Ferdinand Rudolph von Grofé (27 March 1892 – 3 April 1972), commonly credited as Ferde Grofé, was an American musician who worked as a composer, arranger and pianist. He wrote several orchestral pieces and popular arrangements; among them, the 1931 five-part orchestral work Grand Canyon Suite and the orchestration used at the 1924 premiere of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue are the best known.
Career overview
Grofé built a varied career as a performer and behind-the-scenes arranger. He produced arrangements for dance and symphonic ensembles and served as a pianist in a range of settings. His arranging work brought him into contact with leading popular and concert musicians of the 1920s and 1930s.
Major works
Two of Grofé's works have remained in the public eye:
- Grand Canyon Suite (1931) — a five-movement orchestral depiction of the American West. The movements are commonly given the descriptive titles "Sunrise," "Painted Desert," "On the Trail," "Sunset," and "Cloudburst."
- Orchestration of Rhapsody in Blue — Grofé prepared the orchestral scoring that was used for the piece's first public performance in 1924, collaborating with George Gershwin to adapt the work for orchestra and jazz band forces.
Name and later life
In the 1920s and 1930s he was sometimes billed as Ferdie Grofé. Over subsequent decades his compositions and arrangements were recorded and performed intermittently; he died in 1972.
Legacy
Grofé is remembered for bridging popular and orchestral music: his suites and dance-orchestra arrangements contributed to the sound of American concert and theater music in the early 20th century. The Grand Canyon Suite remains a standard in concert repertoire and his orchestration of Rhapsody in Blue is the version most often heard in historical performances of the work.