George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn in 1898, the second of four children from a close-knit immigrant family. He began his musical career as a song-plugger on Tin Pan Alley, but was soon writing his own pieces. Gershwin’s first published song, “When You Want ‘Em, You Can’t Get ‘Em,” demonstrated innovative new techniques, but only earned him five dollars. Soon after, however, he met a young lyricist named Irving Ceaser. Together they composed a number of songs including “Swanee,” which sold more than a million copies.
In the same year as “Swanee,” Gershwin collaborated with Arthur L. Jackson and Buddy De Sylva on his first complete Broadway musical, “La, La Lucille”. Over the course of the next four years, Gershwin wrote forty-five songs; among them were “Somebody Loves Me” and “Stairway to Paradise,” as well as a twenty-five-minute opera, “Blue Monday.” Composed in five days, the piece contained many musical clichés, but it also offered hints of developments to come.
In 1924, George collaborated with his brother, lyricist Ira Gershwin, on a musical comedy “Lady Be Good”. It included such standards as “Fascinating Rhythm” and “The Man I Love.” It was the beginning of a partnership that would continue for the rest of the composer’s life. Together they wrote many more successful musicals including “Oh Kay!” and “Funny Face”, staring Fred Astaire and his sister Adele. While continuing to compose popular music for the stage, Gershwin began to lead a double life, trying to make his mark as a serious composer.
When he was 25 years old, his jazz-influenced “Rhapsody in Blue” premiered in New York’s Aeolian Hall at the concert, “An Experiment in Music.” The audience included Jascha Heifitz, Fritz Kreisler, Leopold Stokowski, Serge Rachmaninov, and Igor Stravinsky. Gershwin followed this success with his orchestral work “Piano Concerto in F, Rhapsody No. 2″ and “An American in Paris”. Serious music critics were often at a loss as to where to place Gershwin’s classical music in the standard repertoire. Some dismissed his work as banal and tiresome, but it always found favor with the general public.
In the early thirties, Gershwin experimented with some new ideas in Broadway musicals. “Strike Up The Band”, “Let ‘Em Eat Cake”, and “Of Thee I Sing”, were innovative works dealing with social issues of the time. “Of Thee I Sing” was a major hit and the first comedy ever to win the Pulitzer Prize. In 1935 he presented a folk opera “Porgy and Bess” in Boston with only moderate success. Now recognized as one of the seminal works of American opera, it included such memorable songs as “It Ain’t Necessarily So,” “I Loves You, Porgy,” and “Summertime.”
In 1937, after many successes on Broadway, the brothers decided go to Hollywood. Again they teamed up with Fred Astaire, who was now paired with Ginger Rogers. They made the musical film, “Shall We Dance”, which included such hits as “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” and “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.” Soon after came “A Damsel in Distress”, in which Astaire appeared with Joan Fontaine. After becoming ill while working on a film, he had plans to return to New York to work on writing serious music. He planned a string quartet, a ballet and another opera, but these pieces were never written. At the age of 38, he died of a brain tumor. Today he remains one of America’s most beloved popular musicians.
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Hey fools(: Haheh. Just messin wit yo
head. Uh yeah well dat guy up thurr
yeah dat composer or whateva well Im
gon be doin a project on him at mi
school yo. It’s for mi music class.
If any of you know Mrs. Goethols. She
is a music teacher at John Young Middle
School. I think shes a violinist too.
But anyways if you know her will you
please contact me @ xomelanie526ox@yahoo.com
My name’s Melanie. I’m just taking a poll
about my music teacher. K well peace. Im out.
yo i doing a project on this dude up der and well he pretty boring so if you know anything interesting bout him please email me. btw i meina
Well, going to be hard to beat that comment, NoneYo. I’m also doing a small quarterly project on Gershwin, and we (the orchestra I play in and I) actually played Rhapsody in Blue, which is an enjoyable piece to play. Just thought I’d comment about it. If there are comments about how sappy THIS comment is, post ANOTHER comment cause my e-mail doesn’t work. I would also like to point out the urge to make slurs in the text, thanks to NoneYo.
george girshwin….dumb report on him 4 school, STUPID MUSIC CLASS!!!!!!!
pretty good explanation ’bout him. wat i needed 4 my skool report.
im doin a report on george gershwin and it has to be about 7 paragraphs and 6 sentences 2 each paragraph and i need 2 dress up like him 2 on friday the 31 of oct
HEY YALL.
wow, ‘yeah i’m doin a project on dat guy right up thur.’ ha, you guys are cooool.
hey yall
heyazzzzz innit we is doin a project too !
I am so much better than you!
bum bum be dum bum bum be dum bum
this dude did alot before dying…..pretty sweet….yeah i gotta do a report on him too..because in
that is so wack and u know it haha
I LOVE GEORGE
report due tommorow!!
Dudes this Dude died in Hollywood! that is soo cool man! lol peace im out!
yea i’m doin a report on him….. sucks that he died so young
ick. i hate school essays. i hav to do one on gershwin, louis armstrong and fletcher henderson. essays suck
Great American composer! Wonderful biography
I just did a report on this guy for and American dream project. He is an amazing man who accomplished a lot in his life time and it shows that just because you don’t have a college degree that does not mean you cant be a 100 time more successful than a man with a yale degree.
George gershwin is awsome. Im in ramstein germany right now and im workin on this project for NHD. Im a junior and doing a project on this guy. I like how he changed his name so many times.
YOUR AWESOME GERSHWIN
Hey kids – You should be proud of yourselves for studying the life of this great artist. I find that when it comes to writing an essay about someone’s life, the best way to convey the meaning of their life is to visit some of the places they frequented, whether it is their birthplace, a bar down the street they used to go to, a school they attended, or the house they grew up in. In the case of George Gershwin, why not visit Tin Pan Alley in New York City? This is the original “street of dreams” where so many of Gershwin’s songs were composed. You’d be surprised how many of his songs you already know. Here is a recent article on Tin Pan Alley: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/tin-pan-alley-was-never-very-pretty/
well this guy seems pretty cool… i have to do an essay on him for skool and hes like the only cool guy in a list of a bunch of dead guys so give him some respect!
Mmkay, I am ALSO doing a report on him. Buttttttt it’s fer history not music class o:
Haha (:
O_O
And stop talking like gangsters ._.
I mena really xD
Thank whoever put this up. It was alot of help fr my report.
*YAWWNNNNNN*
Just saw a movie about George Gershwin’s life (Rhapsody in Blue on AMC) and it was amazing how many wonderful songs he wrote that I knew, but did not know that he was the composer of. What a talent! God really gives people special gifts and there is no doubt this man and his brother IRA were both fabulously gifted. And we are the recipients of all this wonderful music. We are surely blessed!
Wish i could do a report on someone like Hendrix, Slash or Angus Young! not this guy! GEESSSHH
I think Gershwin is fascinating… Then again, I’m a music nerd… But anyway, I’ve found some pretty interesting things on him so far. I’m not sure all of it is true thought… >.<
I grew up listening to his music on my parents 78 records, along with the “Big Band” music. I’ve seen the movie “Rhapsody in Blue” several times and would watch it again. The music is wonderful to listen to.
Hey kids, George was a regular kid growing up in NYC. Went to NY public schools until he dropped out of high school to take a job on Tin Pan Alley. He had a gift to not only write great music, but a remarkable piano player. Unfortunately he died in his 30’s, and in a very short time left us some of the greatest music in all genres; opera, show tunes, radio hits, orchestral; he did it all! Find a biography on his life, you’ll be amazed.
Ughhh, yes you should write a report on Jimi Hendrix and his choice to end a promising musical career by overdosing on heroin and how he spent his free time getting high and letting groupies make plaster casts of his p_ _ _ _! Or you could study Gershwin. A poor Jewish immigrant that learned to play on a neighbors piano and used his brilliance to create some of America’s greatest music. Gershwin didn’t spend his time wasted on smack to escape life, he embraced life and entertained millions through his musical creations and innovative technique only to die of brain cancer at age 38. Write about Hendrix-played the guitar, set instrument on fire on stage, overdosed on heroin.
I can play the solo to Rhapsody in Blue on my clarinet!!! Gershwin is ‘mazin!
heyyyyyyyy why is this guy dead and where i sssss he
he does have a lot of intersting things about him. If you go to the right website you’ll see that he had an affair with a woman name Kay, he named a song after her and everything. Hope that helps to some of you who couldn’t find anything
i am also doind a project on him. this guy has so much facts about him that i can’t keep track.
I am also doing a report on him in history. this website was really helpful. He was amazing! i have one question though, how can he have died in 1938, be born in 1898, and die at the age of 38. it doesn’t work.
Thanks anyway
For you people who are saying George Gershwin was boring…are you blind?
He was one of the greatest composers of his age!
Do you realize how famous some of the songs he and Ira composed ARE?
How dare you insult their memories by saying Gershwin was boring.
I’m doing a report on this for my ENGLISH class right now, and I’m glad I picked George Gershwin for my topic, as he is my favorite classical composer.
If you want to insult someone, go insult George Bush.
Don’t you dare disrespect a musical genius like George Gershwin.
come on u guys. this is an educational site. go get a facebook and talk there
Im doing a project on this dude…Ya kinda boring and stuff. This is really boring and stuff. This guys a good person Kind of… I would rather do tony hawk tho. One of my friends got him.
Am enjoying a recording of Rhapsody in Blue, and wanted to know more about this amazing composer who tragically died so young — American Masters is a great series that really brings national treasures like him back to life. However, in reading a lot of the comments, I also discovered that we are raising a nation of morons, unbelievable.
Georgie had a lot of great musical achievements and he isn’t boring…. but this site sort of is… i’m doing a report on him and have to site this page… so I have to know the author… where’s the author!!!!
i am doing a project on george and it is pretty hard when u do not know alot about him ,but i am trying.lol
He was a GREAT composer. My favorite song was coposed by him, “An American in Paris.”
neat guy
hmmm ‘poor Jewish immigrant that learned to play on a neighbors piano’ or ‘letting groupies make plaster casts of his p_ _ _ _’ I know which I’d choose. Seriously Hendrix’s music has more influence on what’s happening in contemporary music than Gershwin. But the world is big enough for both, so why choose. I love both Hendrix and Gershwin, both American masters.
Im ALSO doin a report on him he seems cool
why the heck would you do a project on hendrix’s ‘letting groupies make plaster casts of his p_ _ _ _’ for school? no offense meant, but i think that’s a little inappropriate…
it seems like a lot of people are doin this guy for a school project…i am 2 it really sucks.. i think ill get an F. all these old composers are really boring.
i have to do a paper to anyone know any other good sites to go to?
thanks for the support guys!
I’m doing a project on this guy too and w/e but this article has very little info about George what nonsense is that thanks for the help[ what little i got. PEACE
there is some good info on here. i’m doin a paper on him…
there is some great info here….im doing a research poster and crossword puzzle on him
ugh i have to do a report on this dude this is lame i could be talkin to my boy friend
I am doing this project 2 this isn’t 2 bad unless u have a really strict teacher. I wouldn’t be offended of what other people say about this web page. Ya some people might make fun of this page but that doesn’t matter does it. I dont think people should be saying “this page sucks i would rather go play video games.” Because this is part of peoples education and without education……………..life would suck. You probably wouldn’t get a good job either. You would just be working at Mcdonalds saying “would you like some fries with that.” So the moral of the story is education is important no matter what we think about it. Education is still important.
this is asome info about george gershwin
its sad to see all of your comments being so negative this man was a great pioneer in music. even some music that you all listen to today was greatly infuenced by gershwin. alot of artists today have bitten off of great composers like him. if your a music lover look harder and you will find his lyrics in many recent songs.
i hate my music teacher making us do stupid projects i have 2 do it on this guy =(
For all the people who think Gershiwn is lame and how it’s a dumb report you have to do for school or how your’d rather do hendrix grow up like seriously you sound like little kids, open your minds and better yourselves culturally. It’s close minded people like you that I wanna kick in the face. I’m doing a musicology on jazz symphony and Gershwin’s works and It’s the most fascinating thing in music I’ve done so far and I’m in senior year with 3 months to go… If you pulled your heads out your arses and got it done instead of complaining about it you wouldnt have such a hard time..k thx bai
While there isn’t a lot of information about Gershwin’s personal life, you can find some interesting quotes by Googling “George Gershwin quotes” and some external links on Wikipedia. Turns out, he was quite the ladies’ man and egotist. It’s kind of funny if you think about it.
If you do conduct a paper on Gerswhin, listen to his music…really listen. “Rhapsody in Blue” is one of the most famous because it’s so accessible. Start there. Hypothesize what he was trying to say in the song then compare with researched information. Your teacher would likely be impressed.
this guy is amazing but very dull compared with Dell Paxton
….love the jazz…don’t know if a geneology project for english will work for him though….love his music!!! =D
This guy is amazing. I didn’t really know who he was until I had to do this project on him, but I’m glad I actually did this one. He is such an amazing composer. “Rhapsody In Blue” is simply spine tingling. I feel lucky to have gotten Gershwin for a project.