Study On Pitch Organizations Of George Gershwin's Concerto In F

Concerto in F is the first "Symphony Jazz" composed by American composer George Gershwin on his own.As a "Reverse Product" bought by European composer during a visit to the United States from the end of 19th to the beginning of 20th Century,it has been widely attracted.However,a depth research on pitch organization has not been found so far,the extremely important style cause,though large numbers of studies have been reported about this work from the aspects of humanistic background,performance skill or rhythm.Therefore,based on the special compose experience of Gershwin gradually transformed from a "Jazzer" to a professional composer,the melody line,Blues mode,chord construction and harmony progression are rationally analyzed and summarized in this thesis,by using the Jazz theory preliminarily formed in 1920s-1930s and the traditional compose theory at the same time.As a result,the logic and technique of classical music covered with the tag of "Jazz" were revealed,which facilitates further understanding the style characteristic both of "Popular" and "Classical".There are two parts in this thesis,i.e.introduction and main contents including four chapters.In the introduction,the reason of writing this thesis was given.The creation background of Concerto in F was firstly reviewed.Then,emphasis was focused on the recent research progress about this work and its composer.Finally,the research proposal for this thesis is presented.In chapter 1,Blues modes in Concerto in F and various kinds of voice lines consisted of different Blues modes were observed.And the Blues mode is proven to be the only mode used in this concerto,though some parts of this work seems to be western major and minor.In chapter 2,the special chords with the vertical structure were listed and discussed in detail.Most of the structure could be found to be evolved from the Blues modes,apart from satisfying the need of embellishment.Thus,in general,pure Jazz style has been ensured on a static mode due to these structures.In chapter 3,the pitch materials of the work were divide into two types,present parts and connected parts,according to harmony progression.It is obvious that the present parts have stronger functional and more typical Jazz style than the connected parts.Meanwhile,every connected part also provide the motivated preparation for the following present part.The above general model of pitch materials could be clearly illustrated with a diagram.In chapter 4,the tonality of the work was found to develop in a nearly symmetrical way around F,and it always periodically regress to F after deviation appears.The above tonality arrangement common seen both in the classical and the romantic period preserves the balance for the whole pitch materials.So,Concerto in F is not only a expanded "Jazz",but also a "Classical" meeting its various logical requirements.