Word & Song by Anthony Esolen

Share this post

"Summertime"

anthonyesolen.substack.com
Sometimes a Song

"Summertime"

Artie Shaw plays Gershwin

Debra Esolen
Aug 27, 2022
15
11
Share this post

"Summertime"

anthonyesolen.substack.com

With this week's focus on summer at Word & Song, I determined to share with you "Summertime," written by the great American composer, George Gershwin, for his opera, Porgy & Bess. When this song comes to my mind, I of course think of it as a vocal, and obviously that is how Gershwin conceived it. But in researching the music I ran across the most sublime instrumental jazz/swing version of the song by the big band of Artie Shaw. George Gershwin was a musical genius of the highest order, and listening to the instrumental alone allows you to focus on the composition, apart from the lyrics, excellent though they are and perfect for Porgy & Bess.

As you listen to Artie Shaw and his Orchestra's flawless performance of an amazing song, one which some consider the greatest written in the Twentieth Century in America, notice the "voices" of the four instruments which play the melody in turn. The first two, featuring Artie Shaw's remarkable clarinet and Roy "Little Jazz" Eldridge's positi…

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Word & Song by Anthony Esolen to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
Previous
Next
© 2023 Anthony Esolen
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing