Gershwin's Melodic Strategies in Instrumental Music:A Stylistic Study of "Rhapsody in Blue," “Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra," and "An American in Paris"
Date Issued
2006
Date
2006
Author(s)
Yang, Ya-Ting
DOI
zh-TW
Abstract
“Implication-realization” is the foundation of Leonard B. Meyer’s theory of tonal music. Based on Meyer’s theory, this paper introduces George Gershwin’s musical style by analyzing his orchestral works includung “Rhapsody in Blue,” “An American in Paris,” and “Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra.” This paper begins with the analysis of melodies, applying the “implication-realization” model and the theory of musical rhetorics to explore the strategies of Gershwin’s musical phrases. Then this paper discusses the relationship between harmony and melody. Finally, this paper intends to highlight Gershwin’s musical style by comparing strategies of “implication-realization” in Aaron Copland’s “Concerto for Piano and Orchestra” and Gershwin’s music.
This paper analyzes that different musical elements result in special style of “implication-realization” on the continuous ways of music. Music fused with jazz expands the possibilities of Meyer’s theory, and also provide clues for Gershwin’s strategies of style. To construct the “complete” strategies of style for the melody, Gershwin uses materials such as blue scales, special broken chord, Tetrachords and fifth intervals, and sequences such as tension, motive and contrast; besides, he constructs the particularity of the rhythms, Gershwin uses “upbeat emphasis” and “phrases starting from upbeat emphasis”. Although Gershwin’s harmony fusing with jazz shapes special sounds, its function on the holistic design is to produce musical color and increase melody texture, especially to form interest by making corresponding variations under repetitive melody phrases. In Gershwin’s music processing, the dominance of the harmony is inferior to that of the melody. In the end, this paper makes comparison between Gershwin’s work and Copland’s “Concerto for Piano and Orchestra mov.2”. The analysis shows that, different composers, who choose the same elements in the same period of time, do not necessarily present the same strategies of style. Therefore, the particularity of Gershwin’s strategies of style is examined.
Subjects
暗示與實現
策略
風格
旋律修辭學
《藍色狂想曲》
《F調鋼琴協奏曲》
Implication-realization
Strategy
Style
Musical Poetics
“Rhapsody in Blue”
“Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra”
“An American in Paris”
Type
other