George Jacob Gershwin was an American composer and pianist.
Background
George Gershwin was born on September 26, 1898, in Brooklyn, New York, as Jacob Gershowitz. His father, Morris (Moishe) Gershowitz, changed the family name to Gershvin on immigrating to United States from St. Petersburg, Russia in the 1890s. He further changed the spelling of the family name to Gershwin after he became a professional musician. George Gershwin had three other siblings and he was the second of the lot.
Education
Although his family and friends were not musically inclined, Gershwin developed an early interest in music through his exposure to the popular and classical compositions he heard at school and in penny arcades.
He began his musical education at age 11, when his family bought a second-hand upright piano, ostensibly so that George’s older sibling, Ira, could learn the instrument. When George surprised everyone with his fluid playing of a popular song, which he had taught himself by following the keys on a neighbor’s player piano, his parents decided that George would be the family member to receive lessons.
He studied piano with the noted instructor Charles Hambitzer, who introduced his young student to the works of the great classical composers. Hambitzer was so impressed with George’s skills that he chose to mentor him for free.
George continued his musical knowledge with various composers like Henry Cowell and Wallingford Riegger, the traditionalist Edward Kilenyi, and Joseph Schillinger.
Career
Gershwin dropped out of school by the age of 15 and made an income by making piano rolls for the piano players. He also played at New York nightclubs. One of his most important jobs George Gershwin had when he had just dropped out of school was as a song plugger. George demonstrated sheet music for the Jerome Remick music-publishing company and earned $15 a week. The song pluggers like George worked for long hours playing the music for potential customers. The three years as a song plugger added to Gershwin’s experience by adding to his dexterity and methods of improvisation and transposing.
In 1916, Gershwin composed his first published song When You Want 'Em You Can't Get 'Em along with his first solo piano composition Rialto Ripples where his song earned him a $5. He attracted Broadway composers and the composer Sigmund Romberg included one of Gershwin’s songs in his production The Passing Show of 1916. In 1916, Gershwin also worked for Aeolian Company and Standard Music Rolls in New York by recording and arranging. He produced many rolls under his own name and also under pseudonyms. He also recorded rolls of his own compositions for the Duo-Art and Welte-Mignon reproducing pianos.
With these early experiences, Gershwin’s knowledge of jazz and popular music greatly increased. George was inspired by the songs of Irving Berlin and Jerome Kern to compose for the Broadway. In 1919, his song Swanee in the musical hit Sinbad, performed by Al Jolson became a commercial success. It sold more than two million recordings and a million sheets of music. This made Gershwin an overnight celebrity. In the same year, Gershwin composed the entire score for his first show La La Lucille. Gershwin worked on his most serious work and composed the Lullaby for string quartet.
Over the next four years, Gershwin wrote forty-five songs - Somebody Loves Me and Stairway to Paradise, along with the twenty-five-minute opera, Blue Monday.
In 1924, Gershwin worked together with his elder brother, lyricist Ira Gershwin for the musical comedy Lady Be Good. Together they wrote many more successful musicals including Oh Kay! and Funny Face.
In 1924, Gershwin’s jazz-influenced Rhapsody in Blue was composed. It was produced in less than three. Rhapsody in Blue was orchestrated by Ferde Grofé and premiered by Paul Whiteman's concert band in New York’s Aeolian Hall. It was considered to be George’s most popular works. The success of Rhapsody in Blue led Gershwin to write more pieces for piano and orchestra. George Gershwin travelled to Paris for a short period to study from the famous instructor Nadia Boulanger. But he was rejected the mentoring as she thought that the classical study would ruin Georges jazz influenced style. He wrote Concerto in F followed by An American in Paris in 1928 in Paris itself. This piece was premiered at Carnegie Hall in late 1928s and the track was used in Show Girl as a ballet scene. Tired of the Parisian musical scene, Gershwin returned to United States soon.
In the early 1930s, Gershwin came up with other major orchestral contributions. His Second Rhapsody from 1931 featured in the movie Delicious. It was one of the most experimental works and received a lot of appreciation. Strike up the Band, Let ‘Em Eat Cake, and Of Thee I Sing, were innovative works of the 1930s which dealt with social issues of that time. Of Thee I Sing was a major hit and it was the first comedy.
One of the grandest compositions George came up with was Porgy and Bess in 1935. It was set in the south and dealt with the poor ghettos and their daily lives. Based on the novel Porgy by Du Bose Heyward, Gershwin considered it as perfect for opera using jazz and blues rhythms and idioms. It was set in the fictional all-black neighborhood of Catfish Row in Charleston, South Carolina. The music of Porgy and Bess was a combination of popular music of the day, with influences of Black music and opera techniques. Although this opera didn’t receive much fame in the beginning, it included memorable songs like It Ain’t Necessarily So, I Loves You, Porgy, and Summertime. After Porgy and Bess, Gershwin was approached by RKO pictures in 1936 to compose songs and the underscore for Shall We Dance. This included hits such as Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off and They Can’t Take That Away From Me.
Throughout the first half of 1937, Gershwin experienced severe headaches and brief memory blackouts. By July, Gershwin showed weakened motor skills and sweeping weight loss, and he required help in walking. In the same month, Gershwin lapsed into a coma and he was diagnosed to have malignant brain tumor. It was in Hollywood while working on his score for the Goldwyn Follies that he collapsed. Gershwin never regained consciousness and he died during surgery two days later. He died on July 11, 1937 at the age of 38 at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital.
Quotations:
"Life is a lot like jazz... it's best when you improvise."
"All great composers of the past spent most of their time studying. Feeling alone won't do the job. A man also needs technique."
"True music must repeat the thought and inspirations of the people and the time."
"When I'm in my normal mood, music drips from my fingers."
"Writing music is not so much inspiration as hard work."
Personality
Quotes from others about the person
Reviewing the premiere of Gershwin, Olin Downes wrote that the "composition shows extraordinary talent, just as it also shows a young composer with aims that go far beyond those of his ilk…. "
Interests
Music & Bands
George Gershwin was particularly impressed by the music of Berg, who gave him a score of the Lyric Suite. Gershwin was intrigued by the works of Alban Berg, Dmitri Shostakovich, Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud, and Arnold Schoenberg.
Connections
George Gershwin had a long-term relationship with Kay Swift. They met in 1925, when Kay was married. However, after Kay has marriage dissolved in 1934, because of her involvement with George, her affair with George lasted for around ten years in all. Gershwin frequently consulted Swift about his musicals and other work. Despite their long relationship, Kay and Gershwin never married as George’s mother Rose had apprehension of Kay not being Jewish.
In 1985, the Congressional Gold Medal was awarded to George and Ira Gershwin. Only three other songwriters, George M. Cohan, Harry Chapin and Irving Berlin, have had the honor of receiving this award.
In 1985, the Congressional Gold Medal was awarded to George and Ira Gershwin. Only three other songwriters, George M. Cohan, Harry Chapin and Irving Berlin, have had the honor of receiving this award.
In 1998 a special Pulitzer Prize was posthumously awarded to George Gershwin "commemorating the centennial year of his birth, for his distinguished and enduring contributions to American music."
In 1998 a special Pulitzer Prize was posthumously awarded to George Gershwin "commemorating the centennial year of his birth, for his distinguished and enduring contributions to American music."