Leon fleisher all the things you are

In January we explored Jerome Kern’s extraordinary 1939 ballad, All the Things You Are. It’s one of the most beautiful and harmonically sophisticated songs to come out of the Broadway theater.

Allusive and dreamy, it’s a melody which floats from one key to another, taking a magical journey part way around the circle of fifths through a series of continuous modulations.

The late Leon Fleisher included his version of All the Things You Are on a 2014 Grammy nominated album of the same name.

The recording is a collection of delightfully disparate music, including Brahms’ keyboard transcription of J.S. Bach’s mighty solo violin Chaconneand works written for Fleisher by contemporary composers such as George Perle, Leon Kirchner, and Dina Koston.

Almost all of the pieces on the album, including this one, were written to be played by the left hand alone. Leon Fleisher made this recording just before his 86th birthday.