Summertime Variations

Summertime Variations is the third arrangement I have made of Gershwin’s Summertime – and the first for solo piano. It begins and ends very quietly and cantabile with a meditation on the well-known opening motif. The complete melody then forms the basis for the swinging and extremely virtuoso Presto Variations of the central section. The work was composed as a concert piece for my classical solo recitals, but I alos play Summertime Variations as an encore in my regular performances in jazz festivals such as in Montreux. (Fazil Say)