Heifetz Plays Gershwin [Paperback]

Jascha Heifetz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2000

Gershwin never got a chance to write a violin concerto for Heifetz as promised. This collection, containing An American In Paris, Five Selections from Porgy and Bess, and the Three Preludes for Piano, was Heifetz’s way of getting the Gershwin sound into his repertoire.

Product Details

• Paperback: 56 pages
• Publisher: Carl Fischer, LLC (June 2000)
• Language: German
• ISBN-10: 082584178X
• ISBN-13: 978-0825841781
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 8.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #908,906 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I'm not a violinist, but..., October 9, 2008

By 

George Gorham (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Heifetz Plays Gershwin (Paperback)

...I've been having a lot of fun with this book. The piano is consistently interesting, and the solo part - which I have been adapting to my own instrument (horn) is ever a challenge. Gershwin's great rhythms and odd harmonies are a hoot.

Obviously the horn can't do everything a violin can, or even necessarily be in the same octave, but it's do-able, and the material is genuinely fun. It's Gershwin-jazz, with room for your own flair.

In this book:
Three Preludes
An American in Paris (shorter, but remarkably complete and marvelously showy)
Some Porgy & Bess stuff (Summertime, Woman is a Sometime Thing, My Man's Gone Now, Bess You is My Woman, Boat dat's Leavin' Soon etc.)

I'm sure this would be even more fun on the violin. (You can find some terrific performances of these pieces on You-Tube.) Certainly well worth the $.

Makes a nice change from Mozart.