In the 1920s, Paris exerted a powerful fascination on American artists—writers, painters, and musicians alike. George Gershwin was no exception. Like his contemporary Cole Porter, he was drawn to the city’s energy, elegance, and modern spirit. While Porter celebrated Paris mainly through song, Gershwin turned to the symphonic orchestra and composed his most ambitious orchestral work, An American in Paris , as a musical reflection of his own experiences in the French capital. The work was first performed in 1928 at Carnegie Hall in New York under the direction of Walter Damrosch. Twenty years later, it inspired the celebrated Hollywood film An American in Paris , starring Gene Kelly, further cementing the piece’s place in cultural history. A symphonic poem An American in Paris is conceived as a symphonic poem . Rather than narrating a fixed story, Gershwin evokes images, sounds, and emotional states associated with the city, filtered through the perspective of an American visitor....
Exploring the World of Music, One Work at a Time.