Gershwin, George

Gershwin, George (1898–1937), pianist, songwriter, composer.Born in New York City, Gershwin quit school at age sixteen to take a job as a sheet music salesman. Influenced by jazz and the popular songs of New York's Tin Pan Alley, he became a theater pianist and songwriter in 1917. La La Lucille, Gershwin's first complete score, opened on Broadway in 1919. Later that year, his reputation was established when Al Jolson interpolated “Swanee” into the show Sinbad. Between 1920 and 1924, Gershwin wrote songs for George White's Scandals, among them Somebody Loves Me and I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise. His 1924 musical Lady Be Good, featuring Fred and Adele Astaire, achieved major success in New York and London. Oh, Kay (1926), Strike Up the Band (1927), Funny Face (1927), Girl Crazy (1930), and Of Thee I Sing (1931) followed, with lyrics by the composer's brother, Ira (1896–1983).

While Gershwin was preparing Lady Be Good, the orchestra leader Paul Whiteman asked him to compose a jazz piece for symphony orchestra. The resulting work, Rhapsody in Blue (1924), bridged the gap between serious and popular music and overnight made Gershwin a major figure in the music world. In 1925, he wrote Concerto in F at the request of Walter Damrosch (1862–1950), conductor of the New York Symphony, and three years later composed An American in Paris. His Second Rhapsody followed in 1931 and Cuban Overture in 1932. The musical Porgy and Bess, Gershwin's crowning achievement, opened on Broadway in 1935. This so‐called folk opera, produced after the composer had studied orchestration with Joseph Schillinger, fused vernacular and cultivated traditions into an original masterpiece. Based on the successful novel and play by DuBose and Dorothy Heywood, it was set in Charleston, South Carolina, and featured an African‐American cast. Although pleased to be taken seriously as a composer, Gershwin did not forsake popular songwriting; he spent his final months in Hollywood, writing such standards asLove Walked In and Love Is Here to Stay for motion pictures. His premature death resulted from a brain tumor.
See also Music: Classical Music; Music: Popular Music; Musical Theater; Theater.

Bibliography

Deena Rosenberg , Fascinating Rhythm, 1991.
Joan Peyser , The Memory of All That: The Life of George Gershwin, 1993.

Ronald L. Davis