George Gershwin

George Gershwin originally named Jacob Gershowitz and born on September 26, 1898 in Brooklyn, New York. He was the first to combine the popular music of the time (Jazz) with that of classical composers such as Stravinsky, Chopin, Beethoven and Mozart. George began his career in "Tin Pan Alley," a spot in New York City where aspiring composers and song writers would bring their scores to a publisher in hopes of selling their original works for modest money. He had two brothers and one sister whose interest in the piano sparked his interest as well. George composed a short operetta, called Blue Monday. The music grabbed attention of Paul Whiteman, a popular bandleader in the early 1920's. Whiteman commissioned from his a symphonic jazz piece to be played at Aeolian Hall along with other music of the day. Rosalie was a musical with music by George Gershwin and Sigmund Romberg, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and P.G. Wodehouse. This is a story about a princess from a faraway land who comes to America and falls in love with a West Point Lieutenant. It was first produced on Broadway in 1928 at the New Amsterdam Theatre. Porgy and Bess is an opera, first performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, It was based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy. George Gershwin called it an American folk opera, Porgy and Bess premiered in New York in the fall of 1935 and featured an cast full of classically trained African-American singers,a socially daring choice given the time period. He chose the African American musician Eva Jessye as the choral director for the opera. Gershwin was a strong believer in anyone having a voice in art, regardless of race.

George Gershwin wrote the famous play Of Thee I Can Sing. The lyrics written by Ira Gershwin the musical mocks American politics; the story is of John P. Wintergreen, who runs for President of the United States on the love platform. Although, he falls in love with down to earth Mary Turner instead of , the beautiful pageant winner Americans expected, he finds himself in a stick situation. George Gershwin had a strong interest in music from an early age, as did his other siblings who went on to pursue similar interest they all started, by playing the piano, while his siblings played from piano rolls, he played by ear. He had been taught classical music early on, but fell in love with Jazz. Naturally he put two very great, very different things together and something very amazing came out of it. He has inspired many modern day composers, and score writers. George wrote music to 15 Broadway musicals, one London musical and two operas, often working with his sister Ira as the lyricist for a large number of these productions. He also wrote 10 orchestral pieces and two solo piano pieces. There have been over 28 uses of his songs in plays not even composed by him. He is often regarded as having been one of the best of Broadway, his career spanned over 72 years in musical theatre alone. He has a theatre named after him in his sister in Broadway, named Gershwin theatre.

References
http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=5813 Gershwinfan.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gershwin

Original works
Orchestral Rhapsody in Blue (for piano and orchestra, 1924) Piano Concerto in F (1925) An American in Paris (for orchestra, 1928) Dream Sequence (for orchestra, 1929) Second Rhapsody, originally titled Rhapsody in Rivets (for piano and orchestra, 1931) Cuban Overture (for orchestra, 1932), originally entitled Rumba March from Strike Up the Band (for orchestra, 1934) Variations on "I Got Rhythm" (for piano and orchestra) (1934) Catfish Row (for orchestra, 1936) a suite based on music from Porgy and Bess Shall We Dance (1937 film) a movie score feature-length ballet

Solo Piano Preludes For Piano (1926) George Gershwin's Songbook (1932) (piano arrangements of eighteen songs)

Operas Blue Monday, (1922) one-act opera Porgy and Bess (1935) at the Colonial Theatre in Boston
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London Musicals Primrose (1924)

Broadway Musicals George White's Scandals (19201924) (featuring, at one point, the 1922 one-act opera Blue Monday) Lady, Be Good (1924) Tip-Toes (1925) Tell Me More! (1925) Oh, Kay! (1926) Strike Up the Band (1927) Funny Face (1927)

Rosalie (1928) Show Girl (1929) Girl Crazy (1930) Of Thee I Sing (1931) Pardon My English (1933) Let 'Em Eat Cake (1933) My One and Only (1983) (an original 1983 musical using previously written Gershwin songs) Crazy for You (1992), a revised version of Girl Crazy, written and compiled without the participation of either George or Ira Gershwin.

Films for which Gershwin wrote original scores Delicious (1931) (an early version of the Second Rhapsody and one other musical sequence was used in this film, the rest were rejected by the studio) Shall We Dance (1937) (original orchestral score by Gershwin, no recordings available in modern stereo, some sections have never been recorded) A Damsel in Distress (1937) The Goldwyn Follies (1938) (posthumously released) The Shocking Miss Pilgrim (1947) (uses songs previously unpublished)

http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=5813

Gershwinfan.com