Bubbling Over is a novelty piano solo by Carroll Gibbons published in 1937. The playback tempo of the realisation is 84 half note or minim beats to the minute and 72 half note bpm in the section from bars 79 to 110. It is a movement that needs to be played in a swing style. Carroll Gibbons was a wonderful musical talent and pianist kept busy at the Savoy Hotel in the war years. Broadcasting on a regular basis his playing is well documented in the recording sense although sadly not much of his piano music is available in print. Although American by birth he lived and worked in England. The quality of his musicianship is down to a combination his wonderful knowledge of chords, a repertoire largely based on the songbooks of the 1930’s & 40’s combined with experience leading bands in his working years. For the enthusiast there is archive material to discover on Carroll Gibbons. His performances particularly of popular songs are well documented with many broadcasts and recordings of his music available on streaming media. He is associated with many of the finest artists of his day including the singers Anne Lenner and Hildegarde. Pianists intending to play this particular piece well will need to have an excellent piano technique. Many of the techniques that feature in the popular piano styles of the 20th century can be identified in Bubbling Over. A light piano touch is needed and players need to play accurately and above all with rhythmic security and command. Gibbons is fond of using 2 bar links enabling him to change the mood and key in his music and there is an example of this from bar 77-78. Managing the weight in the hands is crucial in performing complex chordal music like this on a piano. It’s probably best to learn the movement as three separate sections and then perform the work as a whole. Careful attention needs to be paid to the note reading and the stretches in both hands need to be carefully managed. The swing style of playing requires the music to be performed with a triplet feel and this is not particularly well represented on the sheet music page with clarity. This is the reason why it is important and necessary for pianists to listen to Carroll Gibbons recordings playing his own music. The chromatic element in the writing is strong. The pianos in England when this music was composed were often made by Challen which had quite a light touch. Bubbling Over is described as a Foxtrot and has a sectional structure. After a 4 bar introduction there is a 35 bar A section in the key of D succeeded by a 32 bar B section in the key of F. After a two bar link this is followed by a 32 bar section in the key of G with the final section being a repeat of the opening Section A with the addition of a 6 bar coda. The A section is very typical of novelty music style whilst the B section is chordal in character. Section C features cross hand playing with the melody played in the tenor line with a bass line and off beat chords succeeded by the repetition of the A section and coda. His arrangements demonstrate a great awareness of harmonic colouring in both the choice of chords in the harmonic progression sense and the additional notes added to chords.
