Description
George Gershwin’s Three-quarter Blues (also known as the Irish Waltz) was written in 1923. It is a piano solo miniature of barely 45 seconds and its name refers to its ¾ (three in a bar) time signature. At the time of writing Three-quarter Blues Gershwin was still only 25. Despite his youth, however, he had already had commercial success with his novelty ragtime Rialto Ripples and his song Swanee.
International recognition was just around the corner: 1924 marked the arrival of his ground-breaking Rhapsody in Blue – a piece that established Gershwin’s reputation as a serious composer and which remains one of the most popular of all American concert works. See also Rhapsody in Blue arranged for wind quintet & piano, and another shortened version for wind quintet.
Three-quarter blues was used as the opening theme tune to the BBC’s sitcom After Henry, starring Prunella Scales and Joan Sanderson.
Two versions: one for 4 clarinets, and one for 4 bass clarinets. They are in different keys.
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