Ferde Grofé

Ferde Grofé (born March 27, 1892, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died April 3, 1972, Santa Monica, Calif.) was an American composer and arranger known for his orchestral works as well as for his pioneering role in establishing the sound of big band dance music.

Grofé was reared in Los Angeles, where his father was an actor and singer and his mother taught music and played cello. Although his parents had wanted him to study law, he left college to focus on music. By 1908 he was performing as a violinist, violist, and pianist. He played viola with the Los Angeles Symphony from 1909 through 1919; concurrently, he worked with drummer Art Hickman’s orchestra starting in 1914. For Hickman, Grofé conceived arrangements that divided the ensemble into separate brass and reed sections, writing countermelodies to the main melody and using different musical settings for each return of the chorus to a piece. His innovations were an important early step in the development of big band jazz and dance music.

In 1917 Grofé joined the orchestra of Paul Whiteman, serving briefly as band pianist and continuing as one of Whiteman’s main arrangers until 1932. Among his arrangements were the hits “Whispering,” “Japanese Sandman,” and “Three o’Clock in the Morning.” More significantly, he orchestrated George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue for its debut performance with the Whiteman orchestra in 1924. Grofé helped Whiteman realize the goal of combining the rhythms of jazz and dance music with elements of classical music.

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Grofé wrote several original works during his tenure with Whiteman, including Mississippi Suite (1925) and his best-known composition, Grand Canyon Suite (1931), from which the movement “On the Trail” became a jazz standard. After leaving Whiteman, Grofé formed his own orchestra, which often performed for radio. He continued to compose ambitious, picturesque works, including 6 Pictures of Hollywood (1937), Hudson River Suite (1955), Death Valley Suite (1957), and World’s Fair Suite (1964). Grofé also taught at the Juilliard School of Music (1939–42), scored ballets, and wrote the music for several Hollywood films, including Minstrel Man (1944), Time out of Mind (1947), and The Return of Jesse James (1950).