite things that can happen is someone says something like, "Oh, I love that song, it has a bunch of different sections, like Bohemain Rhapsody."
And I get to say, "So it's a... rhapsody."
Like... that's what a rhapsody is, my guy.
Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin? Actually also a rhapsody. He didn't lie in the title.
Jesus of Suburbia by Green Day? I'd say... a rhapsody. Even Wikipedia calls it "a punk rock version of Bohemian Rhapsody." You don't have to do this. It's just a rhapsody that is punk rock.
Not to downplay how cool it was that Queen made a modern rhapsody so sick that it's the benchmark. I'm just saying. We can have more rhapsodies.
George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody In Blue” was performed for first time at the “An Experiment In Modern Music” concert at Aeolian Hall in New York City featuring Paul Whiteman but Gershwin stopped the show at the piano #OnThisDay in 1924.
Rhapsody in Blue · Gary Graffman · New York Philharmonic Orchestra George Gershwin · Zubin Mehta Manhattan: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack ℗ 1979 Sony Music Entertainment Released on: 1987-02-03
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Song of the Day - “Rhapsody In Blue”
Today is the 100th anniversary of the premiere of George Gershwin’s masterpiece “Rhapsody In Blue” - February 12th, 1924.
This much-anticipated concert, on a snowy afternoon at Aeolian Hall inn Manhattan, was called "An Experiment in Modern Music”. It was performed by Gershwin himself on the piano, backed up by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra.
This exquisite piece, the quintessential blending of classical music and Jazz, was a perfect reflection of New York City, and really of America, being, as Gershwin put it, "a musical kaleidoscope of America, of our vast melting pot, our unduplicated national pep, our blues, our metropolitan madness.”
For me, it never gets old... and while this original version is obviously special, my favorite version of it is Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic with Gary Graffman on the piano recorded for the soundtrack of Woody Allen's “Manhattan”… perfection….