Who composed the 1928 symphonic poem An American in Paris?
An American in Paris in the score as we hear it today. Harry James released a version of the blues section on his 1953 album "One Night Stand," recorded live at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago (Columbia GL 522 and CL 522). In 1951, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released the musical film "An American in Paris", featuring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron. Winning the 1951 Best Picture Oscar and numerous other awards, the film was directed by Vincente Minnelli, featured many tunes of Gershwin, and concluded with an extensive, elaborate dance sequence built around the "An American in Paris" symphonic poem (arranged for the film by Johnny
Symphonic poem with nationalism, it still had a well-established tradition of narrative and illustrative music reaching back to Berlioz and Félicien David. For this reason, French composers were attracted to the poetic elements of the symphonic poem. In fact, César Franck had written an orchestral piece based on Hugo's poem "Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne" before Liszt did so himself as his first numbered symphonic poem. The symphonic poem came into vogue in France in the 1870s, supported by the newly founded Société Nationale and its promotion of younger French composers. In the year after its foundation, 1872, Camille Saint-Saëns composed