NYS Music 2024

Tag: george gershwin

  • The Chautauqua Institution Celebrates 150 Years 

    2024 marks the 150th anniversary of the Chautauqua Institution’s founding. The world-renowned institution has become famous for its annual summer programming.

    This year is no different, with the 2024 Summer Season featuring a number of lectures, performances, and more to celebrate the anniversary.  

    Chautauqua Institution

    The Chautauqua Institution traces its history back to 1874. In that year inventor Lewis Miller alongside Bishop John Heyl Vincent founded the institution. From its start, Chautauqua represented an experimental approach to traditional education. The institution – then known as the Chautauqua Lake Sunday School – sat on 750 acres of lakeside property. At its founding, Chautauqua was a pioneer in “vacation learning,” with people out of school traveling to the site for instruction. 

    Although it was originally dedicated to religious education, Chautauqua’s programming soon expanded into a number of other fields. In addition to religion, classes on arts, music, and other subjects were soon offered. In 1878, the institution founded the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle. This program was intended to provide education to those not fortunate enough to attend university. In addition, Chautauqua used these programs to advocate for morality – which they defined as abstention from activities like drinking, gambling, and dancing. By 1880, Chautauqua hosted over 100 Summer lectures. 

    Due to the success of Chautauqua’s academic programming, the institution’s musical facilities evolved quickly. In 1875 – one year after its founding – the institution hosted the Fisk Jubilee Singers. The all-African American a capella group broke racial barriers with their performance at the height of the Reconstruction Era. Throughout the years, Chautauqua continued to highlight pioneering African American performers. Legendary singers like Marion Anderson and Paul Robeson performed at the institution in their heydays. 

    Marian Anderson performing at the Chautauqua Institution
    Marian Anderson performing at Chautauqua in 1957

    The institution’s musical facilities increased with the installment of the Massey Memorial Organ in 1907. The high-precision organ now performs regular recitals during the summer season. By 1920, symphony orchestras regularly performed on the institution’s grounds. 1929 saw the official founding of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. Since its founding almost 100 years ago, the orchestra has grown into one of the institution’s most recognizable features. Housed in the institution’s 4,400-person amphitheater, the orchestra now plays three weekly performances each season. 

    Marking this full adoption of music, a number of composers and performers began visiting Chautauqua in the 1920s. In 1925, George Gershwin made a Chautauqua practice shack his home while he composed his Concerto In F. 

    Chautauqua’s embrace of musical programming extended to dance and theater. In 1929, the Chautauqua Opera Company began alongside the orchestra, performing regularly in the art-deco Norton Hall. Nowadays, the aforementioned Amphitheater and Norton Hall, as well as the Bratton Theatre regularly host contemporary and ballet dance performances. 

    A Tent Chautauqua in Mechanic Falls, Maine

    The success of the Chautauqua Institution’s programming led to a nationwide phenomenon. By the early 1900s, “Tent Chautauquas” traveled the country, bringing entertainment and education to places as far as South Carolina and Colorado. However, by the 1930s, these road shows grew out of fashion. As cinema and radio expanded, the need for the Tent Chautauqua exhibitions was seen less and less. 

    The 1930s also marked an era of hardship for the Western New York institution. Following the stock market crash of 1929, the United States entered the Great Depression. Countless businesses and organizations went bankrupt, putting much of the country out of work. The Chautauqua Institution was no exception to this. In 1933, it entered a period of receivership, unable to handle its debts. The Chautauquan community, however, remained dedicated to keeping the institution alive. They founded the Chautauqua Foundation to raise funds, successfully creating an endowment to fund the institution in 1937. 

    Since 1937, the institution has persevered as a staple of Western New York’s academic landscape. Throughout its history, Chautauqua has presented lectures and performances by countless famous artists. Legendary bandleaders like John Philip Sousa and Duke Ellington have led performances at the institution. On top of this, the institution has featured pop artists ranging from Toby Keith to Ben Folds. Additionally, six presidents have visited the institution in their lifetimes. Starting with Ulysses S. Grant in 1875, James Garfield, William Mckinley, Theodore Roosevelt, FDR, and Bill Clinton have all visited. 

    Theodore Roosevelt speaking at the Chautauqua Institution

    During his visit to Chautauqua, Theodore Roosevelt described the institution, saying “it is a source of positive strength and refreshment of mind and body to come to meet a typical American gathering like this—a gathering that is typically American in that it is typical of America at its best.”

    The government has recognized Chautauqua’s importance to education and performance since the 1970s. In 1973, the National Park Service recognized the institution’s campus as a National Historic Place. This was followed by a 1989 designation as a National Historic Landmark District. 

    As 2024 marks the 150th anniversary of the institution’s founding, it will feature a number of special events. Throughout August, the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra will perform weekly performances. Each performance celebrates a different legendary composer, highlighting works by Brahms, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, and more. In addition to these performances, Chautauqua will host shows by Jazz at Lincoln Center and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in the amphitheater August 21-23rd. The institution’s Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall will also host weekly chamber performances each Monday and Saturday. 

    On top of these instrumental performances, a number of pop groups will perform at the institute’s famous amphitheater. Among these groups is the legendary Jamestown-based alternative group 10,000 Maniacs. The August 19th concert likewise celebrates the groups 40th anniversary that launched them to international stardom. In addition, Indigo Girls, Squonk, Twisted Pine, and more will perform throughout August. 

    On top of these musical performances, the Chautauqua Institute will host a number of other activities throughout August. These activities include daily interfaith lectures, theater performances, art exhibitions, and campus tours. For more information on the Chautauqua Institution’s upcoming events, visit its website here.

  • How New York City Shaped “Rhapsody in Blue,” 100 years later

    Even if they can’t name the tune, most people will recognize the iconic clarinet intro of the famed composition, “Rhapsody in Blue,” by George Gershwin. That song, now a timeless masterpiece, made its debut 100 years ago on February 14, 1924. The origins of the song are as wild a ride as the composition itself; and almost all of it traces back to the influence of New York City.

    Rhapsody in Blue George Gershwin 100
    Composer George Gershwin (1925) – Photo from Encyclopedia Britannica

    It was in Brooklyn, New York, that George Gershwin was born in the late 1800s, as Jacob Gershwin, a son of Russian Jewish Immigrants. From an early age he exhibited fantastic musical abilities on the piano and was tutored by the notable Charles Hambitzer, who saw greatness in Gershwin.

    At age 15, Gershwin dropped out of school and began playing piano in various nightclubs around New York City. It was in Tin Pan Alley that Gershwin worked as a song-plugger and honed his craft. And it was on Broadway that Gershwin worked as pianist for rehearsals and performances of theater productions. Both experiences stirred Gershwin’s penchant for jazz and popular music. In 1916, he released his first published song “When You Want ’Em You Can’t Get ’Em (When You’ve Got ’Em You Don’t Want ’Em)”

    In the following years, Gershwin’s work was commissioned by broadway composers and performed by popular singers and entertainers. His song “Swanee” (1919) was performed Al Jolson in the musical Sinbad and went on to sell more than two million recordings and a million copies of sheet music.

    The start of Rhapsody in Blue began in the years 1920-1924. Gershwin, composed for an annual production put on by musician Paul White. In 1922, Gershwin pushed to have a one-act opera titled “Blue Monday.” The reception was lackluster in a time period where Jazz was not accepted by the mainstream. Still, the bandleader Paul Whiteman, (who like Gershwin, wanted to see jazz gain respectability) later decided to commission Gershwin to write a jazz piece for a concert in 1923. 

    As the story goes, Gershwin completely forgot about the show until he read about it in the paper, only a few weeks before the concert date. It was in this mad scramble that he created the faed, “Rhapsody in Blue.” Once again, the soundscape of New York would have its hands in this composition.

    Gershwin later recalled that it was on a train from New York to Boston that he was hit with the inspiration for the song.

    “It was on a train…that I suddenly heard–and even saw on paper–the complete construction of the Rhapsody in Blue, from beginning to end. I heard it as a sort of musical kaleidoscope of America–of our vast melting pot, of our unduplicated national pep, of our metropolitan madness. By the time I reached Boston, I had a definite plot of the piece, as distinguished from its actual substance.” 

    When the piece made its debut it was slightly different from what would appear in the published recording which came after the fact . While the band’s parts were ready in time for the show, Gershwin reportedly improvised much of the piano solo which existed only in his mind. The show was performed at the Aeolian Hall in New York City on February 14th, 1924. Composer Ferde Grofé completed a score for piano and full symphony orchestra in 1926.

    In later years, Gershwin would go on to compose hits such as “Embraceable You” and the Broadway adaptation of Porgy and Bess. Gershwin died in 1937 while undergoing surgery to remove a brain tumor. While he was only 38, Gershwin made an indelible impact on jazz compositions and music as a whole.

    In a final nod to the big apple, “Rhapsody in Blue” reached new heights when Woody Allen introduced the composition to a new generation in his 1979 film titled Manhattan – 42 years after Gershwin’s death.