Matt Herskowitz plays George Gershwin

Piano

2007

TCD19094

Matt Herskowitz

GERSHWIN NOTES

I grew up with Gershwin's music; Rhapsody in Blue was one of the first concertos I ever performed. 50 when CBC radio asked me to put together an all Gershwin concert, I eagerly agreed and started putting together a program. For the occasion I wanted to arrange the Cuban Overture for solo piano; this idea originally came from a friend of mine in Montreal, a fine amateur pianist and big fan of Gershwin's music, who'd been encouraging me to make a solo piano arrangement of the piece for some time. As in many things in life, I didn't get down to actually doing it until a performance opportunity presented itself. It's not one of Gershwin's well-known pieces, as it doesn't contain the great sweeping melodies of the other two pieces on this disc, but Gershwin here is stretching his compositional legs with beautifully woven lines and harmonies, evoking Cuba in its heyday as a bustling tourist resort. It was also written at an exciting time when the rhythms of Cuban music were just starting to make their mark on American musical culture. 50 given the chance, and therefore a reason to do it, I got straight to work. This proved to be much more challenging than I'd thought; although it's only a 10 minute piece, it's so tightly packed with contrapuntal lines flying all over the place in a dizzying frenzy, like a parade on the streets of Havana, I just couldn't see how I was going to fit it all in with only two hands, not to mention capture the teeming frenetic energy in any sort of manageable way. However, once I got into it, I began to feel my way through all the counterpoint, bouncing rhythms and lush, dense harmonies to the heart of the piece. I came up with what I thought was a faithful yet still playable arrangement; boy was I wrong! Well, at least it was faithful; the playable part was another story. However, I only know when I can or can't do something amid the presence of a deadline, so lucky for me I had one looming right over me head. At some point shortly before the concert it finally became playable, to my enormous relief. I was initially amazed to discoverthat there was no other solo piano arrangement of this piece, at least none that I could find. But then again, having done it, I can see why. I'm thrilled to be the first to bring this exciting, beautiful and haunting portrait of Cuba to a new audience.
Armed with this new arrangement of the Cuban Overture, I decided to make a solo classical Gershwin recording, comprising the Cuban Overture, the Rhapsody in Blue - what can I say, I've been playing it for over twenty-five years and I still never get tired of it! - and the Concerto in F. The Concerto was the piece I didn't really know. Never having played it before, once again I didn't realize what would be involved in making an arrangement for solo piano. This piece has everything; the great sweeping melodies of the Rhapsody in Blue, and the contrapuntal complexity of the Cuban Overture, all in a perfectly shaped formal concerto structure. For me, this is Gershwin's greatest piece. The structure is incredibly tight, and Gershwin makes full use of the main thematic material from the first movement's exposition throughout the piece, beautifully molding and transforming these themes to create an enormous emotional range that holds together beautifully. The third movement is a rousing finale, every theme in the piece taking a bow and dancing with each other, like the finale of a big Broadway show - only Gershwin could pull that off so brilliantly! Arranging this piece provided me with a unique perspective; having to integrate the enormous richness of layers of the orchestra into the piano gave me a first row appreciation of how incredibly integrated the piano and orchestra really are. It seemed more like chamber music than what one would normally expect from a romantic piano concerto, where the soloist plays all the exciting, virtuosic stuff while the orchestra accompanies without getting in his way. In fact, in making this arrangement I realized that this piece can be just as effective on 5010 piano as it is with orchestra; it's 50 well written you hear it all. There's even perhaps a kind of new clarity in the 5010 piano arrangement that isn't in the orchestra version, giving it a new edge.
I hope you enjoy hearing the great music of Gershwin in these new solo piano arrangements. I definitely enjoyed doing it.

Matt Herskowitz