Journal of the Society for American Music (2009) Volume 3, Number 1, pp. 47–66.

C 2009 The Society for American Music doi:10.1017/S175219630909004X

“Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves”: Bernstein’s

Formative Relationship with Rhapsody in Blue

RYAN RAUL BAÑAGALE

Abstract
This paper examines Bernstein’s early relationship with Rhapsody in Blue, including his first
encounter with the sheet music at age thirteen; a recently discovered whimsical arrangement
of the work (scored for accordion, ukulele, and voice, among other instruments), written in
response to Gershwin’s death in the summer of 1937; and Bernstein’s performances of the piece
with the Works Progress Administration’s State Symphony Orchestra in Boston in 1938 and
1939. From an early age, not only did Bernstein have a particular vision of how the Rhapsody
should operate; he also identified deeply with it. These findings provide important new insights
into Bernstein’s later, more polemical interpretations of the work in both recordings and the
concert hall—interpretations that have had profound implications on the reception of the
Rhapsody on the global stage.

Through the windows of the English Grill in Radio City we can see the ice skaters milling
about on the rink, inexplicably avoiding collision with one another.1

This appropriately anxious imagery opens Leonard Bernstein’s essay “A Nice Gersh-
win Tune” (1955), in which he aimed to separate two men whose lives and careers
are frequently located on the same plane. Both Gershwin and Bernstein came from
Jewish immigrant families, were remarkable pianists from an early age, and got their
professional start in the sheet-music publishing houses of New York City.2 They both
ultimately composed for Broadway and the concert hall, merging popular music
with classical traditions. Bernstein was born after Gershwin, enjoyed a longer life
span, and therefore had to deal with these comparisons on his own as he rose to
fame in the years following Gershwin’s death. To this end, “A Nice Gershwin Tune”
confronts Bernstein’s connection to Gershwin at an important juncture in his own
career.3 Although Bernstein uses this public forum to justify his comparative lack of

I would like to thank Professors Carol Oja and Kay Kaufman Shelemay for conceiving the original
seminar on Bernstein’s youth that gave rise to this article and my dissertation on various arrangements
of Rhapsody in Blue. Additional appreciation goes to those who offered feedback following conference
presentations of this work as well as those who read drafts of the current article, including Sheryl
Kaskowitz, Drew Massey, Katie Pratt, and David Schiff.
1
Leonard Bernstein, “A Nice Gershwin Tune,” The Atlantic, April 1955, 39.
2
Bernstein started at Harms-Witmark and Gershwin began at Jerome H. Remick & Company.
See Humphrey Burton, Leonard Bernstein (New York: Doubleday, 1994), 103; and Howard Pollack,
George Gershwin: His Life and Works (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006), 61–63. Burton
also notes the role of Broadway lyricist and composer Irving Caesar at the start of both men’s careers.
He helped secure Bernstein’s job at Harms, and some years earlier had been the lyricist for Gershwin’s
first hit, “Swanee” (103).
3
Over the course of the preceding decade, Bernstein had proven his abilities as a conductor,
from his renowned debut with the Philharmonic Symphony Society of New York (later the New York
Philharmonic) in 1943, to his tenure with the New York City Symphony (1945–48) and his work

47
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 48 Bañagale

success on Broadway, a more important feature here is the disclosure of his intense
connection to Gershwin’s music.
Bernstein’s essay presents an “imaginary dialogue” between himself and his Pro-
fessional Manager (P.M.) that demonstrates the complexity of this relationship.
Later appearing under the more derisive title “Why Don’t You Run Upstairs and
Write a Nice Gershwin Tune?” the essay shows Bernstein’s attempts to maintain
independence from his musical predecessor by calling Gershwin’s compositional
abilities into question.4 Professional Manager argues that Gershwin was “every
inch a serious composer,” offering Rhapsody in Blue (1924) as proof.5 Interrupting,
Bernstein responds with a passage that has since become infamous: “Now, P.M.,
you know as well as I do that the Rhapsody is not a composition at all. It’s a string of
separate paragraphs stuck together—with a thin paste of flour and water. Compos-
ing is a very different thing from writing tunes, after all.”6 Their conversation, which
was already on thin ice, immediately plunges into deep waters. Bernstein continues
by articulating what he believes are additional inherent flaws of the composition.
Despite all of its problems, however, Bernstein admits that he adores the piece.
Professional Manager challenges this assertion by asking, “How can you adore
something you riddle with holes?” Bernstein retorts, “Each man kills the thing he
loves.”7
This ambivalent declaration was not made in haste; it resulted from Bernstein’s
multidecade relationship with Rhapsody in Blue, which he first encountered growing
up in Boston. From an early age, Bernstein had a fervent attraction to the music of
Gershwin. He purchased Gershwin’s scores, staged his musicals with friends, and
attended performances of his concert works given by the Boston Pops at Symphony
Hall. After seeing the 1935 pre-Broadway production of Porgy and Bess when he was
seventeen years old, Bernstein permanently checked out the score from the Newton
Public Library. “I admit freely, peccavi, I stole it,” he confessed in an unpublished
interview. “But it was mine, it had torn pages where I’d turned too fast, and it

with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Berkshire Music Center (later Tanglewood, 1951–55).
His symphonies Jeremiah (1942) and Age of Anxiety (1949) were well received, and his score for the
film On The Waterfront (1954) was nominated for an Academy Award. Composing for the stage
was at the forefront of Bernstein’s activities when he wrote “A Nice Gershwin Tune.” He was in the
midst of his newest musical, Candide, and the development of West Side Story was just around the
corner. Still, Bernstein’s music for the stage had yet to achieve the popular success or status of other
cross-over artists, most specifically George Gershwin. Although Bernstein’s musicals On The Town
(1944–46, 462 performances) and Wonderful Town (1953–54, 559 performances) demonstrated his
talents as a Broadway composer, these shows had little of the staying power evidenced by contemporary
productions such as Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! (1943–48, 2,212 performances) or South
Pacific (1949–54, 1,925 performances). “A Nice Gershwin Tune” is ultimately Bernstein’s response to
critics like P.M., who felt that if he would only write more tuneful songs, Broadway success would
follow.
4
Leonard Bernstein, “Why Don’t You Run Upstairs and Write a Nice Gershwin Tune?” in The
Joy of Music (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1959), 52–62. All subsequent page numbers refer to this
edition.
5
Ibid., 57.
6
Ibid.
7
Ibid., 60.

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 “Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves” 49

was my copy. I’d written things in the margins and I marked it up.”8 The only
Gershwin composition that Bernstein felt more possession of than Porgy and Bess
was Rhapsody in Blue—whose consistent influence on Bernstein throughout his
youth has remained unconsidered until now.
The present study explores Bernstein’s formative relationship with the Rhap-
sody through the examination of two recently discovered documents. The first is
Bernstein’s personal copy of the published solo-piano sheet music that he acquired
in 1932 at the age of thirteen. Like his long overdue library item, this score is also
thoroughly annotated. The second document is an arrangement of the Rhapsody
prepared by Bernstein for an ensemble of teenagers at a Jewish summer camp
in the Berkshires in western Massachusetts in 1937. These items, coupled with a
series of unpublished interviews, illuminate his adolescent experiences with the
composition and allow us to begin untangling the paradoxical perspective located
in “A Nice Gershwin Tune.” I propose that from an early age Bernstein not only had
a particular vision of how the Rhapsody should operate, but that he also identified
deeply with it. These findings provide important new insights into Bernstein’s later,
more polemical interpretations of the work both in recordings and in the concert
hall—interpretations that have had profound implications on the reception of the
Rhapsody on the global stage.

A Boston Boy Meets Rhapsody in Blue

We do not know precisely when Leonard Bernstein first heard Rhapsody in Blue, but
it was definitely “in the air” following its celebrated premiere at Paul Whiteman’s
“Experiment in Modern Music” in New York City in February 1924. Whiteman
repeatedly toured with the piece in the years following the Rhapsody’s composition,
and his two recordings of the Rhapsody featuring Gershwin at the piano (1924 and
1927) led to even wider dissemination of the work.9 Bernstein’s first acquaintance
with the piece would have occurred either through these recordings (via phono-
graph or radio) or through performances by the Boston Pops. By the early 1930s,
when Bernstein was a teenager, the Pops regularly programmed Gershwin’s songs
from his Broadway shows as well as his growing collection of orchestral works.
Over the course of this decade, they presented Rhapsody in Blue a total of fifty-three

8
Leonard Bernstein, Unidentified Interview, Transcript 1/LMAL 3787, 8. Folder 89, Box 15,
Leonard Bernstein Collection, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Quoted by permission of The
Leonard Bernstein Office, Inc. The precise origins of this transcript, which is hand-labeled “72?,”
remain unknown. Humphrey Burton believes this interview may have BBC origins. However, Dr. Roy
Tipping, historian of the BBC TV Music department, has no record of this interview’s identification
code (personal communication with Burton, 30 July 2006). It seems likely that this interview took
place during the early 1970s because its tone and language are similar to that of two other Gershwin-
related projects in which Bernstein participated during that time. He provided commentary for a fall
1972 WGBH-TV (Boston) program about Gershwin as well as a preface for Charles Schwartz’s book
Gershwin, His Life and Music (Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill, 1973). Dating this unidentified transcript
to approximately 1972 would place Bernstein in his mid-fifties at the time of these comments on
Gershwin.
9
The first recording was made 10 June 1924 and issued as Victor 55225-A. The second, recorded
on 21 April 1927, was issued as Victor 35822 and sold more than a million copies (Pollack, George
Gershwin, 304).

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 50 Bañagale

times.10 Bernstein was a regular concertgoer and, as will be discussed below, reveled
in experiencing the Rhapsody live at Symphony Hall.
In May 1932 Bernstein and his father Sam attended their first Pops concert. The
Rhapsody did not appear on this particular program; however, both father and son
were particularly taken with the performance of Ravel’s Bolero that concluded the
concert. Bernstein later recalled that Sam “thought it was the most wonderful thing
he had ever heard. The tune reminded him [Sam] of Hebrew chants and Arabic
melisma. That shed a ray of light into my otherwise dark, despairing life because I
was in a state of rebellion against him.”11 The experience might have softened the
elder Bernstein’s well-documented reservations about his son’s musical ambitions.12
Coincidentally or not, Sam soon after increased his financial support of Leonard’s
musical education and contributed to the cost of his piano lessons and sheet
music.
Lifelong friend and colleague Sid Ramin was with the thirteen-year-old Lenny
the day that Sam gave the boys two dollars to purchase the score for Rhapsody in
Blue.13 “We went back to Lenny’s place,” recalled Ramin, “and he opened it, and at
sight he started to play it. Because he was, as you know, a prodigious sight-reader.
He could read anything immediately. Then he got to a certain part and he said, ‘You
know? I wonder why Gershwin wrote in this key.’ And he started to play it in another
key!”14 Bernstein had an acutely attentive musical ear by this early age, as well as
remarkable fluency at the keyboard. Ramin also noted that when playing through
large scores, “What [Lenny] couldn’t play he would sing, and what he couldn’t play
and sing he would stamp.”15
Lenny purchased a solo-piano arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue that was first
published by Harms of New York in 1927.16 Remarkably, Bernstein’s own copy of
this sheet music survives in the New York Philharmonic archives (Fig. 1). The score
shows signs of frequent use through its Scotch tape binding repairs and smudged
corners from repeated page turning. Taunting remarks about Bernstein’s sister are
scrawled at the top of the front cover, “Shirley B. has a crush on Clark Gable.” Further
down, an addendum announces, “P.S. Also she has a secret crush on Sydney S.”17

10
Ayden Adler, “ ‘Classical Music for People Who Hate Classical Music’: Arthur Fiedler and the
Boston Pops, 1930–1950” (Ph.D. diss., University of Rochester, 2007), 303. Detailed data furnished
by the author.
11
Burton, Leonard Bernstein, 20.
12
Ibid., 16–17.
13
The story of Sid and Lenny is a warm one and resulted in a lifelong friendship and professional
collaboration. As boys, with Eddie Ryack, they invented a secret language known as “Rybernian,” the
details of which, out of loyalty to his friend, Ramin refuses to discuss. For more on this language
see the article by Oja and Shelemay in the present issue of this journal. As an extension of his own
successful career as an arranger, Ramin orchestrated many of Bernstein’s compositions, including
West Side Story (1957), A Quiet Place (1983), and Jubilee Games (1986).
14
Sid Ramin, interview conducted by the students of Music 194, Harvard University, 21 February
2006. Used by permission.
15
Ibid.
16
Harms S-109–29.
17
New York Philharmonic Archives, Leonard Bernstein Score Collection. Underlining is original.
The Sydney referenced here is not Sid Ramin.

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 “Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves” 51

Figure 1. Cover of 1927 solo-piano sheet music of Rhapsody in Blue purchased by Leonard Bernstein in
1932 (image digitally enhanced). Image courtesy of the New York Philharmonic Archives. Rhapsody in Blue,
by George Gershwin.
1924
c (Renewed) WB Music Corp. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission of Alfred
Publishing Co., Inc.

Although such markings remind us that this document is a product of adolescence,

annotations within the sheet music itself reveal that Bernstein’s approach to the
Rhapsody was anything but juvenile.
Bernstein himself said of that first experience with the sheet music: “We went
home and played it with tears till dawn. The excitement! We made our own sort

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 52 Bañagale

of arrangement so we could do it four hands and try to sound like an orchestra.”18

Although Ramin recalls no such formal arrangement, pencil markings throughout
this score record one such possibility; most prominent are sets of brackets that
set off particular passages. The first of these sections begins with the opening
glissando and concludes at the close of m. 18 (R. 2 + 2).19 It is followed shortly
thereafter by another set enclosing the pick-ups to m. 21 through m. 23 (R. 3 to
R. 4). Perfectly following the ubiquitous Whiteman recordings, these two demar-
cated passages articulate orchestral passages without the soloist. The unbracketed
measures that follow each of these sections correspond to solo piano portions. The
twelve sets of brackets found throughout the score begin to give shape to a four-hand
arrangement.
Bernstein also altered his copy of the score to suit his own performance pref-
erences by indicating obbligato passages. Abbreviated as “obbl.,” each of the five
such occurrences found here specifies a section where the piano and orchestra
(meaning both pianists in four-hand performance) play together. One particularly
interesting example accompanies Bernstein’s treatment of the famous andantino
“love” theme.20 Following the key change to E major at m. 244 (R. 28), a bracket
indicates performance by the orchestra throughout the first presentation of this
twenty-two-measure theme. The closing bracket does not appear until the end of
m. 267 (R. 30 + 1), two measures into the second presentation of Gershwin’s “love”
motif. This bracket is followed by an “obbl.” designation indicating the addition of
the piano, which plays the countermelody while the orchestra sustains the whole
notes of the main melody. This pattern is repeated throughout the remainder of
this passage, with the piano joining the orchestra only when the countermelody is
present. In combination, the brackets and obbligato markings suggest a procedure
by which Bernstein and Ramin might actually play together and “sound like an
orchestra.”
Significantly, the solo-piano version acquired by the boys contains a pair of
unique cuts that do not appear in either previous or subsequent publications of the
sheet music. This 1927 score, at 451 measures, is nearly sixty measures shorter than
the more common (certainly today) two-piano arrangement published by Harms
in 1925.21 The first change occurs at m. 138 (R. 14), where the “shuffle” theme

18
Burton, Leonard Bernstein, 18. The full orchestra score of the Rhapsody was not published
until 1942 (Warner Brothers M00013). This later publication was not the jazz-band arrangement as
originally prepared by Grofé, but one expanded to symphonic proportions. A facsimile copy of the
original arrangement for the Whiteman ensemble was not published until 1987 (Warner Brothers
FS0004).
19
Because the sheet music for this 1927 solo-piano edition is not widely available, all measure
numbers are accompanied by the corresponding location in the readily available orchestral (WB
M00013) and two piano–four hands scores (Warner Brothers PSO165). Here, for example, “R. 2 + 2”
refers to two bars after rehearsal number 2.
20
Throughout this essay the various themes of Rhapsody in Blue will be referred to using the
standard names detailed in David Schiff, Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue, Cambridge Music Handbooks
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 13–25.
21
Harms 7206-41. It is unclear why Bernstein did not simply purchase this version of the score to
begin with. One possibility is that its three-dollar price tag was more than Sam Bernstein was willing
to contribute.

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 “Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves” 53

is replaced by a jump to a piano cadenza that appears thirty-nine measures later

in other scores (R. 18 + 5). This modification is understandable when considered
in conjunction with Whiteman’s recordings of the time. Because of the nature
of the 78 rpm technology, at this point—four minutes and thirty seconds into the
performance—it is necessary to flip over the record. Side 1 ends at m. 137 (R. 14 − 1)
with the crash of a cymbal, and side 2 begins with the piano cadenza at m. 138
(R. 17 + 4). Such a cut in Bernstein’s copy of the score aligns with these recordings
and represents an editorial choice made to appeal to those familiar with Whiteman’s
rendition—namely, the sheet-music consumer.22 Even though Bernstein may have
known less-edited performances of the Rhapsody, when he first learned to play this
composition on the piano, it was with this cut in place.
Evidence that Bernstein was indeed familiar with versions of the Rhapsody other
than Whiteman’s occurs at the point where the second cut in the 1927 solo-piano
score is located. At the end of m. 187 (R. 22 − 2), a twenty-measure passage is
omitted—an embellished presentation of the ritornello played by the piano alone.
Bernstein has written the word “cadenza” above the measure where this cut occurs.
Unlike the edit considered above, the portion of the score from which these measures
are removed (R. 22 − 2 to R. 24 + 3) is absent from the Whiteman recordings.23
Therefore, another source is necessary to clarify both the missing measures and
Bernstein’s annotation. In July 1935, under the direction of Arthur Fiedler, the
Boston Pops made the first complete recording of Rhapsody in Blue.24 This recording
not only includes this twenty-measure passage, but at its conclusion, Jesús Marı́a
Sanromá—official pianist of the Pops from 1924 to 1943—introduces his own
elaborate cadenza. It is unclear when Bernstein added the cadenza indication to his
copy of the 1927 score, but the connection of this annotation to performances of
the work by the Pops suggests a familiarity with Sanromá’s virtuosity as well as an
openness to alternative interpretations of the Rhapsody during his time in Boston.
In a recent interview, Sid Ramin recalled attending a Pops performance featuring
Sanromá at a time after he and Bernstein acquired the sheet music: “In the Rhapsody
in Blue there’s a chord that’s [an E-flat] pregnant ninth—whatever you want to call it.
Lenny and I were in the balcony. . . . We got closer and closer to that chord—we were
both waiting for it. Sanromá played it and Lenny grabbed my thighs and squeezed
them during that chord! I couldn’t walk afterwards!”25 The 1935 recording of

22
Although two optional cuts are suggested by the editors of the 1927 solo-piano score
(mm. 138–197 [R. 14 to R. 25 − 4] and mm. 286–318 [R. 31 + 2 to R. 33 − 6]), they offer no
explanation as to why the two cuts under consideration here were made.
23
Whiteman’s 1924 and 1927 recordings cut a total of 103 measures from this portion of the
Rhapsody, from R. 20 − 4 to R. 28 − 4.
24
Adler, “Classical Music for People Who Hate Classical Music,” 301 − 02. The recording is Victor
M-358 (rereleased as RCA Camden CAL 304). According to Adler, the recording was made on 1 July
1935 and subsequently released on three ten-inch discs. The Pops performed the Rhapsody in concert
on the same day this recording was made. The next major recording of the Rhapsody did not appear
until Oscar Levant’s performance with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra in the late
1940s (Columbia 12124-25D).
25
Ramin, interview, 37. This chord occurs at m. 404 in the solo-piano sheet music (R. 37 − 2).
Ramin could not place exactly when they attended this performance. Adler’s data reveal that
throughout the 1930s Sanromá performed the Rhapsody with the Boston Pops forty-seven times,

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 54 Bañagale

Sanromá’s performance captures the enthusiasm and excitement Bernstein located

in Rhapsody in Blue during his adolescent years. At times it sacrifices accuracy for
intensity, and as a result, Sanromá’s playing unlocks the raw power bound up in
the composition itself. As suggested by the annotations in his solo-piano score, the
young Bernstein also found ways to realize the energy he clearly located in this piece.
As Bernstein transitioned from adolescence to young adulthood, he took his early
experiences of the Rhapsody—through recordings, sheet music, and concerts—and
applied them to his first public interpretations of the piece.

“We got the things we came here for”: Bernstein’s Camp Onota
Arrangement
During the summer of 1937, instead of spending time at the family’s lake house in
Sharon, Massachusetts, the eighteen-year-old Bernstein took a job at Camp Onota,
a recently established all-boys Jewish camp in the Berkshires. Bernstein was in
charge of a cabin of campers from New York and served as swimming counselor.
Not surprisingly, he also organized all musical activities, staging productions of
Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance and Gershwin’s Of Thee I Sing, forming
small musical ensembles, and even writing camp songs.26 The text of one surviving
example reads:
Onota Camp, the end is near
And soon we’ll have to say goodbye to you, we fear.
Our hearts are sad, our eyes are damp,
Because we have to part with you Onota Camp.
Adon, adieu, and au revoir,
Better time we never saw;
We got the things we came here for—
So adon, adieu, auf wiedersehen
And au revoir!27

Bernstein’s light-hearted ditty takes on a more poignant tone, however, when con-
sidered in the context of George Gershwin’s sudden death that summer.
Gershwin died following emergency surgery on an undiagnosed brain tumor
on 11 July 1937. The event had a profound and permanent effect on the young
Bernstein. During the same midlife interview about Gershwin cited above, he
divulged, “The great tragedy for me, the musical tragedy of my life, was I never met

thirty-four of which took place after the boys acquired the sheet music, making precise dating of this
event impossible.
26
Burton, Leonard Bernstein, 38–39, notes that Bernstein’s later lyricist Adolph Green played the
role of the Pirate King in the Gilbert and Sullivan production. The two quickly became close, and
their friendship eventually led to the collaborative creation, with Betty Comden, of both On the Town
(1944) and Wonderful Town (1953).
27
“Schirmer’s Harmony Tablet,” reverse cover, Box 18, Folder 3, Leonard Bernstein Collection,
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. By permission of The Leonard Bernstein Office, Inc. During
the period in which Bernstein worked at Onota, it was common (much as it remains today) to write
songs that set new words to an existing popular melody. The excerpt cited here is likely an example of
such a contrafactum, although no accompanying melody has been determined.

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 “Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves” 55

him.”28 The Sunday of Gershwin’s passing coincided with parents’ visiting day at
Camp Onota. As amply recounted in the literature, during lunch that day Bernstein
played Gershwin’s Second Prelude as a musical tribute.29 He requested that there be
no applause at the conclusion of the performance. Instead, he rose from the piano
bench and left the room in silence. “I discovered a lot of things that day,” recalled
Bernstein. “I discovered the essence of tragedy; I didn’t know anything about that.
And I discovered the power of music.”30
Gershwin’s death provoked Bernstein both emotionally and musically. In what
appears to be a tribute to his music idol, Bernstein created a unique arrangement
of Rhapsody in Blue. He completed it on 10 August 1937, almost one month to the
day after Gershwin’s death (Fig. 2). I recently discovered this arrangement in his
Schirmer’s Harmony Tablet—a staff-paper music notebook intended for student
use—located in the Leonard Bernstein Collection at the Library of Congress.31
It stands as an important new document in understanding Bernstein’s ongoing
relationship with the piece and records the evolution of his own conception of the
Rhapsody up to that point in his life.
The manuscript itself is more of a draft for performance than a finished score.32
It fills the first seventeen pages of the notebook and is written entirely in pencil.
At times his notation is careful and measured, but in other portions his work
appears hurried. Cross-outs and erasures appear throughout the manuscript, which
make it nearly impossible for a group of musicians, let alone a group of teenaged
campers, to perform from this score. Furthermore, much in the same way that Ferde
Grofé’s original 1924 orchestration for the Rhapsody leaves much of the piano part
unnotated, Bernstein omits large portions of the solo part—at times simply writing
“Piano Cadenza.” If the work ever received a performance at camp, parts must have
been copied.
The whimsical orchestration of this arrangement defies all expectations of those
familiar with the Rhapsody. Beyond the traditional piano and clarinet, this score
requires recorder, accordion, three male voices (which also must whistle), two
ukuleles, and a percussion ensemble labeled “Rhythm Band.” Although no official
record documents a performance of this arrangement, evidence suggests that it was
written with Camp Onota performers in mind. On the back cover of the Schirmer’s
Harmony Tablet appear the camp-song lyrics quoted above, and included inside
are other original compositions by Bernstein that call for some of the same camp
instruments, including two movements of a recorder sonata. Furthermore, rehearsal

28
Bernstein, Transcript 1/LMAL 3787, 4. See note 8 above regarding the dating of this transcript.
After he is moved to uncontrollable tears discussing what Gershwin might have accomplished had he
not died, Bernstein abruptly and apologetically ends the interview.
29
See Burton, Leonard Bernstein, 38.
30
Bernstein, Transcript 1/LMAL 3787, 6.
31
“Schirmer’s Harmony Tablet,” 1–17.
32
I have edited a performing edition of Bernstein’s Camp Onota arrangement of Rhapsody in
Blue, which received its world concert premiere on 12 October 2006 as part of Harvard University’s
symposia, Leonard Bernstein: Boston to Broadway. This performance took place under the musical
direction of Judith Clurman and with the permission of the Bernstein and Gershwin estates.

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 56 Bañagale

Figure 2. Final manuscript page of Bernstein’s arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue, completed 10 August
1937. By permission of The Leonard Bernstein Office, Inc. Rhapsody in Blue, by George Gershwin.
1924
c
(Renewed) WB Music Corp. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission of Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.

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 “Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves” 57

Figure 3. Leonard Bernstein conducting the Camp Onota “Rhythm Band,” summer 1937. Reprinted with
permission of The Berkshire Eagle.

letters were added to the Rhapsody arrangement after the score was completed.33
Their inclusion suggests the need to communicate specific spots in the score to
performers.
An additional indicator that this arrangement was intended for his campers is a
photograph taken at camp that summer, the first known image of Bernstein con-
ducting (Fig. 3).34 Bernstein, in his Camp Onota tank top, directs a group of seven
young musicians who are playing a battery of percussion instruments, including two
triangles, claves, chimes, cymbals, a tambourine, and even a kalimba.35 The caption
for this photograph reads “Onota Rhythm Band and Leonard Bernstein—1937,”
the same name given to the percussion line of Bernstein’s camp arrangement of
the Rhapsody. Based on the instruments required by the score, it is entirely possible
that the boys seen here with the tambourine, cymbal, and claves took part in a
performance of this arrangement.36
A consideration of manuscript pages 9–12, representative of the arrangement as
a whole, reveals particularly salient aspects of Bernstein’s musical and performative
approaches to the Rhapsody in 1937, decisions that would come to influence his later

33
Bernstein uses letters “A” through “Q.” We can verify that these indications were added at the
end of the process due to the fact that they overlap other previously notated elements of the score,
such as tempo markings.
34
The image is available through the Library of Congress’s online American Memory Project, at
<http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/lbphotos.42a026>, accessed 28 October 2008.
35
I would like to thank Mark Horowitz, Senior Music Specialist at the Library of Congress, who
graciously examined the original photograph for me to clarify exactly which instruments are present.
A kalimba is a modernized version of the African mbira.
36
The manuscript calls for “W.B.” or wood block, but the claves offer an appropriate substitute.

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 58 Bañagale

interpretations of the work. The beginning of the passage is shown in Figure 4.37
This excerpt begins at rehearsal letter “I” (R. 17 + 4), which corresponds to the
point in Whiteman’s recordings where side 2 commences. Here Bernstein has writ-
ten “Piano Cadenza” followed by an arrow pointing to the four notes (F-sharp4,
A4, F-sharp4, and D4) found in m. 183 (R. 21 + 7), indicating the conclusion
of this solo passage. At this point the arrangement jumps to m. 197 (R. 25 − 4),
where the “shuffle” theme is introduced for the first time—appearing at letter
“J” as a largo clarinet solo.38 Instead of proceeding with the clarinet or returning
to the traditionally expected piano solo, Bernstein completely recasts the theme
by assigning it to “3 male voices backstage” accompanied by two ukuleles. The
orchestration changes again sixteen measures later, where Gershwin repeats the
shuffle theme, now dramatically modulating up a minor third every two mea-
sures. Here, at rehearsal letter “K” (R. 26), Bernstein has the clarinet play the
melody with the support of accordion and percussion.39 The piano and recorder
join in at “M” (R. 26 + 12) with the continuation of the upward minor third
sequence. The ensemble makes a gradual crescendo to m. 238 (R. 27), where Bern-
stein indicates the start of another extended piano solo by again writing “Piano
Cadenza.” This point marks the end of page 12 of the manuscript, just before
the entrance of the “love” theme at rehearsal “N” (R. 28). A recording of this
excerpt, from the live performance at Harvard on 12 October 2006, is available
online at http://stream.fas.harvard.edu/ramgen/permanent/bernsteinproject/LB
ArrRiB.mp3.
It is important to remember that Bernstein’s instrumentation of this passage
replaces what would otherwise be an extended piano solo passage. I suggest that the
choices made here, free from the influences of existing renditions of the Rhapsody,
reflect Bernstein’s emerging theatricality. The drama of the largo clarinet solo sets
up the playful reinterpretation of the standard campfire sing-along, which is offered
by the disembodied, textless voices and ukuleles. In addition, the introduction of
imitative color combinations, such as the substitution of the accordion for sixteenth-
note tremolos in the piano at rehearsal “K” (R. 26), makes the performance more
interesting and intensifies the dramatic arch of Gershwin’s modulating melody. This
energy continues to build as the cycle of minor thirds returns the shuffle theme to
the tonic key at the top of page 12 (R. 27 − 4), an arrival that Bernstein celebrates
with the addition of a triumphant and newly composed clarinet solo. Such decisions
foreshadow the centrality of showmanship in Bernstein’s future performances of
the Rhapsody.
Much in the same way as the annotated brackets function in Bernstein’s 1927
solo-piano score, this excerpt from the Camp Onota arrangement demonstrates

37
The arrangement is closely bound to Bernstein’s knowledge of the solo-piano sheet music. As
such, all measure numbers in the following description refer to that score.
38
In both the two-piano and full-orchestra scores, the “shuffle” theme is heard much earlier, at
m. 137 (R. 14). As previously mentioned, this passage does not appear in Bernstein’s copy of the
solo-piano sheet music.
39
Schiff, Rhapsody in Blue, 21, notes the “harmonic jugglery” of this passage. It is possible that
Bernstein recognized such rapid chromatic alterations would prove difficult on the ukulele. The
accordion, with its chromatic keyboard, is better suited for this passage.

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 “Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves” 59

Figure 4. Page 9 of Bernstein’s arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue. By permission of The Leonard Bernstein
Office, Inc. Rhapsody in Blue, by George Gershwin.
1924
c (Renewed) WB Music Corp. All Rights Reserved.
Used by Permission of Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.

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 60 Bañagale

Example 1a. Gershwin’s original transition into the “love” theme. Rhapsody in Blue, by George Gershwin.

1924
c (Renewed) WB Music Corp.. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission of Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.

Example 1b. Bernstein’s transposition of the transition into the “love” theme. By permission of The
Leonard Bernstein Office, Inc. Rhapsody in Blue, by George Gershwin.
1924
c (Renewed) WB Music Corp. All
Rights Reserved. Used by Permission of Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.

Bernstein’s continued conceptual compartmentalization of Gershwin’s themes.

The orchestration alone suggests four distinct passages: piano solo, clarinet solo,
voices with ukuleles, and full ensemble. The physical layout of this passage in the
manuscript itself, where each section receives its own clearly defined system of staves,
makes such thematic segregation explicit. Passages throughout the arrangement are
clearly demarcated through the use of fermatas, grand pauses, and dramatic shifts
in dynamics or instrumentation.
In one particularly striking instance the themes are demarcated by the introduc-
tion of a transposition. This modification occurs at rehearsal “N” (R. 28), with the
entrance of the “love” theme. In Gershwin’s original composition, this theme is
preceded by a piano cadenza that culminates with a B dominant seventh chord that
sets up a V7 to I modulation to the key of E major (Example 1a). When Bernstein’s
arrangement reaches this same transition, instead of moving to E major, he begins
the passage a third higher, in the key of G major (Example 1b). This transposition
continues throughout the twenty-two-measure theme and returns to the original
key only when the theme is repeated at rehearsal “O” (R. 30).
Why might Bernstein have made this transposition? Such a move is very much
a Broadway show-tune-style modulation, the kind that further heightens the dra-
matic effect of the melody. It also continues the motivic transposition by thirds,
which precedes this passage and allows for a similar modulation to take place when

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 “Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves” 61

the arrangement returns to the original key (rehearsal “O” [R. 30]).40 In addi-
tion, such transpositions allow the melody to begin on the same pitch with which
the preceding cadence concluded. Looking forward, this mode of modulation is
employed throughout the score of West Side Story.41
Looking backward, however, it is important to recall Sid Ramin’s statement
regarding Bernstein’s first read-through of the solo-piano sheet music. At a specific
point Bernstein paused, questioned Gershwin’s choice of key, and then proceeded
to transpose the subsequent passage. The transposition in the camp arrangement
clearly reflects that initial impulse. That it is scored for male voices echoes another of
Ramin’s observations about Bernstein’s sight-reading practices. The widely spaced
intervals within the chords found at this point in the score may have proved difficult
for the thirteen-year-old pianist. Since Bernstein had a tendency to “sing what he
couldn’t play,” it is possible that his voice was required to render this passage. Such
a scenario becomes all the more likely since the chordal texture thickens on the
repetition of the theme.
For Bernstein, over the course of his adolescent years, the Rhapsody became a
musical space in which the budding musician could explore aspects of composi-
tional process. To this end, the Camp Onota arrangement reveals Bernstein’s facility
with Rhapsody in Blue. Even with an instrumentally limited ensemble, he clearly
articulates Gershwin’s various themes, presents an unexpected and entertaining
interpretation of the work, and makes room to showcase his pianistic abilities while
assuming the role of conductor. These qualities set the stage for performances of the
work throughout his career and reveal an increasing sense of control and ownership
over the composition.

Bernstein’s Rhapsody in Blue

Regardless of whether or not Bernstein ever performed the Camp Onota arrange-
ment, records do survive that document his involvement in more conventional
performances of the Rhapsody during his youth in Boston. The first instance oc-
curred in February 1936, before the creation of his Camp Onota arrangement,
during his freshman year at Harvard. According to the student newspaper The
Harvard Crimson, Bernstein took part in an “Amateur Musicale” sponsored by the
Union Committee. He served as master of ceremonies in addition to performing
“selections” from the Rhapsody.42 The article provides no details regarding which

40
Schiff (ibid., 29) indicates that a move to G major for the love theme is suggested by the half
cadence on D major at the end of the preceding cadenza. However, three of the four bars appearing
immediately before the entrance of the love theme close on a B major chord (the other is a tritone
substitute), effectively undermining the harmonic implications of the aforementioned half cadence.
41
Such an example occurs in “Cool,” where Bernstein elides his use of the traditional “ABAC” Tin
Pan Alley song form by applying this type of transition between the “A” and “B” as well as the “A” and
“C” sections. See also, m. 98–102 and 153–157 of Tony’s song “Something’s Coming.”
42
“Amateur Musicale in Union This Evening,” The Harvard Crimson, 5 February 1936. Bernstein
also performed Chopin’s F minor Nocturne and Ernesto Lecuona’s popular Malagueña. This event,
which was “setting a precedent [by] enlisting the Freshmen for their own entertainment,” marks
Bernstein’s first experience with the Harvard Union Committee. Drew Massey examines Bernstein’s

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 62 Bañagale

selections were played, but one could imagine such a performance given Bernstein’s
demonstrated partition of Gershwin’s themes in his own copy of the sheet music.
Bernstein’s first performance of the complete work with full orchestra took place
on 2 January 1938 at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre, the winter following his time at
Camp Onota. The concert, sponsored by the Works Progress Administration’s Fed-
eral Music Project, featured the State Symphony Orchestra.43 The program, high-
lighting music by American composers, included Rhapsody in Blue as a memorial to
the late George Gershwin. The Leonard Bernstein scrapbooks, dutifully compiled
by Bernstein’s childhood piano teacher and lifelong assistant Helen Coates, preserve
memorabilia from this event in addition to several reviews from the local press.44
The Boston Herald reported that, “although the performance was not as finished as
could be hoped for, it did have a good amount of spirit. Mr. Bernstein’s playing was
adequate for the performance, and he was recalled several times to acknowledge the
enthusiasm of the audience.”45 However, a review from the Boston Post critiqued
Bernstein’s performance as “hardly up to those we are in the habit of hearing at the
Pop Concerts, and the music suffered accordingly.”46
Despite such a mixed response, during his years in Boston Bernstein continued
to perform the Rhapsody with the State Symphony Orchestra. One such appearance
took place during the summer of 1938, for which he received $150.47 A press release
from the scrapbooks announces a similar engagement one year later: “Youth will be
the keynote of this concert, for the soloist of the evening is young Leonard Bernstein,
brilliant pianist, just barely into his twenties and a senior at Harvard. He will play his
own colorful interpretation of the beloved George Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue.’”48
What is meant by “his own colorful interpretation”? The State Symphony Orchestra
had neither ukuleles nor an accordion, so it is unlikely that his Camp Onota
arrangement was heard that evening. Instead, the “colorful interpretation” remark
foreshadows later performances by the mature Bernstein wherein his experiences
with the Rhapsody as a teenager continued to exert their influence.
Although Bernstein occasionally performed the Rhapsody with various ensem-
bles throughout his twenties and thirties, following his appointment as music
director of the New York Philharmonic in 1958, the composition reemerged for
him in several ways. During that first season the Rhapsody appeared on a set
of December subscription concerts, Bernstein’s nationally televised “Young Peo-
ple’s Concerts,” and nineteen of the twenty-five concerts he conducted during the

involvement in the theatrical productions of this organization in his article in the present issue of this
journal.
43
Under the direction of Alexander Thiede, the State Symphony Orchestra (also known as the
Commonwealth Symphony of Boston) was one of several dozen community and professional sym-
phonic ensembles funded by the Federal Music Project.
44
The scrapbooks include a program, a ticket, and an announcement with a handwritten note
to Coates that reads: “I’m looking very much forward to seeing you.” Leonard Bernstein Scrapbooks,
volume 1A (12/1/33–11/30/41), Leonard Bernstein Collection, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
45
“Music: State Symphony Orchestra,” Boston Herald, 3 January 1938. Bernstein Scrapbooks, vol.
1A.
46
Untitled clipping from the Boston Post, 3 January 1938. Bernstein Scrapbooks, vol. 1A.
47
Burton, Leonard Bernstein, 48.
48
Hand-dated press release. Bernstein Scrapbooks, vol. 1A. Emphasis added.

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 “Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves” 63

orchestra’s summer tour of Europe and the Soviet Union. Perhaps most signifi-
cantly, however, in June 1959, Bernstein recorded the Rhapsody with the Columbia
Symphony Orchestra.49 Howard Pollack recently dubbed this recording “perhaps
the best-known performance of the piece in the later twentieth century.”50 Given
its continued overriding popularity, it might easily be said this version by Bernstein
has become the interpretation of Rhapsody in Blue.
Still, Bernstein’s 1959 recording has not been without critique, particularly with
respect to the conductor/pianist’s tempo and editorial decisions. David Schiff notes
that the “biggest departure from previous practice comes with the solo at rehearsal
25 which Bernstein plays as a slow and drunken blues.”51 He compares this first
presentation of the “shuffle” theme to Bernstein’s blues “Big Stuff ” from the opening
of his 1944 ballet Fancy Free.52 Although a similarity undoubtedly exists between
this recording and the song written fifteen years earlier, an even earlier model is
found in the documents that survive from Bernstein’s formative experiences with
the Rhapsody.
Returning to Bernstein’s copy of the 1927 solo-piano score, evidence supports
Bernstein’s preference for performing this passage slowly. At m. 197 (R. 25 − 4),
four bars before the shuffle-theme piano solo begins, Bernstein penciled in a “4/4”
time signature. Additionally, the measure itself is subdivided by the annotation
“1 + | 2 + | 3 + | 4 + |,” in which the vertical lines divide the eighth-note melody
into distinct beats. Bernstein made the decision to draw out the theme here even
though these measures should be a tempo as originally published and performed.
This retardation persists in his Camp Onota arrangement (rehearsal “J”), where, as
previously discussed, the clarinet melody receives a largo designation. Four bars later
the shuffle theme (sung by three males accompanied by ukuleles) saunters in with
a moderato indication. Bernstein’s recording follows these early tempo assignments
to the letter.
Another critique often leveled at Bernstein’s interpretation of the Rhapsody has to
do with his editorial decisions, namely, the excision of a statement of the ritornello
and the fox-trot.53 Here, too, such choices have deeper roots, as a 1986 interview
reveals: “I have to confess to you and, even if this is a public confession, that is
the way I have always played it, so that when I do play it with orchestras, and
I have played it with many orchestras, I have to re-do the score to fit the way I
learned it because that is the way I love it. That is the way I know it and I think it
works better.”54 As I have demonstrated above, the 1927 solo-piano sheet music of
Rhapsody in Blue that he learned contains a unique pair of cuts. Bernstein is true to

49
Columbia ML-5413. The “Columbia Symphony Orchestra” is actually the New York Philhar-
monic, which appeared under this stage name for contractual reasons. See Rodney Greenberg, George
Gershwin (London: Phaidon Press, 1998), 74. Bernstein made a second recording of Rhapsody in Blue
with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1982 (Deutsche Grammophon 410 025–2).
50
Pollack, George Gershwin, 314.
51
Schiff, Rhapsody in Blue, 67.
52
Schiff (ibid., 67) incorrectly assigns “Big Stuff ” to Bernstein’s Broadway musical On the Town
produced the same year.
53
See Schiff, Rhapsody in Blue, 7–9; 67; see also Pollack, George Gershwin, 312.
54
Leonard Bernstein, unpublished interview with Humphrey Burton, 1986. Roll 5, 13–14. Burton
informs me that this interview was carried out as the first stage of a joint BBC Unitel project in which

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 64 Bañagale

his word, and, with the exception of two measures, his 1959 recording adheres to
this 1927 score note for note.55 With respect to both tempo and form, Bernstein’s
lifelong interpretations of the Rhapsody resulted from his teenage experiences with
the work.

More than Just a “Nice Gershwin Tune”

As the work of recent Gershwin scholars has demonstrated, the interpretation
offered by Bernstein’s recordings “arguably undermined the work’s structural
integrity.”56 However, using “A Nice Gershwin Tune” as an example, it is clear
that Bernstein saw the structural flexibility of the work as one of its great strengths.
Bernstein states that with Rhapsody in Blue: “You can cut out parts of it without
affecting the whole in any way except to make it shorter. You can remove any of
these stuck-together sections and the piece still goes on as bravely as before. You
can even interchange these sections with one another and no harm done. You can
make cuts within a section, or add new cadenzas, or play it with any combination
of instruments or on the piano alone; it can be a five-minute piece or a six-minute
piece or a twelve-minute piece. And in fact all these things are being done to it every
day. It’s still the Rhapsody in Blue.”57
The considerations advanced in this 1955 essay were not recent revelations to
Bernstein. Rather, he formed these observations while growing up and documented
them in both his copy of the 1927 solo-piano sheet music and the 1937 Camp Onota
arrangement. The latter makes various cuts, connects separate sections, and alters
the orchestration. It even goes so far as to change the key of one of the work’s most
famous themes—something Bernstein discovered was a possibility at the age of
thirteen. As the instantly recognizable recording of this arrangement demonstrates,
Bernstein’s later remarks hold true: regardless of the alterations made to the piece,
it remains the Rhapsody in Blue.
Unlike the ice skaters precariously positioned at the outset of “A Nice Gershwin
Tune,” Bernstein and Gershwin continue to collide. Whenever reception of the
Rhapsody is considered, the essay seems to rear its ugly head. As Larry Starr points
out, such considerations typically “function as a kind of ‘received wisdom’ or even
‘party line’ on Gershwin in academic and critical circles.”58 Gershwin scholars are
quick to point out Bernstein’s subsequent influence on the reception of Rhapsody
in Blue; they suggest that his words and performances sullied the reputation of the

Bernstein was to have explored the many influences on his musical make-up. The project was never
completed.
55
These are the two grandioso measures that introduce the final presentation of the “stride” theme
at rehearsal 39.
56
Pollack, George Gershwin, 312. Regarding structure and form see Larry Starr, “Musings on
‘Nice Gershwin Tunes,’ Form, and Harmony in the Concert Music of Gershwin,” in The Gershwin
Style: New Looks at the Music of George Gershwin, ed. Wayne Schneider (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1999). Also see Susan Neimoyer, “Rhapsody in Blue: A Culmination of George Gershwin’s Early
Musical Education” (Ph.D. diss., University of Washington, 2003).
57
Bernstein, “Why Don’t You Run Upstairs and Write a Nice Gershwin Tune?” 58.
58
Starr, “Musings on ‘Nice Gershwin Tunes’, ” 96.

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 “Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves” 65

work within academic circles.59 However, such a position implies a certain degree
of disregard on the part of Bernstein. Upholding this doctrine ignores the more
complex relationship that ultimately existed between Bernstein and Gershwin’s mu-
sic. Bernstein responds to Professional Manager’s inquiry about admiring a flawed
composition by dramatically declaring, “Each man kills the thing he loves.” While
his quotation of Oscar Wilde’s The Ballad of Reading Gaol has its own implications
with respect to its homoerotic subtext, for the purposes of the present article it is
important to focus on the more direct confessional at hand. Bernstein continues by
saying, “Yes, I guess you can love a bad composition. For noncompositional reasons.
Sentiment. Association. Inner meaning. Spirit.”60 Bernstein’s early association with
Rhapsody in Blue provides considerable insight into each of these rationales and
offers a necessary foundation for the paradoxical stance of his essay.
The present exploration of the Rhapsody reveals a multifaceted understanding of
Bernstein’s significant ties to Gershwin—a connection established much earlier than
scholars previously have realized. The composition became a permanent fixture
in Bernstein’s career and allowed him to form musical connections both locally
and cross-culturally.61 Clearly, Bernstein’s relationship with Rhapsody in Blue was
a complicated one. Understanding its place in his formative years allows us to
reconsider his approaches to the composition as a mature conductor, performer,
and critic. After all, if we take anything away from our exploration of Leonard
Bernstein’s youth, it is an understanding that his Boston experiences resonated
throughout his life—an observation that certainly holds true for Rhapsody in Blue.

References

Manuscript Sources
Leonard Bernstein Collection. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Leonard Bernstein Score Collection. New York Philharmonic, New York.

Interview Sources
Ramin, Sid. Interview conducted by the students of Music 194, Harvard University,
21 February 2006.
Bernstein, Leonard. “My musical childhood.” Unpublished interview conducted
by Humphrey Burton. 15 September 1986. Personal Papers of Humphrey
Burton.
———. Interview with unidentified interviewer. Transcript 1/LMAL 3787. Folder
89, Box 15, Leonard Bernstein Collection, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

59
In addition to Starr (ibid.), see Robert Wyatt and John Andrew Johnson, eds., The George
Gershwin Reader (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), 293. Also see Pollack, George Gershwin,
314–15, and Schiff, Rhapsody in Blue, 67.
60
Bernstein, “Why Don’t You Run Upstairs and Write a Nice Gershwin Tune?” 60.
61
Rhapsody in Blue was featured regularly when Bernstein performed abroad, whether on tour
with the New York Philharmonic in 1959 and 1976, or as a guest conductor, as with the Czech
Philharmonic in 1946.

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 66 Bañagale

Published Sources
Adler, Ayden. “‘Classical Music for People Who Hate Classical Music’: Arthur
Fiedler and the Boston Pops, 1930–1950.” Ph.D. diss., University of Rochester,
2007.
“Amateur Musicale in Union This Evening.” The Harvard Crimson, 5 February 1936.
Bernstein, Leonard. “A Nice Gershwin Tune.” The Atlantic, April 1955, 39–42.
———. “Why Don’t You Run Upstairs and Write a Nice Gershwin Tune?” In The
Joy of Music, 52–62. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1959.
Burton, Humphrey. Leonard Bernstein. New York: Doubleday, 1994.
Greenberg, Rodney. George Gershwin. London: Phaidon Press, 1998.
Johnson, John Andrew, and Robert Wyatt, eds. The George Gershwin Reader. New
York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Neimoyer, Susan. “Rhapsody in Blue: A Culmination of George Gershwin’s Early
Musical Education.” Ph.D. diss., University of Washington, 2003.
Pollack, Howard. George Gershwin: His Life and Works. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 2006.
Schiff, David. Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue. Cambridge Music Handbooks. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Starr, Larry. “Musings on ‘Nice Gershwin Tunes,’ Form, and Harmony in the Concert
Music of Gershwin.” In The Gershwin Style: New Looks at the Music of George
Gershwin, ed. Wayne Schneider. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Rhapsody in Blue Discography (by pianist)

Bernstein, Leonard. Columbia Symphony Orchestra under Leonard Bernstein.
Columbia ML-5413, 1959.
———. Los Angeles Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein. Deutsche Gram-
mophon 410 025-2, 1982.
Gershwin, George. Paul Whiteman and his orchestra. Victor 55225-A, 1924.
———. Rhapsody in Blue. Paul Whiteman and his orchestra. Victor 35822, 1927.
Levant, Oscar. Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy. Columbia 12124–
25D, 1948.
Sanromá, Jesús. Boston Pops under Arthur Fiedler. Victor M-358, 1935.

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