Concerto in F

Gershwin’s Concerto in F marks a decisive step in his development as a composer. A contemporary reporter, present at an early rehearsal, remembered the composer using his pipe almost like a baton when the orchestra failed to find the music’s swing. The advance is evident not only in the orchestration, but also in the confident handling of thematic material: Gershwin’s concert language had grown broader, more assured and more completely his own.