George Gershwin (1898 – 1937) Lullaby for String Quartet. (1919) “Lullaby” was initially written for piano then transcribed for string quartet as an exercise for Gershwin’s orchestration teacher. The piece then lay dormant until 1963 when Larry Adler transcribed it for harmonica and string quartet for performance at the Edinburgh Festival that year. It is more often heard now in a string orchestra version. The quartet version was first published in 1968. The basic melody is simple, but Gershwin wraps it in a warm, gently pointed covering of strings, with sweetly exotic harmonies over a steady pizzicato line. Each repetition of the melody in the song is treated in a different way. Finally, a cello solo leads back to the lullaby one last time before allowing it to evaporate into ethereal harmonics and fade away.
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George Gershwin (1898 – 1937) Lullaby for String Quartet. (1919) “Lullaby” was initially written for piano then transcribed for string quartet as an exercise for Gershwin’s orchestration teacher. The piece then lay dormant until 1963 when Larry Adler transcribed it for harmonica and string quartet for performance at the Edinburgh Festival that year. It is more often heard now in a string orchestra version. The quartet version was first published in 1968. The basic melody is simple, but Gershwin wraps it in a warm, gently pointed covering of strings, with sweetly exotic harmonies over a steady pizzicato line. Each repetition of the melody in the song is treated in a different way. Finally, a cello solo leads back to the lullaby one last time before allowing it to evaporate into ethereal harmonics and fade away.