George Gershwin
Cuban Overture
Throughout his tragically brief career, George Gershwin effortlessly blurred the lines between serious and popular composition. Beginning with the song “Swanee,” popularized by Al Jolson in 1920, Gershwin and lyricist brother Ira quickly proved themselves to be one of the most prolific and talented songwriting teams in the history of popular music. Just as quickly, George began writing compositions for the classical music hall, with his acclaimed Rhapsody in Blue premiering in 1924. Though he never composed a truly large-scale classical work such as a symphony, Gershwin’s interest in rhythmic and harmonic complexities, and his ability to popularize them, surely formed a bridge between American musical tastes and the world of Schönberg and Stravinsky.
By the winter of 1931, however, Gershwin was immersed in the popular: his musical Of Thee I Sing and the movie Delicious, for which he wrote the soundtrack, both premiered in December, followed by the premiere of his Second Rhapsody in January of 1932. The composer needed a break, so he and some friends spent part of February in Havana, Cuba. Gershwin described their time clubbing and dancing in the fabled Havana nightspots as “two hysterical weeks in Cuba, where no sleep was had.”
But of course, he couldn’t ignore the music and rhythms all around him, especially the ubiquitous street musicians and the Cuban dances played in the clubs. He was intrigued by several local percussion instruments not then well-known in the U.S., and brought home claves (what he called Cuban Sticks), bongos, maracas, and a gourd — as well as an idea for an orchestral work. He began writing in July, completing the piece in August, just in time for a premiere at the first All-Gershwin concert on August 16, 1932. The concert, held by the New York Philharmonic at Lewisohn Stadium, was a huge success (and became an annual event). Gershwin wrote that it was “the most exciting night I have ever had … 17,845 people paid to get in and just about 5,000 were at the closed gates trying to fight their way in.”
The new work, which at its first performance bore the title Rumba, was met favorably by critics. Gershwin conducted the piece at a benefit concert at the Metropolitan Opera three months later, renaming it Cuban Overture to avoid giving audience members the idea that it was simply a novelty item. “Cuban Overture gives a more just idea of the character and intent of the music,” he explained then. His intent, in fact, was to “embody the essence of the Cuban dance.” He also evidently wanted to teach Americans about Cuban percussion; he drew pictures of the four Cuban percussion instruments on the opening page of the score, and instructed that these instruments and their players be placed at the front of the orchestra during the performance, near the conductor’s stand.
The overture is in A-B-A form, with a forte introduction that segues to the development of two themes that are connected by a “three-part contrapuntal episode,” as Gershwin wrote in his program notes. The rhythms are unmistakably those of Cuban dance. A solo clarinet introduces the slower middle section, which is accompanied by claves and bongo. The lush string writing reminds one of Gershwin’s 1928 work, An American in Paris, but the harmonic complexities bear evidence of the more advanced compositional techniques that Gershwin had recently begun studying with teacher Joseph Schillinger. This section builds to a march-like climax, then the piece breaks once again into dance. “The finale,” Gershwin wrote, “is a development of the preceding material in a stretto-like manner … [concluding with] a coda featuring the Cuban instruments of percussion.” The brass section gets a chance to shine in brilliant rhythmic figures as the work comes to an exuberant finish.