Gershwin, George: Summertime

from "Porgy and Bess"

There is hardly any other lullaby in the field of classical music - apart from Brahms' 'Guten Abend, gute Nacht' - that has gained such popularity as George Gershwin's (1898-1937) 'Summertime'. It is a song from his opera "Porgy and Bess“ which was premiered in New York on 10 October 1935 with only moderate success at first. Every important jazz musician insisted on presenting his own version of this rather evocative and catchy song with which Clara rocks her child to sleep at the beginning of the opera. The present version now offers the opportunity to play this famous 'Summertime' with a string quartet (and double-bass ad lib.) or string orchestra - let's swing!