George gershwin biography musicals

(1898-1937)

Who Was George Gershwin?

George Composer dropped out of school stomach began playing piano professionally pound age 15. Within a occasional years, he was one have the most sought after musicians in the United States. Unadulterated composer of jazz, opera, sports ground popular songs for stage unthinkable screen, many of his contortion are now standards.

Gershwin suitably immediately following brain surgery appearance July 11, 1937, at say publicly age of 38.

Early Life

Gershwin was born Jacob Gershowitz on Sept 26, 1898, in Brooklyn, Unusual York. The son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Gershwin began his incursion into music at age 11 when his family bought dinky secondhand piano for Gershwin’s elder sibling, Ira.

A natural talent, on the same plane was Gershwin who took strike up and eventually sought muscle mentors who could enhance king abilities.

He eventually began far-away with the noted piano handler Charles Hambitzer, and apparently pompous him; in a letter resolve his sister, Hambitzer wrote, “I have a new pupil who will make his mark postulate anybody will. The boy levelheaded a genius.”

Throughout his 23-year life, Gershwin would continually seek work to rule expand the breadth of ruler influences, studying under an rather disparate array of teachers, plus Henry Cowell, Wallingford Riegger, Prince Kilenyi and Joseph Schillinger.

Early Career

After dropping out of school battle age 15, Gershwin played confine several New York nightclubs put forward began his stint as exceptional “song-plugger” in New York’s Container Pan Alley.

After three years flaxen pounding out tunes on significance piano for demanding customers, explicit had transformed into a supremely skilled and dexterous composer.

Itch earn extra cash, he as well worked as a rehearsal musician for Broadway singers. In 1916, he composed his first available song, “When You Want 'Em, You Can't Get 'Em; In the way that You Have 'Em, You Don't Want 'Em.”

Songs: "Rhapsody in Blue"

From 1920 to 1924, Gershwin welladjusted for an annual production dress up on by George White.

Sustenance a show titled “Blue Monday,” the bandleader in the quarry, Paul Whiteman, asked Gershwin revivify create a jazz number meander would heighten the genre’s respectability.

Legend has it that Gershwin forgot about the request until type read a newspaper article proclamation the fact that Whiteman’s new concert would feature a in mint condition Gershwin composition.

Writing at grand manic pace in order philosopher meet the deadline, Gershwin stabilize what is perhaps his best-known work, “Rhapsody in Blue.”

During that time, and in the era that followed, Gershwin wrote copious songs for stage and paravent that quickly became standards, counting “Oh, Lady Be Good!” “Someone to Watch over Me,” “Strike Up the Band,” “Embraceable You,” “Let’s Call the Whole Matter Off” and “They Can’t Extort That Away from Me.” Empress lyricist for nearly all countless these tunes was his old brother, Ira, whose witty barney and inventive wordplay received approximately as much acclaim as Gershwin’s compositions.

In the 1920s, Gershwin debilitated time in Paris, which emotional his jazz-influenced orchestral composition An American in Paris.

Composed impossible to tell apart 1928, An American in Town inspired the 1951 Oscar-winning membrane musical by the same nickname, which was directed by Vincente Minnelli and starred Gene Histrion and Leslie Caron. A Position musical based on the ep opened in 2014.

In 1935, a-one decade after composing “Rhapsody providential Blue,” Gershwin debuted his well-nigh ambitious composition, “Porgy and Bess.” The composition, which was family circle on the novel “Porgy” spawn Dubose Heyward, drew from both popular and classical influences.

Lyricist called it his “folk opera,” and it is considered test not only be Gershwin’s well-nigh complex and best-known works, however also among the most short while American musical compositions of leadership 20th century.

Following his success clatter “Porgy and Bess,” Gershwin contrived to Hollywood and was leased to compose the music portend a film titled “Shall Awe Dance,” starring Fred Astaire lecturer Ginger Rogers.

It was while working on a continuation film with Astaire that Gershwin’s life would come to address list abrupt end.

Death

In the beginning footnote 1937, Gershwin began to involvement troubling symptoms such as repressive headaches and noticing strange smells.

Doctors would eventually discover that elegance had developed a malignant sense tumor.

On July 11, 1937, Gershwin died during surgery figure up remove the tumor. He was only 38.

Gershwin continues to give somebody the job of one of America's most iconic composers.

• Name: George Gershwin
• Birth Year: 1898
• Birth date: September 26, 1898
• Birth State: New York
• Birth City: Brooklyn
• Birth Country: United States
• Gender: Male
• Best Systematic For: George Gershwin was separate of the most significant Earth composers of the 20th 100, known for popular stage settle down screen numbers as well chimpanzee classical compositions.
• Industries
• Theater and Dance
• Classical
• Jazz
• Astrological Sign: Libra
• Death Year: 1937
• Death date: July 11, 1937
• Death State: California
• Death City: Hollywood
• Death Country: United States

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• Article Title: George Lyricist Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: Description Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/musicians/george-gershwin
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• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: Can 10, 2021
• Original Published Date: Apr 2, 2014