The release of  Rhapsody No. 2 for piano and orchestra is considered a kind of apogee in the genre’s establishment as the American equivalent of piano and orchestra concerto and a national success in the quest for cultural leadership. Given this backdrop, it is interesting to note that in Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, its author Nicolas Slonimsky would define Gershwin as “exceptionally gifted.” By comparison, his assessment of Tchaikovsky is considerably more restrained with the view that he is “famous” but overrated.

The Second Rhapsody was created on thanks to the fact that Gershwin had completed the music to the Hollywood production Delicious in short order. Seized with enthusiasm to re-identify himself as a ‘serious’ composer, he produced the keyboard work very quickly and rated it very highly: ‘in many ways, in terms of orchestration and form… [it’s] the best thing I’ve written so far’.

Gershwin did not back down from his intention to use the word “rhapsody” in the title again: he considered the variants New York Rhapsody, Manhattan Rhapsody and settled for Rhapsody No. 2. It is in three movements, following the traditional piano concerto model: fast slow fast movement.

The opening is not as impressive as the ones of the previous opuses. Composer Marc Blitzstein would note ironically: “The main thing about Gershwin’s new Rhapsody is that it is neither better nor worse than his previous one.” Others claim the rhapsody “reflects almost every form of jazz from the slowest blues to the wildest rhythmic steps and syncopated waves that carry the music from climax to climax, through the many facets of life on the streets of  New York.”

Performed by conductor Serge Koussevitzky with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1932 and with no cuts or edits to the text.