Piano transcriptions of G. Gershwin’s songs in the context of contemporary performance discourse

Abstract

The relevance of the article. The works of George Gershwin always attract the attention of the modern academic music community. Well-known performers include the artist’s opuses in their repertoire and release albums with his music. Also, the organization of the George Gershwin International Music Competition, which has been held in New York since 2013, can serve as evidence of significant interest in the music of G. Gershwin. The purpose of the article is to determine the main trends in the interpretation of G. Gershwin’s Songbook, which have developed in the modern academic performance discourse. The methodology is based on an integrative app-roach, and involves the use of analytical, systematic, structural-functional, comparative and inductive methods. The results. There are many ways of interpreting G. Gershwin’s piano transcriptions have been formed in the contemporary performance discourse. Working with the composer’s musical text, each pianist reveals various figurative and substantive facets in the Songbook. However, in this variety of performing approaches, some constant aspects of interpretation are still traced, thanks to which it is possible to single out certain trends that have developed in modern performing practice. Conclusions. Based on the analysis of the interpretive versions, the main trends in the interpretation of transcriptions that have developed in the modern performance discourse have been determined. The first trend involves a creative reinterpretation of the Gershwin’s originality, by making significant changes to it, thanks to which the performer becomes a conditional co-author. The second trend consists in the exact transfer of the composer’s intention, recorded in the musical text. The practical significance. The material of the article can be used in the further study of the specifics of the performance interpretation of G. Gershwin’s music, as well as in the study of the artist’s work in a special piano class, courses of the music history and the analysis of musical forms.