Way back in July 2008 Gershwin's divine Concerto in F was a featured clip, followed a few years later (2012) by his glorious opera, Porgy and Bess. The work that really got Gershwin thinking about the possibility of writing larger-form "serious" types of pieces was, of course, the Rhapsody in Blue, one of his most famous and oft-performed pieces, written in a mere few months. The first performance of the work also became one of the most famous concerts in history, and there have been a few (one thinks, for example, of the 22 December 1808 Beethoven concert which saw the premiere of both the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, the Fourth Piano Concerto, and the Choral Fantasy, among other works). The Gershwin was commissioned by Paul Whiteman, he of the famous Paul Whiteman Orchestra, which was, of course, a jazz group. The concert, on 12 February 1924, was billed as "An Experiment in Modern Music," and the piece, orchestrated by Ferde Grofé, featured Gershwin as the soloist. To say the work was received well is an understatement; the concert had to be repeated several times, Gershwin and Whiteman recorded it, and, much to Gershwin's surprise, the piece became beloved by "the masses."

Grofé orchestrated it, but he did so at least three times, actually. The last of these, for full orchestra, is the best-known version, by far. But Michael Tilson Thomas and the Los Angeles Philharmonic bring us this delightful recording with the original 1924 orchestration. Delight in the swoop of the opening clarinet lick in this month's clip, surely the most famous one of its kind in the repertoire.