Prelude 1 (Piano) by George Gershwin with sheet music
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Three Preludes is a collection of short piano pieces by George Gershwin, which were first performed by the composer at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City in 1926. Each prelude is a well-known example of early-20th-century American classical music, as influenced by jazz. The three pieces, when played together consecutively, typically run about a total of five minutes.
Gershwin originally planned to compose 24 preludes called The Melting Pot for this group of works. The number was reduced to seven in manuscript form, and then reduced to six in public performance, and further decreased to three when first published in 1926. Two of the remaining preludes not published were rearranged for solo violin and piano and published as Short Story. Of the other two, the Prelude in G was eliminated by the publisher because somewhat similar music had already appeared in Gershwin’s Concerto in F. The other was excluded for unknown reasons.
Gershwin dedicated his Preludes to friend and musical advisor Bill Daly.
The pieces have been arranged for solo instruments, small ensembles, and piano.
Mark Morris choreographed a version for solo dancer, premiered by Morris himself in June, 1992, as part of Mark Morris Dance Group performances in Boston. The work was performed later that month by Mikhail Baryshnikov as a guest artist with the New York City Ballet.
- Allegro ben ritmato e deciso
The first prelude, in B-flat major, begins with a five-note blues motif; virtually all the melodic material in the piece is based on this theme. Syncopated rhythms based on the Brazilian baião and chords containing flattened sevenths occur throughout; these give the piece a strong jazz feel. Although these sounds are far from adventurous by modern standards, to the audiences of the late 1920s they were almost unheard of. Structurally, the piece is in ternary form; however, the impression on the listener is that of a fantasia. This effect is achieved by using snippets of various virtuoso techniques, such as repeated notes, octaves, scales, and crossed hands, each of which is used for only a moment before the piece catches a flicker of some new idea.