Jerome Kern’s “All the Things You Are,” Leon Fleisher

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 Chaconne and 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.

Recordings

About Timothy Judd

A native of Upstate New York, Timothy Judd has been a member of the Richmond Symphony violin section since 2001. He is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where he earned the degrees Bachelor of Music and Master of Music, studying with world renowned Ukrainian-American violinist Oleh Krysa.

The son of public school music educators, Timothy Judd began violin lessons at the age of four through Eastman’s Community Education Division. He was a student of Anastasia Jempelis, one of the earliest champions of the Suzuki method in the United States.

A passionate teacher, Mr. Judd has maintained a private violin studio in the Richmond area since 2002 and has been active coaching chamber music and numerous youth orchestra sectionals.

In his free time, Timothy Judd enjoys working out with Richmond’s popular SEAL Team Physical Training program.

1 thought on “Jerome Kern’s “All the Things You Are,” Leon Fleisher”

  1. Leon Fleisher is a great inspiration for all of us. An accomplished pianist, he did not let adversity put an end to his career nor did he sink into unremitting despair. On the contrary, he achieved fame as a left-hand-only pianist! Bravo, Mr. Fleisher, you will live on in your recordings!

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