Rhapsody in Blue at 100

A century ago, a piercing clarinet glissando opened the premiere performance of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, and forever changed American music. The fusion of jazz and popular elements vividly depicted New York City in 1924, and opened up possibilities for generations of composers to follow.  Copland fused melodies inspired by American roots music with the European symphonic tradition in his heroic and majestic Third Symphony, featuring th...