This video selection was recorded, but not used, in Episode #24 in the Midnight Pipes t.v. series (1996-2002). The site for this episode was a unique one. Dr. Bruce Belshaw, a Denver physician, built his upscale mansion home in Denver around a 22-rank 3-manual Wurlitzer theater organ. It was an immaculate installation. Dr. Belshaw's son, Don, was an organ builder and an organ tech with Morel & Associates in Denver at that time, and he made sure that everything about the pipe organ in his father's home was absolutely first-class!

The complete Midnight Pipes Episode 24 can be viewed in its entirety here on Vimeo at: [ Ссылка ]

The aired episode #24 featured interviews and performances from Dr. Bruce Belshaw and from Denver theater organist Bob Castle. Also, the aired episode contained a behind-the-scene tour of the working of the installed Wurlitzer organ by Don Belshaw. The original plan for the episode was for program host Frederick Hohman to also appear in performance, in an abbreviated arrangement and organ transcription, made by renowned theater organist Jesse Crawford, of George Gershwin’s 1924 classic: “Rhapsody in Blue.” Jesse Crawford’s theater organ arrangement was penned shortly following the original premiere of “Rhapsode in Blue” which occurred in Aeolian Hall in New York City on February 12, 1924. The score to Mr. Crawford’s arrangement was published by Harms, Inc., in 1927, and today a reprint of that organ score may be obtained through Michael’s Music Service in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Due to tight time constraints imposed by local and network broadcasters, to have included Hohman’s performance would have taken the episode duration well over the 28-3/4 minutes time limit. Soon after this video was recorded (May 3, 1999) produced Hohman was advised that the Gershwin work would have been expensive to license for television broadcast, as it was still protected by copyright in the year 1999. With the license cost beyond the reach of the limited production budget, this performance was cut from the episode and placed into long-term archive. Today, in 2023, and with "Rhapsody in Blue" soon to celebrate its 100-year anniversary since its premiere, coming up in mid-February, 2024, the Gershwin work is surely now in the public domain, and so we present it here for your enjoyment!

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