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.
But Not for Me is a popular song originally written by George and Ira Gershwin for the musical Girl Crazy (1930), where it was introduced by Ginger Rogers in her Broadway debut. For the 1943 film Girl Crazy it was sung by Judy Garland.
It has become one of the perennial classics and has been recorded by a number of popular singers. Most famous is Ella Fitzgerald’s 1959 version. It appeared on Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Songbook, and won the 1960 Grammy Award for Best Female Vocal Performance.
Famous instrumental versions have been made by Chet Baker on trumpet as well as by John Coltrane on tenor saxophone.
Non-copyright lyrics by Ira Gershwin are available here:
The sound clip is computer generated using sampled sounds (AI). Transcriptions and descriptions are not AI generated.
Set contains one score and one copy of each part downloaded as one A4 format PDF file. Copying allowed by acquiring band for their performances only.
The composition entered public domain in USA on January 1, 2026 due to copyright expiry of printed matter. It is also public domain where rule of the shorter term is applied, such as in Norway, UK and the EU.
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).
Non-copyright lyrics by Ira Gershwin are available here: 
