The great cities of Europe tower in our collective imagination. From the romance of Paris to rain-whipped winding streets of London, classical composers have long found inspiration in their rarified urban environs. In the early 20th century especially, three composers transformed three great European cities into music. George Gershwin, Ottorino Respighi, and Edward Elgar each created pieces that serve as musical postcards of the great cities of their times, blending context and atmosphere with a touch of humor and plenty of local color. In today’s Classical Considerations, we’re taking a stroll through Paris, Rome, and London as heard through their notes.

Paris, 1928 – George Gershwin’s An American in Paris

In the Roaring Twenties, Americans flocked to Paris for art and adventure. George Gershwin was one of them; a New Yorker enthralled by the romantic promise of the City of Light. He arrived eager to learn from the great French composers, chief among them the great Maurice Ravel who was in his heyday. Gershwin learned everything he could, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Ravel, Stravinsky, and Milhaud amid the café chatter and cabaret. Little wonder he decided to channel the sights and energy of the French capital into a new orchestral piece.

Gershwin’s An American in Paris is exactly what its title promises: a musical stroll through Paris from the perspective of a wide-eyed visitor. The piece opens lightheartedly, as if our American protagonist steps onto a Paris boulevard on a sunny morning. Gershwin even went so far as to import actual Parisian taxi horns for the premiere. The music alternates between bustling café scenes and more reflective moments, giving the piece a natural heartbeat not unlike the city itself.

Rome, 1916 – Ottorino Respighi’s The Fountains of Rome

If Gershwin brought city noise into the concert hall, Ottorino Respighi brought in the waterworks. In 1916, while World War I raged, Respighi turned inward to celebrate the timeless beauty of his city, Rome, through its famous fountains. He had moved to Rome a few years prior (taking a post at the conservatory) and was struck by the city’s rich history and tragic beauty. The Fountains of Rome (Fontane di Roma) became the first of his celebrated “Roman trilogy” of tone poems.

Respighi’s idea was simple: four Roman fountains, each at a different time of day, each with its own mood. The music is like an audio tour of the Eternal City from dawn to dusk. At dawn, we visit the secluded Villa Giulia fountain. The orchestra awakens gently; the soft glow of horns suggesting cattle ambling by in the early morning mist. By mid-morning we’re at the Triton Fountain in Piazza Barberini. This Baroque masterpiece by Bernini features a sea-god blowing a conch shell, and Respighi’s dances accordingly with playful woodwinds conjuring water spraying upward. Come noon, it’s off to the grand Trevi Fountain. Here Respighi pulls out all the stops: the orchestra erupts in a majestic swell, brass blazing like the midday sun over the swirling waters. After the pomp and circumstance, evening falls at the quiet Villa Medici fountain. The sun sets in the music with a tender, reflective tone; delicate harp arpeggios and trills in the woodwinds give a sense of night air filled with the rustle of trees and distant bird songs. Stars begin to twinkle and the city that was so alive at noon now closes its eyes peacefully.

London, 1901 – Edward Elgar’s Cockaigne (In London Town)

Last but not least, we journey to turn-of-the-century London with Sir Edward Elgar. Elgar’s Cockaigne overture is a big, jubilant homage to the capital city of his homeland. Composed in 1901, the piece celebrates the London of the Edwardian era. The title Cockaigne refers to a medieval mythical land of plenty (think “the land of milk and honey”), which over time became a nickname for London’s delights. Elgar described the overture as “cheerful and Londony… stout and steaky… honest, healthy, humorous, and strong, but not vulgar.”

Elgar’s overture sketches London as a quick-changing sequence of street scenes. It opens with a brisk theme that gives way to a broad, noble melody (an idea he said came to him while staring at the memorials in Guildhall on a dreary day). The mood then shifts to a gentle “Lovers’ Romance”, followed by a flash of youthful mischief and the swagger of a military band passing by. A brief hush marks our entry into a church, marked by organ-like chords and distant bells, before the city noise returns. In the finale, Elgar pulls all these threads together—the noble, the romantic, the rowdy—into a jubilant conclusion.

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From the jazzy boulevards of Gershwin’s Paris to Respighi’s shimmering fountains and Elgar’s bustling London streets, composers have long captured the character of cities in sound. These works don’t just describe urban life—they animate it. We hear not only melodies but street noise, sunlight, water, footsteps, flirtation, pride. They remind us that classical music has always been as much about the present moment as the mythic past, and that composers can be great chroniclers of modernity—its chaos, its charm, and its particular light. Cities change. Decades pass. But thanks to Gershwin, Respighi, and Elgar, we can still walk their streets.

—Matthew Young

Many of the composers featured above, including George Gershwin, Ottorino Respighi, and Edward Elgar, are featured regularly on TheClassicalStation.org. Take a look at our Fall 2025 Highlights to see when to tune in, or request a piece directly via one of our Request Programs!