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Composer of the Month - April, 2005

George Gershwin, 1898-1937
by Daryl Lee

New York City, West 28th street from Broadway to 6th Avenue was the home of Tin Pan Alley, and Tin Pan Alley was the spiritual birthplace of some of the most famous musicians of early Twentieth Century America.  At the age of 15, George Gershwin dropped out of high school to make his fortune on Tin Pan Alley.  He started his career as a "song plugger." The plugger's job was to evaluate music brought by composers, and, if the song was deemed worthy, to work with radio stations and performers to get them air time. Using other composers' efforts, he developed a great sense for what would sell. His own first song was published at age 18, but at the age of 21, a certain Al Jolson sang a certain Swanee and Gershwin's career took off.

Gershwin, as so many other song writers of that era, was focused on writing music that would sell sheet music—music was meant to be performed by the masses, not just heard by them.  He was particularly gifted at crafting tunes that were singable and playable on that ubiquitous instrument, the piano.  After five years, he teamed up with his elder brother Ira, and soon the names George and Ira Gershwin became synonymous with popular show music in America.  One of the most enduring collaborations of this era came in 1930, Girl Crazy.  This rousing musical included many tunes that have stood the test of time, such as Bidin' My Time, I Got Rhythm, But Not For Me, and, to be included in the Spring 2005 MOS Concert, Embraceable You.

But also like many other composers, Gershwin yearned to be taken seriously. In 1924 he was commissioned by Paul Whiteman to compose an orchestral work for a special program on modern American music.  Busy with a musical he was working on, Gershwin forgot about it until three weeks before the performance, when he chanced upon a flier advertising the concert and giving special mention to his own contribution.  Genius being what it is, when he settled down to do the work, it flowed freely from his fingertips. From its very first spine -tingling notes on the solo clarinet, Rhapsody in Blue set Gershwin apart as a composer worthy of serious attention.  Following Concerto in F and An American in Paris, he would no longer be seen as just an excellent musicals composer.

After he had made his name as a composer of serious music, he set his sights on the opera genre. With his gift for putting the American spirit into musical form, Porgy and Bess combined Gershwin's bluesy-jazzy style with a poignant, uniquely American drama.  It was 1935, when Gershwin was only 37 years old. One would think his career was just beginning to take off.  But life isn't so easily scripted.  Two years later, he collapsed and died of a brain tumor. Today, 68 years later, many echo the sentiments of John O'Hara: "George Gershwin died in 1937, but I don't have to believe it if I don't want to."

For further reading on George Gershwin:
http://www.gershwin.com/
http://www.gershwinfan.com/biogeorge.html
http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/gershwin.html
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/gershwin_g.html
http://www.karadar.com/Dictionary/gershwin.html#vita
http://www.naxos.com/composer/gershwin.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gershwin#Biography

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