We've borrowed our title from the 1941 jazz standard, but what is a rhapsody? In music, Grove defines a rhapsody as "an episodic instrumental composition of indefinite form." The word originates in the epic poetry of Ancient Greece, although the musical origins are traced back only as far as humble ballads in 18th century Hausmusik. Rhapsodies came to be based on popular and folk melodies, and composers in the 19th century began writing Rhapsodies for chamber music and large-scale nationalistic orchestral epics. There are Hungarian Rhapsodies, Slavonic Rhapsodies, Blue Rhapsodies, Rhapsodies of Fire, and Bohemian Rhapsodies. Spend a week with us as Bill riffs on rhapsodies. Episode 5 of 5.