Premiered at the Edinburgh Festival, Scotland, on August 29, 1963, by Larry Adler, in his arrangement for harmonica and string quartet. The premiere of the piece in its original form was by the Julliard String…

Premiered at Symphony Hall, Boston, on January 29, 1932.  Boston Symphony Orchestra, Serge Koussevitzky (conductor), George Gershwin (piano). In November 1930, George and Ira Gershwin arrived in Hollywood to write the score for their first…

Premiered at Aeolian Hall, New York, on February 12, 1924. Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra, George Gershwin (piano). In the midst of working on the musical comedy, SWEET LITTLE DEVIL, Gershwin was surprised to discover…

Premiered at the Hotel Roosevelt, New York, on December 4, 1926. George Gershwin (piano). When George Gershwin was asked by contralto Marguerite d’Alvarez to be her accompanist in a series of recitals, she also requested that he compose…

Premiered at Lewisohn Stadium, New York, on August 16, 1932. New York Philharmonic, Albert Coates (conductor). Inspired by the music he heard on a 1932 vacation to Havana (“two hysterical weeks…where no sleep was had”),…

Premiered at Carnegie Hall, New York, on December 3, 1925.  New York Symphony, Walter Damrosch (conductor), George Gershwin (piano). In the wake of the success of the RHAPSODY IN BLUE, conductor Walter Damrosch and the…

Premiered at the Academy of Music, Philadelphia, on January 21, 1936.  Philadelphia Orchestra, Alexander Smallens (conductor). During the original run of PORGY AND BESS in 1935, George Gershwin contemplated a method of prolonging the life of the…

Premiered at Carnegie Hall, New York, on December 13, 1928.  New York Philharmonic, Walter Damrosch (conductor). After the mad rush of working on ROSALIE for Florenz Ziegfeld, George and Ira were determined to take some…

Premiered at Symphony Hall, Boston, on January 14, 1934.  Leo Reisman Orchestra, Charles Previn (conductor), George Gershwin (piano). Composed as a showpiece for his 1934 tour celebrating the tenth anniversary of the first performance of…