Get ready to swing, on this wild ride through America.

A solitary clarinet starts to wail, and the skyscrapers of Manhattan light up the evening sky. In leafy New England, marching bands collide head-first – and make a glorious noise. And at the intersection of jazz, classical and pop counterculture, the music of Frank Zappa and George Lewis creates fabulous new worlds. Anything’s possible in American music: but Ilan Volkov and Stewart Goodyear do the impossible every day.

About Rhapsody in Blue

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This performance will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3

Where Have I Heard it Before?

Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue has become the soundtrack to the 1920s. It features in The Great Gatsby, during Baz Luhrmann's first hedonistic party.

Rhapsody in Blue Gershwin

Full programme

  • Ives, Three Places in New England  (18mins)
  • Zappa, Bob in Dacron and Sad Jane  (22mins)
  • Lewis, Memex  (17mins)
  • Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue  (16mins)

Performers

  • Headshot of Ilan Volkov

    lan Volkov

    Conductor
  • Headshot of Stewart Goodyear

    Stewart Goodyear

    Piano