Ferde Grofé was born Ferdinand Rudolph Von Grofé in New York City on
March 27, 1892. He began to study the violin and piano early. During his
adolescence he became a member of the viola section of the Los Angeles
Philharmonic. While engaged in serious music he started playing with
jazz ensembles. Before long he formed one of his own, for which he made
all the arrangements, and whose performances attracted considerable
interest among jazz devotees. Paul Whiteman was one of those who was
impressed by Grofé’s brand of jazz. In 1919 he hired Grofé to play the
piano in, and make all the arrangements for, the Paul Whiteman
Orchestra. Grofé worked for Whiteman for a dozen years, a period during
which he prepared most of the arrangements used by Whiteman, including
that of George Gershwin’s historic _Rhapsody in Blue_ at its world
première in 1924. In 1924, Grofé wrote his first symphonic composition
in a jazz style, _Broadway at Night_. One year later, came the
_Mississippi Suite_, his first success. In 1931 he scored a triumph with
the _Grand Canyon Suite_, still his most celebrated composition. After
1931, Grofé toured the country as conductor of his own orchestra, making
numerous appearances in public and over the radio. From 1939 to 1942 he
taught orchestration at the Juilliard School of Music in New York and in
1941 he began an eight-year contract with the Standard Oil Company of
California to conduct the San Francisco Symphony over the radio. Grofé
has also written music for motion pictures and special works for
industry.
With Gershwin, Grofé has been an outstanding composer of symphonic music
utilizing jazz and other popular styles and idioms. He is distinguished
for his remarkable skill at orchestration, which frequently employs
non-musical devices for special effects—for example, a typewriter in
_Tabloid_, pneumatic drills in _Symphony in Steel_, a bicycle pump in
_Free Air_, shouts and door-banging in _Hollywood Suite_, and the sound
of bouncing bowling balls in _Hudson River Suite_.
The _Grand Canyon Suite_ (1931), Grofé’s most significant composition as
well as the most famous, is an orchestral description in five movements
of one of America’s natural wonders. The first movement, “Sunrise,”
opens with a timpani roll to suggest the break of dawn over the canyon.
The main melody depicting the sunrise itself is heard in muted trumpet
against a chordal background. As the movement progresses, the music
becomes increasingly luminous, until the sun finally erupts into full
resplendence. “The Painted Desert” is an atmospheric tone picture.
Nebulous chords suggest an air of mystery before a sensual melodic
section unfolds. “On the Trail” is the most popular movement of the
suite, having for many years been expropriated as the identifying
theme-signature for the Philip Morris radio program. An impulsive,
restless rhythm brings us a picture of a jogging burro. A cowboy tune is
then set contrapuntally against this rhythm. In “Sunset” animal calls
precede a poignant melody that speaks about the peace and serenity that
descend on the canyon at sunset. “Cloudburst” is the concluding movement
in which a violent storm erupts, lashes the canyon with its fury, and
then subsides. Tranquillity now returns, and the canyon is once more
surrounded by breathless and quiet beauty.
The _Hudson River Suite_ (1955) was written for André Kostelanetz, the
conductor, who introduced the work in Washington, D.C. This music
provides five different aspects of the mighty river in New York, and its
associations with American history. The river itself is described in the
opening movement, “The River.” This is followed by a portrait of Henry
Hudson. The colonial times and the land of Rip Van Winkle are discussed
in the third movement, “Rip Van Winkle,” while in “Albany Night Boat,” a
delightful account is given of New York in years gone by, when a holiday
trip on the boat was a favorite pastime of New York couples. The suite
ends with “New York” a graphic etching of the metropolis along the
Hudson.
The _Mississippi Suite_ (1925)—like its eminent successor, the _Grand
Canyon Suite_—was written for Paul Whiteman, who introduced it in
Carnegie Hall. The first movement, “Father of the Waters” has a melody
of an American-Indian identity representing the river. In “Huckleberry
Finn,” the character of the boy is suggested by a jazz motive in the
tuba, later amplified into a spacious jazz melody for strings. “Old
Creole Days” highlights a Negro melody in muted trumpet soon taken over
by different sections of the orchestra. The closing movement is the
suite’s best known section and the composer’s own favorite among his
compositions. Called “Mardi Gras” it is a lively and colorful picture of
carnival time in New Orleans. A rhythmic passage with which the movement
opens serves as the preface to an eloquent melody for strings.