Q 01/05

Who composed Rhapsody in Blue?

A) Aaron Copland

B) Irving Berlin

C) Cole Porter

D) George Gershwin

Answer · why

D) George Gershwin

He also played the piano at the premiere, partly improvising his own solo.

Q 02/05

In what year did Rhapsody in Blue premiere?

A) 1924

B) 1928

C) 1935

D) 1941

Answer · why

A) 1924

The concert was held on Lincoln's Birthday, February 12, on a snowy Tuesday afternoon.

Q 03/05

Which bandleader commissioned Rhapsody in Blue?

A) Duke Ellington

B) Benny Goodman

C) Paul Whiteman

D) Glenn Miller

Answer · why

C) Paul Whiteman

He later made it his band's theme song, opening his radio shows with the slogan 'Everything new but the Rhapsody in Blue'.

Q 04/05

Which instrument plays the famous opening glissando of Rhapsody in Blue?

A) Trumpet

B) Saxophone

C) Trombone

D) Clarinet

Answer · why

D) Clarinet

One critic called the opening as instantly recognisable as the start of Beethoven's Fifth.

Q 05/05

How did the opening glissando come about?

A) Gershwin heard a train whistle and copied it

B) Whiteman's clarinetist stretched the notes as a joke

C) It was lifted from a Stravinsky ballet score

D) Grofe added it to cover a slow page turn

Answer · why

B) Whiteman's clarinetist stretched the notes as a joke

Ross Gorman's jazzy gag on the written 17-note scale delighted Gershwin, who asked him to keep it in.