The first performance was on Feb 12 1924 in New York. The audience loved it, even though they'd endured a long and tedious concert in a hall in which the heating and ventilation had broken down. Gershwin, who was playing the piano, hadn't even scored his solo piano parts so was winging it, and he had to nod to the conductor to let him know when to bring the band back in. The famous glissando on clarinet at the start was originally a joke played on Gershwin in the rehearsals, but George loved it and it's been in there ever since. The critics at the time dismissed it as rubbish, but what did they know!

It's long been one of my very favourite pieces and it's always been in my "desert island eight"
so I'm sure I'll be hearing a lot tomorrow!