Richibi’s Weblog

   “Rhapsody“ (1958) 

           Hans Hofman 

                       _____

if, in my last instalment, I compared iconic

funeral marches, let me do the same for

a couple of iconic rhapsodies, another 

musical form that came and went, that’s

come and gone, but not forgotten

what’s a rhapsody

as far as I can make out, it’s much the 

same as a fantasia, if you can remember 

what a fantasia is, a free form composition, 

but with a Romantic, which is to say a 

heartfelt, twist, more pathos, less 

technical wizardry

Gershwin wrote his Rhapsody in Blue 

in 1924, you can hear New York, Times 

Square, Broadway, from the first wail 

of the languid horn

Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme

of Paganini, written in 1934, ten years 

later, gives you, however, Vienna, its 

Romantic Period, the traditions of, 

a century earlier, Beethoven, Schubert 

Rachmaninov is personal, introspective,

tragic, Gershwin is extroverted, social, 

fun

Rachmaninov looked back to his 

European, Old World, traditions, 

Gershwin augurs an entirely new 

voice 

listen, you can hear it 

enjoy

R ! chard