George Gershwin (1898–1937) was born in Brooklyn, New York, of Russian Jewish parents. Music in various forms was the most important part of his short life. He wrote many songs and shows, many of which are still popular today. Although Gershwin had a great interest in classical music and attended concerts by noted artists, especially pianists, astsoundingly he had no formal training in composition.

Crawford's arrangement was crafted for an organ likely to be found in the typical theatre or auditorium. Although his recording, which you may hear below, was made on a IV/36 Wurlitzer organ, the written arrangement was designed for the more often found two-manual variety. This is a true theatre organ arrangement, and it uses the terminology of that instrument. This moderately difficult to difficult arrangement contains the best known themes in the Rhapsody. You need the dexterity to play the runs (remember the clarinet solo at the beginning?) and some three and four note chords in quick succession.