George Gershwin (1898–1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs Swanee (1919) and Fascinating Rhythm (1924). Later came the orchestral compositions Rhapsody in Blue (1924), An American in Paris (1928), and the opera Porgy and Bess (1935).
As early as 1924, he collaborated with his brother Ira Gershwin (1896–1983) on a stage musical comedy Lady Be Good, followed by Oh, Kay! (1926), Funny Face (1927) and Strike Up the Band (1927 and 1930).
Notwithstanding Ira’s longevity, these early collaborations are now in the public domain due to the 95-year copyright expiry of printed matter in the U.S.
Three Preludes is a collection of short piano pieces, first performed by the composer at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City in 1926. Each prelude is a well-known example of early-20th-century American classical music, as influenced by jazz.
Gershwin originally planned to compose 24 preludes, much like Chopin did but in a different style. The number was reduced to seven in manuscript form, and only three were published. Most of the remaining ones were re-arranged.
Gershwin himself referred to the second Prelude as ‘a sort of blues lullaby’ due to its distinct flavour of jazz. The harmonies and melodies are built on thirds, emphasizing both the interval of the seventh and the major/minor duality of the blues scale.
The sound clip is computer generated using sampled sounds (AI). Transcriptions and descriptions are not AI generated.
Set contains one score and one of each part, as download or on paper. Copying allowed by acquiring band for their performances only. Additional copies may be obtained from the J. W. Pepper webshop.
George Gershwin (1898–1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs Swanee (1919) and Fascinating Rhythm (1924). Later came the orchestral compositions Rhapsody in Blue (1924), An American in Paris (1928), and the opera Porgy and Bess (1935).
