''Hoctor's Ballet'' is a composition by

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular music, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs "Swan ...

for full orchestra written in 1937, originally from the score for ''

Shall We Dance Shall We Dance may refer to: Films * ''Shall We Dance'' (1937 film), a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musical * ''Shall We Dance?'' (1996 film), a Japanese film about ballroom dancing * ''Shall We Dance?'' (2004 film), an American remake of the ...

''. Composed by Gershwin specifically for the ballerina Harriet Hoctor, the piece 10-minute piece features string

glissando In music, a glissando (; plural: ''glissandi'', abbreviated ''gliss.'') is a wikt:glide, glide from one pitch (music), pitch to another (). It is an Italianized Musical terminology, musical term derived from the French ''glisser'', "to glide". In ...

s, rapid shifts in key, and the most extensive parts are written for the harp. It consists of a dramatic introduction followed by a fast waltz, a stately procession, an extended

pas de deux In ballet, a ( French, literally "step of two") is a dance duet in which two dancers, typically a male and a female, perform ballet steps together. The ''pas de deux'' is characteristic of classical ballet and can be found in many well-known ...

, and a climactic reprise (also noted in some books as a separate "Shall We Dance", "Masks" or "Finale and Coda" scene.) This is the only published music from the ''Shall We Dance'' score available besides the '' Walking the Dog'' sequence, and is significant as the last long composition written by Gershwin for the symphony orchestra. The premiere live concert performance of ''Hoctor's Ballet'' took place on July 28, 2007 at the

Severance Hall Severance Hall, also known as Severance Music Center, is a concert hall in the University Circle neighborhood of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio, home to the Cleveland Orchestra. Opened in 1931 to give the orchestra a permanent home, the building is n ...

Pavilion in Cleveland, Ohio, with Loras John Schissel conducting the Blossom Festival Orchestra.

Preservation status

On September 22, 2013 it was announced that a musicological critical edition of the full orchestral score will be eventually released. The Gershwin family, working in conjunction with the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

and the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, are working to make scores available to the public that represent Gershwin's true intent. The entire Gershwin project may take 30 to 40 years to complete, and it is unclear when the score to ''Shall We Dance'' (which includes ''Hoctor's Ballet'') will be released. ''* See specifically Gershwin: A New Critical Biography, by Edward Jablonski (1998) pg. 300-304 and Gershwin: His Life and Work, by Howard Pollack (2006) pg. 671 for specific discussions on the genesis of this piece.''

References

Compositions by George Gershwin 1937 compositions {{1930s-song-stub