Somewhere Over the Rainbow: Serenata in E Major

About This Song

“Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is a ballad composed by Harold Arlen (with lyrics by Yip Harburg). It was written for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. The song was entered in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as “culturally, historically, or artistically significant.” The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) ranked it number one on their Songs of the Century list. The American Film Institute named it the best movie song on the AFI’s 100 Years…100 Songs list.

Mr. Pasero has arranged and recorded two renditions of this popular standard: “Over the Rainbow, Adagio in G Major” and this version “Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Serenata in E Major.” This E major version is an excerpt from Stevan’s concert rendition. The key of E major utilizes the open 6th string E note, allowing usage of the lowest open string note and high notes up to the 15th fret for this arrangement.