Summertime

Hailed as THE most covered song of all time, DuBose Heyward and George Gershwin’s “Summertime” from the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess has crossed generational and musical genre boundaries, still as relevant as ever 89 years after its original composition. Blending influences from the operatic tradition, African-American spirituals, and blues and jazz of the 1930s, the song has evolved into a tune that has over 30,000 recorded covers.

Originally an aria sung by the character Clara as a lullaby, “Summertime” helps open Act 1, and introduces one of the main characters of the story. We’ll explore how the deceptively simple lyrics and music carry a tremendous weight in establishing the time and place of the opera, and also why this tune has been able to be re-interpreted by so many artists in dozens of styles.