George Gershwin, born Jacob Gershowitz in Brooklyn, NY, studied piano as a young musician with multiple teachers in New York City. At age fifteen, he was already a song writer and performer in New York’s Tin Pan Alley. Although successful as a writer of jazz-inspired songs, Gershwin moved to Paris to study with legendary teacher Nadia Boulanger in the 1920’s, resulting in the ever-popular work, An American in Paris. Boulanger, however, eventually dismissed Gershwin in the belief that that serious classical study might impair his jazz-influenced style. Gershwin was nevertheless able to combine the two successfully in such works as Rhapsody in Blue and the self-described "folk opera," Porgy and Bess. Tragically, Gershwin died very young of a malignant brain tumor, shocking and saddening the classical and popular music world. His legacy survives in numerous classical works and in songs created in partnership with his brother, lyricist Ira Gershwin, such as They Can’t Take That Away From Me from the film Shall We Dance.
The Three Preludes are prime examples Gershwin’s of jazz-influenced classical pieces. Originally for piano, they have been arranged for violin and piano by the noted violinist Jascha Heifitz who frequently used them as encores for his recitals. The first movement, Allegro ben ritmato e deciso, opens with a call-and-response between the piano and violin before the movement takes off with syncopated rhythms, blues harmony, and virtuosic writing in the solo violin. The second movement, Andante con moto e poco rubato, presents a serene, repeated bass line in the left hand of the piano under a singing, blues-inspired violin melody. Heifitz presents a good portion of the melody material in double-stop octaves in the solo violin combined with glissandos and bending of pitches to heighten the blues effect. The third movement, (again???) Allegro ben ritmato e deciso, opens with a syncopated rhythm between the piano and the violin plucking. The brief movement features interplay between major and minor melodies over a syncopated bass line. In this movement, Heifitz also adds some virtuosity through rapid alternation between bowing and plucking, double stops, and rapid passages in the violin.
Program Notes are by Kyle Blaha, a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree at The Juilliard School and faculty member in the Juilliard Pre-College and Evening Division.