George Gershwin

Prelude II

George Gershwin is among America's most important composers. Born the son of Russian jewish immigrants, his first and subsequent greatest successes as a composer came from writing musicals. His melodic gift was phenomenal (he wrote over 200 songs). Later in his career he began concentrating on writing for the concert hall but before he could hone those skills, he was struck down in the prime of his life from a brain tumor at age 37. The Prelude no. 2, originally for piano, is one such example of Gershwin's melodic gift. I have departed from the structure of the original score in two places. A measure in the introduction at the beginning has been deleted and I have chosen to repeat the entire middle section using the melody in a 'stride' fashion the second time. The piccolo trumpet is optional. Peter Knudsvig