Gershwin was often the life of a party, entertaining on the piano. He said: “The trouble is, when I don’t play at a party I don’t have a good time.”
Cited in: Greenberg, Rodney (2008) George Gershwin. New York: Phaidon Press, p.47.
Gershwin: the life at the party
by
Tags:
Featured Content
Liszt on the piano
In its span of seven octaves [the piano] embraces the range of an orchestra; the ten fingers of a single man suffice to render the harmonies produced by the combined forces of more than 100 concerted instruments. We make arpeggios like the harp, prolonged notes like wind instruments, staccatos, and a thousand other effects which […]
It is best to do it well“It takes less time to do a thing right than to explain why you did it wrong.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poet
Preparation“Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.” — John Wooden, American basketball player. Wooden, John (1988) Modern Practical Basketball. Macmillan, p.234
Lord, Every Nation on Earth will Adore You (setting ii) – Psalm 71 (72)TITLE: Lord, every nation on earth will adore you (setting ii) TEXT: Psalm 71 (72): 1-2, 7-8, 10-13. R. cf. v.11 COMPOSER: Greg Smith INSTRUMENTATION: SATB and piano PRODUCT MEDIUM: PDF score and part
There’s one way to get him to playPeople often begged him to play a little air on the violin, but he refused great lords and his fellow de-bauchers alike. The only person who succeeded in making him play was the Marshal de Grammont. He had a footman called La Lande who later became one of the best violinists in Europe. After a […]
Fill Us With Your Love, O Lord – Psalm 89 (90)Title: Fill us with your love, O Lord Text: Psalm 89 (90): 12-17. R. v.14 Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano Product medium: PDF score and part SAMPLE: .
Baroque they are notBetween 1910 and 1938 the Austrian violin virtuoso Fritz Kreisler produced some arrangements of works by Boccherini, Martini, Couperin, Vivaldi and Porpora. They were positively achieved by the crticis. In 1935, Kreisler revealed that there were not arrangements at all, but in fact works which he had written from scratch. Suddenly critic’s attitudes to the […]
Somewhere Over the Rainbow“Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, from The Wizard of Oz, is now a classic, inspiring song, but its had to believe the beginnings were not so smooth: …it was decided that standard melodies of a popular accessible kind , without gimmicks, would best suit the story, and its star [Judy Garland]. Harold Arlen and E. Y. […]
What Cage couldn’t stand“John Cage once said he couldn’t abide the Dominant Seventh, and the saxophone.” Ned Rorem (2000) Lies: A Diary 1986-1999. Cambridge: MA: Da Capo Press, p.65.
The prerequisites of a genius“Of the three prerequisites of genius; the first is soul; the second is soul; and the third is soul.” – Edwin Whipple, American essayist and critic Cited at: QuotationsBook