Ferde Grofé (1892-1972); USA   

Ferde Grofé (1892-1972) was a pioneering jazz arranger and, like Gershwin, successfully made the transition from popular music into the concert hall. Beginning his career in Los Angeles in 1910, Grofé worked for San Francisco-based bandleader Art Hickman as an arranger before famously joining Paul Whiteman in 1920. Grofé orchestrated Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and composed perennials such as Mississippi Suite (1926) and Grand Canyon Suite (1931) before leaving Whiteman in 1932. Although his conservative style fell out of favor in the mid-century, Grofé foreshadowed the extremes of volume and masterfully colorful orchestration reintroduced by American composers from the 1990s.

© Uncle Dave Lewis , Rovi

Below are works by F.Grofé that every music lover should explore: