Customer Reviews

The Complete Gershwin Preludes for Piano (Belwin Edition)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

George Gershwin was a tremendously popular composer in the 1920's and 30's. He went beyond just writing popular tunes, and tried to branch out into more serious music. Not to say that the songs he wrote aren't masterpieces in their own right. Listen to the Gershwin Songbook as played by Andre Watts, a concert pianist. The Gershwin songbook contains arrangements of songs by the composer himself. Full of melody, charm and rhythm, true American classics.

The Preludes in this edition are more of the same. With a jazzy feel to them, they are very rewarding to play. They feel different under the hand, and remain a great opportunity for the classically trained pianist to expand his technique and ear.

This edition is well printed and easy to read. A fine edition of some very good music.

Highly recommended

How can you go wrong. Varying difficulty playing. Needs accomplished or dedicated pianist.

I bought this collection specifically for the "Novelette in Fourths" piece. I already had some of the other preludes. The arrangement for Novelette in Fourths is close to what I have heard on the Gershwin Piano Rolls CD, but is missing an entire section. I can also notice a few minor inconsistencies with the arrangement, but those are probably due to the rarity of the piece and that the composer may have a few different variations recorded or transcribed. So while not exact to what I've heard, it's close enough. I do wish the missing section was included. I also notice some other slight differences in with some of the other, better known preludes (Prelude III in particular) compared to the other Gershwin sheet music collections I have of the same music. All in all, a good collection, and the book stays open without resorting to abuse (I hate sheet music books that do not stay open easily!)

I'm no Gershwin scholar, but the musicological and performance notes are informative and engraving is well-organized and clear.