George Gershwin -- Complete Works for Solo Piano (Alfred Masterwork Edition)

Of all the Gershwin books out there this one possibly contains the most quality arrangements for the price. It not only contains the full piano solo version of Rhapsody in blue, which takes up over 20 pages, but also his early classics like Swanee, Sweet and Low Down, and Novelette in Fourths. It contains a good chunk of his early piano solo works like I Got Rhythm variations but it also does leave out some of his most famous works like An American in Paris, which is another piece that takes up over 20 pages typically, and his Bessie and Porg songs are left out. Still, for the price it does contain the all famous Rhapsody in Blue in its most popular arrangement style and a lot of his other classics, more than most other Gershwin books.

Hard to beat an Alfred Masterworks volume, and this one is tops. Nice clean book with clear music. Doesn't lay flat very well but it's only a minor inconvenience. Gershwin's music is among my favorite. Playing through these selections is a pure joy, though some take a lot of practice to nail down.If you like Gershwin this is a must have.

"Gershwin: Complete Works for Solo Piano" (abbreviated GCW here) is a selection of some of Gershwin's well-known pieces demanding greater virtuosity from the solo pianist than is seen with "50 Gershwin Classics" (abbreviated 50GC), which provides in addition to the piano part the vocal music and lyrics. The piano part for 50GC is fun to play and would sound good in a nightclub setting, but it is less challenging than GCW.To hear the difference between the music in GCW and 50GC, you can listen online to samples of "The Man I Love" in Frank Braley's album "Gershwin: Piano Works" and in Luca Marincola's album "My Favorite Gershwin". Braley appears to be playing the version in GCW, but Marincola is following 50GC. Quarter notes in 50GC tend to become chords in GCW. GCW has more appoggiaturas and dotted rhythms. "The Man I Love" in GCW requires three staves to accommodate the giant two-octave chords in the higher range.To gauge the level of difficulty of GCW, three Gerhswin preludes (including "Blue Lullaby") are listed in the Music Teacher's Association of California (MTAC) Piano Syllabus 2012 as level 8 or 9 in the repertoire list. Most pieces in GCW would correspond to levels 9-Advanced. GCW appears in the MTAC advanced repertoire list.I feel that the printing is crisper in GCW than in 50GC. GCW suggests pedaling in those pieces that may need it. The editor provides some fingering suggestions in GCW, but 50GC does not. 50GC has a larger selection of Gershwin's more popular songs, but GCW is better for the serious piano soloist. For me, the answer to the question in the title of this review is definitely "yes". Your answer will depend on how much work you want to do and your level of proficiency. The listing of GCW in the MTAC syllabus repertoire requirements may be taken as an indication of the book's quality.

The book is worth buying, however many of the pieces are disappointing because Maurice Hinson decided to to only include 2 pages of many of the pieces when I know the piece is at least 4 or 5 pages when listening to the actual piano rolls of Gershwin's piano solos. Also, the good number of pieces that are shortened by Maurice Hinson are not even close transcriptions to the way Gershwin recorded them on the piano rolls. However, if you overlook the short pieces that are not accurately transcribed, the book is worth getting if you want Rhapsody in Blue, the Preludes, I Got Rythm, Rialto Ripples, The Man I love and a few more. Those are transcribed very well as far as I can tell. It's disappointing that Swanee, Sweet and Low Down and others that Gershwin recorded as piano solos on piano roll are not transcribed even close to his piano rolls and also are not complete with at least 2 or 3 pages cutoff in these transcriptions. Not happy about that, but the book is still worth it due to the pieces I previously mentioned that are accurate transcriptions (mostly) and are complete pieces.Definitely should not be called "Complete Works for Solo Piano" because it isn't and there is not one that exists as far as I know. If Hinson had included the entire piece of everything in this book I probably would rate it a 5 star rating. Assuming they were transcribed at least close to the piano rolls I would definitely rate this book a 5 star. But they didn't do those things, so I can only give it a 4 star rating. Title is misleading, but I would still recommend the book for the complete pieces it does include.

Thank you for compiling all of George Gershwin's music in one volume. I especially like the lesser known compositions ( Three Quarter Blues and Promenade).The best is the original opening of Porgy and Bess. This was later changed to the overture thatthe public is most familiar with now but it is great to see the original in in original form.Great for Gershwin fans, even if you don't play or read music.

The music arrived quickly, and looks virtually new..... Love It!

The Maurice Hinson edition of the Gershwin works is superb, especially the fingerings. However, the binding of this volume simply refuses to remain open and the greatest technical challenge of this collection is keeping the book open.

Has a lot of good songs in it but most of it is just copied from other Gershwin books. There are many better books than this one. Do not let the name brand "alfred" trick you into buying this.

Well edited and I love Gershwin...

Edición magnífica, con digitaciones interesantes. Hace años compraba estas ediciones de varios compositores, con una encuadernación magnífica. Me he llevado una gran decepción al ver que esta edición encuaderna las hojas PEGÁNDOLAS en lugar de encuadernar adecuadamente. Una vez abres el libro, empiezan a soltarse las hojas. Muy buena partitura pero una encuadernación pésima que no permite el uso intensivo para el estudio.

I've just received my copy of this today, and what a treat. For an average Pianist like myself (grade 6 classical a long time ago and basically a blues player now) the 136 pages here represent years of study. Some of it is frankly beyond me. I will never have the time learn the 20 pages of Rhapsody in Blue whilst I still have to work. This is a post grade 8 piece.However some of the shorter pieces are more playable and the book contains "Three-Quarter Blues" apparently the easiest authentic original Gershwin piece. This is probably about grade 4 standard.It has to be said though that these being authentic George Gershwin arrangements, the vast majority here are difficult (grade 7) or higher, so whilst you are purchasing some of the finest 20th century music, be aware that you will need to be a good reader or prepared to practice a lot!

Rip in the back of the page and pages are bent and ripped. Request for refund and no response. Terrible purchase experience

Sulla grafia ed edizione nulla da dire. L'inconveniente più grande è che i fogli, dopo qualche settimana, si sono cominciati a staccare; devo stare attento a girarli con delicatezza. Sto pensando di fotocopiarli per tenerli in un raccoglitore. Grossa scocciatura!