Page "An American in Paris" Paragraph 7

The piece is structured into five sections, which culminate in a loose ABA format.

Gershwin's first A episode introduces the two main " walking " themes in the " Allegretto grazioso " and develops a third theme in the " Subito con brio ".

The style of this A section is written in the typical French style of composers Claude Debussy and Les Six.

This A section featured duple meter, singsong rhythms, and diatonic melodies with the sounds of oboe, English horn, and taxi horns.

The B section's " Andante ma con ritmo deciso " introduces the American Blues and spasms of homesickness.

The " Allegro " that follows continues to express homesickness in a faster twelve-bar blues.

In the B section, Gershwin uses common time, syncopated rhythms, and bluesy melodies with the sounds of trumpet, saxophone, and snare drum.

" Moderato con grazia " is the last A section that returns to the themes set in A.

After recapitulating the " walking " themes, Gershwin overlays the slow blues theme from section B in the final “ Grandioso .”