Blue Monday (Opera la Afro-American) was the original name of a one-act "jazz opera" by George Gershwin, renamed 135th Street during a later production. The English libretto was written by Buddy DeSylva. Though a short piece, with a running time of between twenty and thirty minutes, Blue Monday is often considered the blueprint to many of Gershwin's later works, and is often considered to be the "first piece of symphonic jazz" in that it was the first significant attempt to fuse forms of classical music such as opera with American popular music, with the opera largely influenced by Jazz and the African-American culture of Harlem.
Librettist | Buddy DeSylva |
Tempo | Moderato |
Date of composition | 1922 (1925 re-orchestrated by Ferde Grofé) |
Premiered | 1922 in New Haven, Conn, United States |
Type | Opera |
Tonality | C Major |
Approx. duration | 23 minutes |
Spoken language | English |
Instruments |
Voice (Tenor)
- Joe, a gambler
Voice (Soprano) - Lyric soprano ; Vi, his sweetheart Voice (Baritone) - Tom, café entertainer and singer Voice (Bass) - Mike, café proprietor and manager Voice (Baritone) - Sam, café worker and custodian Piano - Sweetpea, café pianist Chorus/Choir |
Arrangements |
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George Gershwin: Blue Monday
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Autotranslations beta |
George Gershwin: Blue Monday (135th Street) en do majeur George Gershwin: Blue Monday (135th Street) in do maggiore George Gershwin: Blue Monday (135th Street) C-dur |