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<br /> Gershwin: An Amerian in Paris
<br /> George Gershwin was as American as apple pie, if one allows the simile to include a side order of borscht. He was born in
<br /> Brooklyn, New York in 1898 to Russian-Jewish immigrants Moishe Gershowitz and Roza Bruskina,who morphed in their
<br /> new country into Morris and Rose Gershwine (their sons later dropped the final "e"). George and his elder (by 2 years)
<br /> brother Ira gravitated early to the Yiddish Theater District on the Lower East Side and East Village in Manhattan. This
<br /> area was home for entertainment ranging from Shakespeare in Yiddish (the historical language of Ashkenazi Jews in
<br /> Central Europe,with a Germanic base and written in Hebrew script)to vaudeville, burlesque, and musical shows rivaling
<br /> those of the tonier Broadway theater.
<br /> Born without the "silver spoon in the mouth" enjoyed by Felix Mendelssohn, George may have possessed equal innate
<br /> talent. (And like Felix he became a skilled painter and an athlete.) Morris and Rose bought a piano for Ira, but George
<br /> monopolized it.At the age of 15 he dropped out of high school to work as a"song plugger"on Tin Pan Alley,demonstrating
<br /> songs from the music publishers whose shops clustered in a few West Side blocks adjacent to the theater district.
<br /> Despite meager formal education, he displayed a passion for self-improvement,seeking out better teachers and studying
<br /> music intensively. Charles Hambitzer, a fine pianist and composer, spotted Gershwin's "genius"and took the young man
<br /> under his wing, bringing him to concerts and expanding his horizons to include music of Liszt, Chopin, and Debussy. Still,
<br /> it was in popular music that George first made his mark,arranging and recording piano rolls. He began to write successful
<br /> songs, following in the footsteps of another musician with Russian-Jewish roots, Irving Berlin. However, even before his
<br /> 21st birthday Gershwin had gone further than Berlin in graduating from Tin Pan Alley to compose a full Broadway musical,
<br /> La La Lucille. Al Jolson's rendition of "Swanee" gave Gershwin a big hit song that brought him more than $10,000 in
<br /> royalties in its first year alone. By the mid 1920s, teamed with Ira as lyricist, George was the most successful composer
<br /> of musical scores for Broadway, with several long-running hits. The Gershwin brothers also scored big in London with
<br /> such shows as Lady Be Good starring Fred and Adele Astaire. Altogether, they collaborated on 22 musical comedies.
<br /> Their Of Thee I Sing was the first musical awarded a Pulitzer Prize.
<br /> , ' r ;1;"II � roN 1111' IIIIIII 1 George's success was not confined to the boards of the musical
<br /> w
<br /> i � y �1 a theater stage. In 1924 he joined band leader Paul Whiteman
<br /> l 1 t� {1 ;,,,ri ( ' '�' °= 1 in a program called An Experiment in Modern Music', aimed at
<br /> ', ,11 0# ' legitimizing symphonic arran arrangements of jazz music as serious
<br /> �G � i g. , g g 1
<br /> 1 ) ��% ''' 10,, '1, concert entities. They introduced Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue,
<br /> { ,� : with the composer performing the demanding solo piano part.
<br /> oroNNI0110,I; 1r,NIIIIIVAIP3 ', �� ` r 0 i, The work brought Gershwin added audience acclaim and critical
<br /> � ' 1 , � ;` j notice, along with a boost to his already formidable finances. Over
<br /> e ` "4 ' 1' s ; the next decade he realized more than $250,000 from recordings,
<br /> 0 4e0,1 IN, ��� ,� performances, and rental fees for Rhapsody, which represented li
<br /> '' 1 ,u��, �, ,,v only a small component of his total earnings. For the rest of his
<br /> �� l; iii r 1,f, career, he divided time between composition for popular theater
<br /> 1111,1;0,1s' 14,11 1 � and concert music, and continued to rack up major successes in
<br /> ml1,le,y.1, 7. ti �
<br /> both arenas.The two strains of his creativity united in the `American
<br /> 1 ,a, I ' folk opera' Porgy and Bess. This work opened in a Broadway 00.1
<br /> �! e; theater in 1935 but today holds an important place in the opera
<br /> I ��� , � , , world,although absent from some houses because of the Gershwin� , �
<br /> D estate's stipulation that it be performed only by an all-black cast.
<br /> 1 � �r�r� 0nyr��r Gershwin's potential for even greater creativity was cut short soon
<br /> ` after by a fatal brain tumor, at age 39. In this he again resembled
<br /> George Gershwin Self-Portrait in an Opera Hat Mendelssohn who died of a stroke at virtually the same age.
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