3 Summertime Definition

3 Summertime Definition

One of the keys to the song's greatness, Kapilow maintains, is its simplicity. From two gently swaying notes, Gershwin adds rich harmony. "It's like black-and-white being filled into Technicolor, right as the voice comes in," Kapilow says. "An exquisite cross-fade: one note, a rocking theme, slow it down, and then harmony. That languid slowness of summer is also in the fantastic rhythm in the first word, 'summertime,' where the last syllable gets stretched on that beautiful high note. Somehow, we're in this incredibly languid world within two notes."Porgy and Bess is based upon the novel Porgy by DuBose Heyward. Published in 1925, the novel was first adapted for the stage in 1927 by the author's wife, Dorothy Heyward. The play, in turn, inspired George Gershwin's Porgy, which he called "an American folk opera."sommertjdame DuBose Heyward collaborated with Ira Gershwin to craft the libretto for Porgy and Bess, even spending time together in Charleston, South Carolina, to research African American communities and their music. The lyrics to "Summertime" are by Heyward. Stephen Sondheim, the acclaimed composer and lyricist, wrote in his book Invisible Giants: Fifty Americans Who Shaped the Nation But Missed the History Books: