Concerto in F (Gershwin)
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Concerto in F is a composition by George Gershwin for solo piano and orchestra which is closer in form to a traditional concerto than the earlier jazz-influenced Rhapsody in Blue. It was written in 1925 on a commission from the conductor and director Walter Damrosch. Damrosch commissioned and performed the work.
It is in three movements:
- Allegro
- Adagio - Andante con moto
- Allegro agitato
There are strong thematic links between the outer movements, while the second movement is the most obviously jazz influenced.
The Concerto in F shows considerable development in Gershwin's compositional technique namely because he orchestrated the entire work himself, unlike the Rhapsody in Blue which was done by Ferde Grofé, the orchestrator for Paul Whiteman's orchestra. The English composer William Walton commented that he adored Gershwin's orchestration of the concerto, he himself being a famous orchestrator.
The first movement features a recurring idea of a popular dance of the period, the Charleston and is clearly of the jazz idiom but is also written in a mature sonata form. The second movement is the blues and the final movement a pulsating, energetic finale that draws together the repeated themes of the rest of the work with a number of other melodies.
At its premier in New York's Carnegie Hall the work was well received, but the reviews were mixed which many critics unable to classify it as jazz or classical. Indeed, there was a great variety of opinion among Gershwin's contemporaries; Stravinsky thought the work was one of genius, whereas Sergei Prokofiev disliked it intensely.