A Tribute to George Gershwin

By George Gershwin

Almost all of these arrangements are stellar - they should be, as they were composed AND arranged by Gershwin. To sum up - most are the original arrangements. There are a couple of exceptions - "An American in Paris" comes to mind. The arrangement is sweet but much easier than the rest of...

the pieces. These pieces provide a nice respite from my classical repertoire (I'm an amateur classical pianist with 18 years experience), and I play the pieces in this book to relax. Note that Gershwin must have had pretty big hands, because there are a number of 10ths in some of the pieces.

Most of these arrangements are quite good for an intermediate or advanced player, with plenty of variety and interesting musical ideas. Some of them, however, were unworthy of the title: simplistic and dull.

Gershwin had a natural talent for piano technique, as well as (of course!) strong and addictive rhythm, and spicy jazzy chords. This book is going to provide me with lots of fun for years to come. I bought it after falling in love with the Naxos Nostalgia CD, "Gershwin Plays...

Gershwin", a remastered collection of his early works played on piano by George himself, along with some other musos. Sure enough, most of the catchy tunes and imaginative original arrangements are in this book, along with some very good more recent arrangements. To make the pieces really performable, you have to be a fairly advanced player. However, I would say higher intermediate students should buy this if they have, as I do, a deep love of this man's music. It falls under the hands quite comfortably (unless you have tiny hands)and is bound to impress family and friends!