A Pentadimensional Analysis of the Theme “The Man I Love” by George Gershwin
A Pentadimensional Analysis of the Theme “The Man I Love” by George Gershwin

Author(s): Andrei Tase
Subject(s): Fine Arts / Performing Arts, Music
Published by: Editura ARTES
Keywords: reductions; triangles; tonal grid; tonal bus;
Summary/Abstract: Objective. Considered by American musicologist David Schiff as “seminal” to Rhapsody in Blue, the song The Man I Love is emblematic of George Gershwin's creation. The Man I Love has benefited from exceptional performances, such as Ella Fitzgerald's, accompanied by the symphony orchestra, or the composer's rubato piano version. Although the work has been carefully analyzed so far, the aim of our research is to explore new dimensions through musicological analysis. This article is part of our doctoral approach. Method. The analysis of this work with the structure of AABA includes five working methods. The first two methods are instrumental reductions, the third correlates the trison with the triangle formed on the guitar fretboard by joining the finger contact points, the next correlates the trison with the triangle in the Paleoriemanian tonal network, and the last is based on the Neo-Riemannian method with third-party progressions, alternating a major triad with a minor one on the pattern of the London double-decker bus. The results of our research are shown in the attached figures 1-7. Conclusion. The Neo-Riemannian transformational theory is, to our best knowledge, still unused in our country, so it may be of particular interest as the first translation into Romanian. We hope that our work can provide a positive impact on contemporary analytical discourse on Gershwinian work.

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