Inspired by Frédéric Chopin, George Gershwin (1898-1937) worked on a collection of 24 preludes bearing the title 'The Melting Pot'. Three of the preludes were performed for the first time at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York at a song recital in 1926. In the end, it was only these three that were ever published. The three preludes - forming a 'classic' cycle in the sequence 'slow-fast-slow' - are immediately accessible in their naturalness: the two preludes headed 'Allegro ben ritmato e deciso' due to their rhythmic vitality, the middle one, 'Andante con moto e poco rubato', as 'blues lullaby' in three-part song form.