Harold Arlen: It's Only A Paper Moon - piano transcription

This piece comes from book of anonymous piano transcriptions of standards: "The Best in Broadway Standards: Piano Solos" - published by Warner Bros. in 1991, and found by me recently in a charity shop. Unlike many such books these pieces are not mere reductions of the published piano/vocal arrangements, but independent arrangements without chord symbols. To me many of the arrangements in the book (probably by more than one arranger) are interesting, but bizarre in their sometimes crude piano writing. This arrangement is of the famous song by Harold Arlen (1905-86), which was originally written in 1933 for a Broadway play, 'The Great Magoo', set in Coney Island. In this unusual take on the piece, the song is turned into a rather awkwardly-written waltz.
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Played by Phillip Sear
http://www.psear.co.uk

Category:

Music

Tags:

• piano
• popular
• standard
• US

[Halunlimited]

nice performance

[PSearPianist]

Thank you!

[EdwardWhelanPiano]

A nice melody, one you might hear at a penny arcade or under a muslin tree.

[PSearPianist]

Indeed!

[Babejuda]

The turning-point into a waltz is done in a most natural-gliding way, almost not felt. Charming piece and playing. Thanks.

[PSearPianist]

It is a very odd and in some ways ungainly arrangement, and it was not easy to make sense of it. I really posted it as a curiosity, but it is certainly interesting!

[PSearPianist]

Glad you liked it!

[PSearPianist]

Thank you!

[diasdm]

Very nice playing!

[666Nami666]

so beautiful! <3