13'11"

 The piece of music that did more than any other to make me a Classical Head instead of a Rock Head (though I play both as well as I can) was Rhapsody in Blue, and the performance that put it in my heart was Gershwin's own expressive piano roll.

Fifty, fifty-one years ago, I came across a set of LPs that Dad had of reproducing roll performances by Gershwin, Ravel, Prokofieff, and other legends of the keyboard. Gershwin's roll represented the composer's choices for tempo and other things, as well as his phenomenal skill.

Somewhat impressively, he sat down and overdubbed part of the roll, covering the thickest parts of the score, matching the tempos and keeping the live feeling. As a bonus, it has sections that aren't included in the solo piano score published by Warners. I was to learn why later.

I can tell you now, though. Everybody loved this piece, but they also felt like it could be cut at will without losing anything. Leonard Bernstein, in a tribute that feels patronizing, says it's just wonderful how we can cut this and that from it, and it's still enough, right?

And cut they do, possibly because Gershwin was eager enough to get the piece recorded that he agreed to set it down on a single disk, even if that meant cutting between a third and a half out and joining the bits with fillers that I hope came from the composer, at least.

For reasons of time (Whiteman had announced a concert piece premiere that Gershwin hadn't agreed to), Whiteman had the composer provide a two-piano (partial) sketch that Ferde Grofe would then orchestrate for the concert. This worked out, and Whiteman decided that, therefore...

...he, Paul Whiteman, was henceforward entitled to have his guy touch up and abridge every concert work Gershwin wrote, but that's another story, and he seems to have cut it out after a while, but not until making an 'alternate' Concerto in F at two thirds the length.

Anyway, I started 'working' on the piece while still in high school, and have subjected any number of ears to the work in progress over the years. As my technique has improved, I am finally where I can believe I'll be able to overcome all the wrong stuff I taught myself...

...and be able to simply sit down and play the whole thing when I want to hear it. Last night, I traversed the score of the familiar blue-cover version published by Warner, reaching the end without disaster. And PARTS OF IT WERE GOOD. I plan to improve what I can do. Here's hope.