Details
[GERSHWIN, GEORGE]. An elaborate decorative menu from a Paris restaurant, Le Pie, boldly inscribed and signed by George Gershwin and various friends and dinner guests. [Paris], 27 March 1928. 2 pages, oblong, 11 x 12¾ in., one side with the restaurant's sign printed in gold, black, pink and green, and a detailed menu in blue and red ink, bottom margin trimmed, double-glazed and framed.
AMERICANS IN PARIS, 1927
An exuberant memento of George and Ira Gershwin's 1927 European trip, which marked the genesis of the orchestral score Gershwin titled "An American in Paris." On the back of the elegant lithographed menu, in a very bold hand, George has written "George Gershwin - pronounced Garshwank." At the top left he has recorded the presence of his brother and sister-in-law: "Ira Gershwin & Leonore " followed by a list of the meal: "Hors d'oeuvres Filet Mignon Fried onions Beer (plenty) Pêche Melba Chicory." Other dinner guests who have signed the back of the menu included Phil Berman "from Chicago," Mabel and Robert Schirmer, and Frances (Frankie) Gershwin, sister of George and Ira.
Gershwin and his party had traveled first to London, to see a production of "Oh, Kay!" and in Paris attended performances of Rhapsody in Blue and the Concerto in F. At the time of his Paris trip, the composer had completed some preliminary sketches for his new composition. An American in Paris, which attempted to portray in sound the kaleidoscopic impressions of a Yankee in the City of Light, was premiered at Carnegie Hall, with Walter Damrosch conducting, on 13 December 1928.
AMERICANS IN PARIS, 1927
An exuberant memento of George and Ira Gershwin's 1927 European trip, which marked the genesis of the orchestral score Gershwin titled "An American in Paris." On the back of the elegant lithographed menu, in a very bold hand, George has written "George Gershwin - pronounced Garshwank." At the top left he has recorded the presence of his brother and sister-in-law: "Ira Gershwin & Leonore " followed by a list of the meal: "Hors d'oeuvres Filet Mignon Fried onions Beer (plenty) Pêche Melba Chicory." Other dinner guests who have signed the back of the menu included Phil Berman "from Chicago," Mabel and Robert Schirmer, and Frances (Frankie) Gershwin, sister of George and Ira.
Gershwin and his party had traveled first to London, to see a production of "Oh, Kay!" and in Paris attended performances of Rhapsody in Blue and the Concerto in F. At the time of his Paris trip, the composer had completed some preliminary sketches for his new composition. An American in Paris, which attempted to portray in sound the kaleidoscopic impressions of a Yankee in the City of Light, was premiered at Carnegie Hall, with Walter Damrosch conducting, on 13 December 1928.