"I Loves You, Porgy", arr. for Trumpet and Orchestra of Bill Elliott

The opera PORGY AND BESS has a special place in musical history. Inspired by DuBose Hayward's novel Porgy, composer's idea was to create a "folk opera," as he himself titled it. The libretto and some of the lyrics of the arias were written by Hayward, and some by his brother Ira. Gershwin incorporated an imitation of common vernacular pronunciation into the text, and the music contains jazz motifs, blues, ragtime and spirituals. Performed by African-American singers who successfully blended the relationship between jazz and operatic singing, Porgy and Bess premiered at the Alvin Theatre in New York City on October 10^th, 1935 and is considered the first great American opera. It contains many popular musical numbers. Initially, however, the work was too unexpected for many music critics, who could not see it as anything other than a musical. As a result, the opera was a commercial failure, although it ran for 124 performances, an unusually high number for an opera, but low for a Gershwin show on Broadway. After this commercial failure, the composer moved to Hollywood. Nevertheless, theatre critics appreciated the fact that African Americans were associated with an operatic work. Porgy and Bess was successfully performed throughout the USA, and for the first time black audiences were allowed in the audience. Its triumphant success on European stages began in 1945, after the composer's death. The first performers of the popular duet from the opera I LOVES YOU, PORGY were Anne Brown and Todd Duncan, who recorded it on Volume 2 of the album Selections from George Gershwin's Folk Opera Porgy and Bess. The arrangement for trumpet and orchestra is by Bill Elliott.