大象传媒

Chris de Souza investigates the very first example of crossover music, Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. It was commissioned by the great jazz bandleader Paul Whiteman for what he described as an "experiment in modern music" - a programme of symphonic jazz, which he put on at New York's Carnegie Hall. It has been described as "the finest piece of serious music that had ever come out of America; moreover the most effective concerto for piano and orchestra since Tchaikovsky's." Music examples are played by the 大象传媒 National Orchestra of Wales with pianist Jack Gibbons conducted by Eric Stern.