Scoring the Concerto in F

He boasted of his ability to orchestrate his own music, yet was dependent on others for help, says Charles Schwartz in the final paragraph of his useful biography of George Gershwin.1 Did he do his own orchestration of Porgy and Bess? asks a colleague of mine in mild surprise when I mention the manuscript orchestral score of the opera. Such expressions of doubt and incredulity over Gershwin's role and abilities as an orchestrator are fairly common. But how much scoring help did Gershwin really receive from others? This is the question I sought to answer in examining Gershwin's first major essay in orchestration, the Concerto in F of 1925. My findings are based on a comparison of manuscript and printed sources (especially the manuscript full score and the current published score of the Concerto in F) and are summarized in tabular form at the conclusion of the article. The purpose of this study and of the Table of Variants that forms its core is not to judge the quality of Gershwin's orchestration-that is every listener's prerogative-but merely to establish whether the notes as printed and performed are in fact what Gershwin wrote. In weighing the wealth of details presented, the reader may well wish to remember what Vernon Duke said thirty-eight years ago in his article Gershwin, Schillinger, Dukelsky: Along with several others, I can vouch for the fact that, except for musical comedy scores, George orchestrated every note he wrote after the Rhapsody.2 Nothing in this article will challenge the basic truth of that statement

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