I heard Jeffrey Biegel, one of the principle figures in this latest
Gershwin chapter, interviewed on CBC radio this week.  He indicated that
no one really knew which version of Rhapsody in Blue was performed at
Aeolian Hall in 1924, the "standard" one or the newly discovered "full-
length" version.  I really squirmed when I heard Mr. Biegel comment that
this new "authentic" version sounded so much more complete, fulfilling,
artistically satisfying, etc.

Without some corroborating testimony or documentation, there is little
reason to assume that Gershwin and Grofe' preferred, or ever even per-
formed, the longer version.  Both of those men had plenty of experience
writing out orchestral parts.  If the publisher deleted four minutes, and
George had really wanted it back in, he would have just written out the
parts and handed them to the musicians.  That's what conductors,
composers and soloists do for a living.

It is also noteworthy that the Duo-Art performance by Gershwin _does not_
include the extra four minutes, much of which is solo piano in the "re-
discovered" orchestral version.  I think it is far more likely that the
version that we have been hearing for seventy years (with the exception
of the 1924 and 1927 12" 78-rpm recordings, which _are_ short) is exactly
what the composer intended as the final work of art.

Can you imagine what it would be like if we had to endure the complete,
original, unexpurgated version of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, with every
single scrap and fragment that Beethoven had ever written in preparation
for the actual twenty or so minutes of music?  We'd be sitting in the
concert hall for seven hours.

Cheers

Doug Rhodes

 [ Isn't it true that the early performances were from the hand-
 [ written parts arranged by Grofe'?  It would follow that the
 [ publisher had *no* editing to perform -- Gershwin and Grofe'
 [ had already polished the work.  I, too, support the premise that
 [ the composer and arranger, both masters of their craft, knew
 [ what they were doing and purposefully deleted the 4-minutes
 [ of music, possibly because it was an un-needed distraction.
 [ -- Robbie