Summertime (arr Custer)

George Gershwin

Subtitle: From Porgy and Bess

General Info

Year: 1934 / 1995
Duration: c. 3:10
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Alfred Publishing Co.
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $70.00; (digital) - $70.00 | Score Only (print) - $7.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III, including:

Bells
Drum Set
Tambourine
Triangle

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Summertime is one of those special, memorable melodies that finds its way into everyone's lives and is so evident of the genius that is Gershwin. Calvin Custer's silken scoring for concert band serves as a smooth crowd pleaser.

- Program Note from publisher

Summertime is an aria composed in 1934 by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. The lyrics are by DuBose Heyward, the author of the novel Porgy on which the opera was based, although the song is also co-credited to Ira Gershwin by ASCAP.

Gershwin began composing the song in December 1933, attempting to create his own spiritual in the style of the African American folk music of the period. Gershwin had completed setting DuBose Heyward's poem to music by February 1934, and spent the next 20 months completing and orchestrating the score of the opera.

The song is sung several times throughout Porgy and Bess. Its lyrics are the first words heard in act 1 of the opera, following the communal "wa-do-wa". It is sung by Clara as a lullaby.

The song soon became a popular and much recorded jazz standard, described as "without doubt ... one of the finest songs the composer ever wrote ... Gershwin's highly evocative writing brilliantly mixes elements of jazz and the song styles of blacks in the southeast United States from the early twentieth century". The song is recognized as one of the most covered songs in the history of recorded music, with more than 33,000 covers by groups and solo performers.

- Program Note from Wikipedia

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Cedar Falls (Iowa) Municipal Band (Dennis A. Downs, conductor) - 21 June 2022
Patrick Henry High School (Roanoke, Va.) Symphonic Band (Alexander Schmitt, conductor) - 26 April 2018
Arkansas (Farmington) Winds Community Concert Band (Chal Ragsdale, conductor) – 29 April 2017
Mesquite (Tex.) Community Band (Stephen Shoop, conductor) – 4 March 2017

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

I Got Rhythm (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Story) (1930/2020)
Rhapsody in Blue (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Murtha) (1924/2020)
Summertime (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Wada) (1934/2018)

All Wind Works

An American in Paris (tr. Krance) (1929/1959)
An American in Paris (arr. Brubaker) (1929/1994)
An American in Paris (arr. Hoshina) (1929/1980)
An American in Paris (arr. Nowlin) (1929/2016)
An American in Paris (arr. Satone) (1929)
An American in Paris (arr. Tamanini) (1929/2015)
An American in Paris (orch. Van Gils) (1929/1994)
But Not for Me (arr. Barker) (1930/1995/2006)
Catfish Row (arr. Hunsberger) (1934/2000)
Concerto for Piano in F (tr. Grofé) (1925/1928)
Concerto in F (arr. Jorge) (1925/2017)
Concerto in F for Piano and Wind Band (arr. Bulla) (1925/2009)
Cuban Overture (arr. Koekelkoren) (1925/1987)
Cuban Overture (arr. Milburn) (1925/)
Cuban Overture (arr. Rogers) (1933/2001)
Embraceable You (arr. Barker) (1930 / 1999)
Fascinatin' Gershwin (arr. Murtha)
Fascinating Rhythm (arr. Bulla) (1924)
Fascinating Rhythm (arr. Del Borgo) (1924/1994)
A Foggy Day in London Town (arr. Ninmer) (1937/)
George by Fred (arr. Frenkel)
George Gershwin (arr. Chase) (1971)
George Gershwin Selection (tr. Bennett) (1947)
Gershwin! (arr. Barker) (1997)
Gershwin: A Medley (arr. Bennett) (1972)
Gershwin by George! (arr. Brubaker) (2015)
A Gershwin Fantasy (arr. Martino) (1991)
Gershwin on Broadway (arr. Moss) (1991)
A Gershwin Portrait! (arr. Higgins) (1985)
A Gershwin Tribute to Love (arr. Heisinger) (2014)
The Great Gershwin (arr. van der Beek) (2018)
How Long Has This Been Going On? (arr. Barker) (1927/2000)
I Got Plenty O' Nuttin' (arr. Wagner) (1935/2008)
I Got Rhythm (arr. Davis) (1930)
I Got Rhythm (arr. Story) (1930/2020)
I Got Rhythm (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Story) (1930/2020)
Japanese (arr. Wagner; scored Sandler) (c. 1918/2006)
Liza (arr. Teague) (1929/1944)
The Man I Love (arr. Bergman) (1924)
March from "Strike Up the Band" (arr. Hearshen) (1927/1987)
Overture to "Strike Up the Band" (arr. Matsushiro) (1927)
Porgy and Bess: Selections (arr. Bennett) (1934/1942)
Porgy and Bess (arr. Barnes) (1934/2002)
Porgy and Bess Medley (arr. Hermann) (1934/)
Porgy and Bess Medley (arr. Lowden) (1934/1984)
Rhapsody in Blue (tr. Grofe) (1924/1938)
Rhapsody in Blue (arr. Hunsberger) (1924/1998)
Rhapsody in Blue (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Murtha) (1924/2020)
Rhapsody in Blue (arr. Verrier) (1924)
Rhapsody in Blue (tr. Tamanini) 1924/2010)
Rialto Ripples (arr. Di Scala) (1917/2013)
'S Wonderful (arr. Barker) (1919/1996)
Second Prelude (arr. Krance) (1927/1964)
Someone to Watch Over Me (arr. Barker) (1926/1995)
Someone to Watch Over Me (arr. Rumbelow) (1926/2006)
Strike Up the Band (arr. Barker) (1927/1981/1997)
Strike Up the Band (arr. Brubaker) (1927/1994)
Strike Up the Band (arr. Nestico) (1927)
Strike Up the Band (arr. Paynter) (1927)
Strike Up the Band (arr. Pegram) (1927/1979)
Strike Up the Band (arr. Schoenfeld) (1927/1956)
Summertime (arr. Custer) (1934/1995)
Summertime (arr. Garcia; ed. Shaw) (1934)
Summertime (arr. Lang) (1934/1959)
Summertime (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Wada) (1934/2018)
Summertime from "Porgy and Bess" (arr. Longfield) (1934/2015)
Swanee (arr. Holcombe) (1919)
The Symphonic Gershwin (arr. Barker) (2011)
They Can't Take That Away from Me (arr. Barker) (1937/2001)
Three Preludes (arr. Norris) (1927/)
Three Preludes (tr. Williams) (1927/2015)
A Tribute to Gershwin (arr. Bullock) (20098)
Walking the Dog (arr. Bourgeois) (1937/2007)

Resources

Gershwin, G.; Custer, C. (1997). Summertime: From Porgy and Bess [score]. Warner Bros. Publ.: Miami.
Summertime (George Gershwin song, Wikipedia Accessed 3 May 2017