Wind ensembles have had a long association with opera. In Mozart’s day the wind ensemble (or "Harmonie" as it was known), was a hugely popular medium. Mozart himself wrote two wonderful Serenades for wind octet and music from many of his operas was arranged for the same instruments, often by members of his own opera orchestra.
It was in the spirit of this tradition that I approached Gershwin’s folk opera "Porgy and Bess". Although seldom staged until recently, Porgy and Bess contains several of Gershwin’s most famous tunes—indeed "Summertime" is perhaps his most well-known composition. The opera is packed with wonderful music and deservedly brought Gershwin recognition as a "serious" composer.
My arrangement is for the standard wind octet of Mozart’s Serenades but I have extended the range of instruments by including sections for Bass Clarinet, Eb Clarinet and Cor Anglais. The music runs more or less continually and draws material from many different parts of the opera including:
"Overture", "Summertime", "It Ain’t Necessarily So", "Here Come De Honey Man", "My Man’s Gone Now", and "There’s a Boat that’s Leaving Soon for New York".
Andrew Skirrow
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