Gershwin: An American In Paris / Porgy And Bess

Description

Unquestionably one of the greatest melodists of thetwentieth century, the American composer, pianistand conductor George Gershwin first made his nameas the most prodigiously talented of an exceptional generationof composers writing for Broadway in the 1920s and 1930s.Though he would doubtless be remembered for hisincomparable songs alone, Gershwin went on to write anumber of concert works which have since becomeestablished in the repertory, including Rhapsody in Blue, AnAmerican in Paris and his most outstanding work, the operaPorgy and Bess. In the apt judgement of Merle Armstrongin his 1938 biography, Gershwin's music articulated 'theexcitement, the nervousness and the movement of America'.George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn, New York, on 26 thSeptember 1898, the second of four children born to Moishe(Morris) Gershovitz and Rose Bruskin, both of whom hademigrated from Russia to the United States in the early1890s. In 1910 the Gershwins bought an upright piano,originally intended for their eldest child Ira, although it wasGeorge who quickly displayed an unusual aptitude for theinstrument. He studied with Charles Hambitzer, whointroduced him to the classical piano repertoire includingChopin, Liszt, Debussy and Ravel. Gershwin was later tostudy intermittently with a number of other teachers,including Rubin Goldmark, Henry Cowell and JosephSchillinger.In 1914, aged fifteen, Gershwin dropped out of high schoolto become a demonstration pianist and song-plugger for themusic publishers Remick & Co. on Tin Pan Alley. Havinghad his first song published in 1916, he left Remick's inMarch 1917 and found work as a rehearsal pianist for Miss1917, a Broadway show by Jerome Kern and Victor Herbert.At the same time he was brought to the attention of MaxDreyfus, the head of Harms publishing company, and wassubsequently engaged as a staff composer. In 1919 Gershwinwrote his first complete score for Broadway, La La Lucille,his first worldwide hit, Swanee, made famous by the singerAl Jolson who recorded it in 1920, and from 1920 to 1924contributed the music for five of George White's Scandals.Over a fourteen-year period following La La LucilleGershwin musicals including Lady, Be Good! (1924), Oh,Kay (1926), Funny Face (1927), Girl Crazy (1930), Of TheeI Sing (1931) and Let 'Em Eat Cake (1933) would grace theNew York stage.Gershwin's entry into the world of concert music came in1924 at the invitation of the bandleader and so-called 'Kingof Jazz', Paul Whiteman. Rhapsody in Blue for jazz bandand piano, orchestrated by Ferde Grofe and first performedin New York's Aeolian Hall on 12 th February 1924, wasfollowed by the Piano Concerto in F (1925), An Americanin Paris (1928), the Second Rhapsody (1931), the CubanOverture (1932) and the opera Porgy and Bess (1934-35).Tragically, other projected works including a string quartet,a symphony, a ballet score, an additional opera, and songsfor a Kaufman-Hart musical never came to fruition. On 11 thJuly 1937 George Gershwin died