And a Letter to the Editor:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/02/opinion/rhapsody-in-blue-gershwin.html

The Lyrical Century of ‘Rhapsody in Blue’

Feb. 2, 2024

To the Editor:

Re “A Chestnut Stuck in Time: Nostalgia Stymies Fusion,” by Ethan Iverson (Arts & Leisure, Jan. 28), about “Rhapsody in Blue” at 100:

Mr. Iverson’s article saddles Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” with the task of not only changing music history (which it did) but also singularly overhauling Western music pedagogy. No artist in any medium could accomplish this, so I’m not sure why Mr. Iverson is holding poor Gershwin to this unrealistic standard.

What the article did do was make me listen to “Rhapsody in Blue,” twice, for the first time in about 20 years. Mr. Iverson finds the work “naïve and corny” — points he does not elaborate upon — but I was struck by what a formal miracle the piece is.

Like Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring,” written 11 years earlier, Gershwin’s “Rhapsody” holds together through the savvy repetition of varied and memorable material. While Stravinsky’s reiterations are fragments of Russian folk songs, Gershwin’s jazzish tunes keep returning in different forms, rewarding both casual and deep listening.

By calling the work “the best cheesecake,” Mr. Iverson aligns himself with a long line of critics who are quick to denigrate pleasure and valorize difficulty — truly a mode of thought that needs overhauling.

Christopher Cerrone
Jersey City, N.J.
The writer, a composer, is on the faculty in music composition at the Mannes School of Music, The New School.

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To the Editor:

All this sniping and yapping at music! “Rhapsody in Blue” could be the soundtrack to one of the most romantic moments in your life, too, if you let it sweep you away.

It was a freezing cold night in January. Big fat snowflakes whipped through the air while the skyline surrounding Central Park stood in silent vigil as Gershwin’s music pierced that inky darkness, emanating from the speakers that ringed Wollman Rink.

My new boyfriend and I rented skates and joined the throng, at first tentatively circling, then with more vigor as the music propelled us. It felt as if we were flying — beneath the snowflakes and the stars — and look!

Over there’s Venus.

And over there, Mars.

Whenever I hear that glorious music, I’m instantly transported to that moment in time when his gloved hand held my gloved hand and the world was full of possibilities.

What I wouldn’t give for the chance to circle just once more, in the cold and the dark … enveloped by “Rhapsody in Blue” …

Christine Lavin
New York
The author is a singer-songwriter.


I've always loved Rhapsody in Blue. And I like Christine Lavin's music, too.