Editing Rhapsody in Blue (section)

==== Retrospective reviews ====
Years after its premiere, ''Rhapsody in Blue'' continued to divide music critics principally due to its perceived melodic incoherence.{{sfn|Schneider|1999|p=182}}{{sfn|Wyatt|Johnson|2004|p=297}}{{sfn|Schiff|1997|p=4}} [[Constant Lambert]], a British composer whose oeuvre often incorporated jazz elements, openly dismissed the work:

{{Blockquote|The composer [George Gershwin], trying to write a [[Franz Liszt|Lisztian concerto]] in a jazz style, has used only the non-barbaric elements in dance music, the result being neither good jazz nor good Liszt, and in no sense of the word a good concerto.{{sfn|Schneider|1999|p=182}}}}

In an article in ''[[The Atlantic Monthly]]'' in 1955, [[Leonard Bernstein]], who nevertheless admitted that he adored the piece,{{sfn|Wyatt|Johnson|2004|p=297}} stated:

{{Blockquote|''Rhapsody in Blue'' is not a real composition in the sense that whatever happens in it must seem inevitable, or even pretty inevitable. You can cut out parts of it without affecting the whole in any way except to make it shorter. You can remove any of these stuck-together sections and the piece still goes on as bravely as before. You can even interchange these sections with one another and no harm done. You can make cuts within a section, or add new cadenzas, or play it with any combination of instruments or on the piano alone; it can be a five-minute piece or a six-minute piece or a twelve-minute piece. And in fact all these things are being done to it every day. It's still the ''Rhapsody in Blue''.{{sfn|Wyatt|Johnson|2004|p=297}}{{sfn|Schiff|1997|p=4}}}}