Rhapsody in Blue

Transcription for clarinet and piano by Frédéric Cellier (full edition)PressFrench clarinetist Frédéric Cellier has followed in the footsteps of George Gershwin's original orchestrator, Ferde Grofé, in presenting Gershwin's masterwork in a new concert guise. Cellier's full page written introduction to this transcription recounts Gershwin's compositional inspirations and the importance to him of the clarinet as well as the piano. Cellier's version retains the entire form of the well-known Grofé orchestration and, for the most part, retains the solo piano's writing in the clarinet/piano version. Smartly, Cellier does occasionally move melodic writing from the piano into the clarinet to more equally balance the role of clarinet and piano. The clarinet plays the expected licks and the main melodic lines whether they are from woodwind, string or brass in Grofé's familiar version. Both musicians will be very busy from start to finish, even the more so if the clarinetist takes the bass clarinet option in place of clarinet for two sixteenmeasure sections. Have fun! Gregory Barrett The Clarinet, quarterly of the International Clarinet Association