Gershwin's Summertime 'The Song That Conquered The World' - BBC4 - June 3

There have been at least 25,000 performances of this song so Lance has many more versions to listen to before he's done! This excellent programme explored how the song came to be written, played excerpts of the many different versions, and explained why it is such a popular song, rivalled in popularity by only two other songs, My Way and Yesterday.

Summertime has been sung in the style of pop, rock, jazz, bebop, reggae, various Caribbean styles, as a Civil Rights anthem, in a gospel style, and of course it was sung originally as an aria in the opera Porgy And Bess. We heard a fascinating range of versions, beginning with the Billie Holiday offering which, for my money, is hard to beat. I found Ella Fitzgerald's version rather unemotional compared with others.

We heard Julie London's breathy, seductive rendering; Janis Joplin singing a tortured scratchy vocal; Mahalia Jackson's spiritual version which she paired with 'Sometimes I Feel like a Motherless Child; even a rock and roll rendering by Ricky Nelson and his band. Then there was an effective example with just voice and conga drums, and a version from the African country of Benin. This last has been translated to make sense in the language of that country, so 'Your mama's rich' had become 'your mother has soul' and 'Summertime' was translated as 'when the heat time comes'. Fascinating stuff.

Many readers will know the jazz instrumental versions by the likes of Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bill Evans and Charlie Parker. Courtney Pine remarked that the strong lyrics helped musicians to play well so instrumentalists should have the lyrics in mind as they play. Never a truer word, thank you Mr Pine.

It is tragic that George Gershwin didn't live to see how popular his song became as he died of a brain tumour in his late 30s. The lyrics are credited to DuBose Heyward who wrote the novel Porgy on which the opera is based, with input from Ira Gershwin. As the poet Lemn Sissay pointed out, the song is a lullaby which can be interpreted either as describing your life as it is, rich daddy etc, or looking forward to how you want life to become in the future. That is the strength of the lullaby when sung to a baby.

Gershwin wrote the opera in 1935, against the background of the American Depression, hoping to be recognised as a serious composer. The first performance was given by an all black cast and the critics gave the work a mixed reception. The show didn't make much money for Gershwin. The song tune has a languid summertime 'feel' and is in a minor key, not usual for a lullaby, giving a melancholy edge, according to how it is sung.

This programme has added lots of useful information which is relevant to performers, people interested in musical history and people who simply enjoy listening. Ann Alex