Summertime - George Gershwin

Background

• Composed in 1935
• Aria/number from an opera (not a musical)
• Fusion of folk, jazz and classical operatic conventions
• Sometimes described as an American folk opera

Rhythm and Metre

• Duple time (the C with a line through it means 2/2)
• Rocking lullaby rhythm conveyed by steady minims in accompaniment - oscillating
• Typical devices include:
• Swung rhythms
• Syncopation
• Triplets
• The violin countermelody in verse two is mainly in quavers.

Melody and word-setting

• Vocal part spans an octave
• Text clearly shows origins in American dialect ("Yo' ma")
• Four-bar phrases
• Pentatonic vocal line, except for C#
• Ornamentation includes portamento

Harmony

• Chords outline a 16-bar blues pattern
• Characteristic features include:
• Added 6th chords (minor triad plus major 6th)
• False relations arising from 'blue' (chromatic) notes
• Circle of 5ths
• Perfect cadence at close

Tonality

• B minor with...
• Dominant preparation (dominant/F# pedal)

Structure

• (European) 16-bar song structure with...
• Balanced four-bar phrases following...
• ABAC pattern
• Introduction (dominant pedal and clarinet line) and coda
• Two-verse strophic

Resources/Texture

• Soprano soloist
• Solo violin
• Women's vocalisation (wordless singing)
• Symphony orchestra, with bells
• Melody-dominated-homophony, enriched by additional layers in second verse