An American in Paris
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- An American in Paris is also a 1951 film musical starring Gene Kelly.
An American in Paris is a symphonic composition by American composer George Gershwin, composed in 1928. Inspired by time Gershwin had spent in Paris, it is in the form of an extended tone poem evoking the sights and energy of the French capital in the 1920s.
Gershwin composed the piece on commission from the New York Philharmonic. He also did the orchestration. (He did not orchestrate his musicals or the Rhapsody in Blue.) Gershwin scored An American in Paris for the standard instruments of the symphony orchestra plus celesta, saxophone, and automobile horns. Gershwin brought back some Parisian taxi horns for the New York premiere of the composition which took place on December 13, 1928 in Carnegie Hall with Walter Damrosch conducting the New York Philharmonic.
Gershwin collaborated on the original program notes with the critic and composer Deems Taylor, noting that: "My purpose here is to portray the impression of an American visitor in Paris as he strolls about the city and listens to various street noises and absorbs the French atmosphere." When the tone poem moves into the blues, "our American friend…has succumbed to a spasm of homesickness." But, fortunately, "nostalgia is not a fatal disease." The American visitor "once again is an alert spectator of Parisian life" and "the street noises and French atmosphere are triumphant."
"An American In Paris" is second only to Rhapsody In Blue as Gershwin's most well-known classical composition.
[edit] Orchestration
An American in Paris is scored for a standard-sized orchestra (with the addition of saxophones) consisting of the following:
- Woodwinds
- 3 Flutes (3rd doubling on Piccolo)
- 2 Oboes
- English Horn
- 3 Clarinets in B-flat
- Bass Clarinet in B-flat
- Alto Saxophone (doubling on Soprano Saxophone)
- Tenor Saxophone (doubling on Soprano Saxophone)
- Baritone Saxophone (doubling on Soprano Saxophone)
- 2 Bassoons
- Percussion
- Timpani
- Snare Drum
- Bass Drum
- Cymbals
- Low and High Tom-Toms
- Low and High Taxi Horns
- Xylophone
- Glockenspiel
- Strings
- 1st, 2nd Violins
- Violas
- Violoncellos
- Basses
