George Gershwin's Song-Book. Gershwin, George First Edition

First edition of Gershwinâ s classic songbook, with stunning full-page illustrations by Constantin Alajalov. Quarto, original half-cloth, frontispiece photograph of Gershwin playing the piano taken by Maurice Goldberg, profusely illustrated by Constantin Alajalov. In near fine condition. American composer and pianist George Gershwinâ s orchestral compositions spanned the genres of popular, jazz, and classical music and are now considered to be some of the most important musical works of the twentieth century. Gershwin began his career composing Broadway theatre works with his brother Ira Gershwin and soon became a major figure in musical theatre in New York City and later Hollywood. Gershwin's classic Song-Book is illustrated with full-page color lithographic plates after Constantin Alajalov, and includes such Gershwin standards as â Swanee,â â Fascinating Rhythm,â â That Certain Feeling,â â The Man I Love,â â Strike Up the Band,â and â I Got Rhythm,â among others. â In one of his few prose writings, George provided an introduction for the song book. What is most important... is that it contained the original published version of each song, followed side by side by Georgeâ s â improvisedâ versions of the songsâ (Carnovale, 14).