A Gershwin Tribute to Love: 3rd B-flat Trumpet

Brent Heisinger's arrangement captures the conversational warmth of these four standards while giving them fresh orchestral color and momentum. The medley structure lets you showcase stylistic range within a single piece—contrasting the swing feel of "'S Wonderful" with the lyrical sweep of "Love Is Here to Stay"—without sacrificing musical coherence. For a Grade 4.5 band, this offers genuine artistic challenge without demanding technical extremes, making it an ideal concert centerpiece that audiences recognize and players enjoy learning.

The piece captures the urbane sophistication and genuine warmth of Gershwin's finest songs. You move through four distinct emotional landscapes—the breezy optimism of "'S Wonderful," the romantic tenderness of "Love Is Here to Stay," the wistful humor of "They Can't Take That Away from Me," and the embrace of "Embraceable You"—all within a single, cohesive musical journey. The orchestration gives concert band the resources to color each mood distinctly, making the listening experience feel cinematic and complete.

Concert bands at the medium-difficult level will find this medley both accessible and rewarding. Directors programming a standard concert, spring pops concert, or community band performance need material that audiences know and respect; this delivers that while offering substantive work for your musicians.

• Balance the prominent melodic voices across sections. These are song arrangements, so articulation and phrasing should serve the vocal character of each tune rather than purely instrumental style.
• Manage the tempo relationships between the slow and fast sections carefully. The transitions should feel inevitable rather than abrupt; use slight ritardandi and accelerandi where the arrangement suggests them.
• Attend to the swing style sections with particular care. Clean articulation and a relaxed rhythmic pocket matter more here than aggressive precision; let the groove breathe.
• Use the dynamic contrasts as architectural points. The richly varied orchestration Heisinger provides gives you natural opportunities to highlight different instrumental combinations and keep the medley from feeling monolithic.

Program this as the centerpiece of a pops or popular standards concert, where it anchors the program with music the audience will know and love. It also works beautifully as a transition piece between a serious contemporary work and a lighter finale, offering style and substance in equal measure. The 8:30 duration gives you flexibility in programming length without taking excessive rehearsal time relative to its impact.

• Phrasing and articulation in a vocal-influenced style
• Balancing melodic and harmonic roles within varied orchestration
• Executing swing rhythms with stylistic authenticity
• Managing tempo and section transitions in a multi-movement structure
• Reading and responding to dynamic architecture as a form-building tool