Review

George Gershwin
Gershwin Duets: George Gershwin for two Trombones:

Arranged by Klaus Dietrich


Halberstadt, , Germany
Publisher: Musikverlag Bruno Uetz
Date of Publication: 2010
URL: http://www.uetz.de/music

Performing score

Primary Genre: Trombone Ensembles - 2 trombones

This set of intermediate level duets is quite suitable for study and performance by high school-level players, or is likewise effective sight-reading practice with college trombonists and euphoniumists. The arranger includes eleven of Gershwin’s more famous melodies: Oh, Lady Be Good, A Foggy Day, But Not For Me, Embraceable You, It Ain’t Necessarily So, Summertime, Our Love is Here to Stay, I Got Rhythm, Bidin’ My Time, How Long Has This Been Going On, and Somebody Loves Me. The music is spaced out on the page to be easily readable and there are no significant performance difficulties other than expected syncopations and some chromaticism. The arrangements are all in keys familiar to most brass musicians, F, B-flat, E-flat and A-flat. Pitches for both parts fall in a fairly limited and comfortable range, from F to g1, making them playable on tenor or bass trombones and three- or four-valve euphoniums. While not significant study music for upper-level students, these duets could fit well on a pops or jazz recital, or as casual pieces to be performed in class. They work well to spark a student’s interest in performance and expose them to the music of this early jazz pioneer. 

-James Adams
Valley City State University