LYCOS RETRIEVER 
George Gershwin: Music
built 276 days ago
Before he was 25, George Gershwin was one of Broadway's outstanding musical comedy composers with a long string of smash hits to his credit. On November 11, 1923, he made his first appearance as a pianist and composer at Aeolian Hall in New York, and February 12, 1924, marked the first performance of his famous "Rhapsody in Blue", which he composed for a serious all-jazz concert presented by Paul Whitman.
Source:
George Gershwin was born Jacob Gershowitz on September 26, 1898 in Brooklyn, New York. The son of immigrant parents, George became one of America's first premier composers and his compositions are still used today as tool of teachers everywhere as examples of the American entrance to the musical world of Stravinsky, Chopin, Beethoven and Mozart.
Source:
George Gershwin made 130 piano rolls between 1916-1927; 28 were recorded and released in 1998 on two Nonesuch CDs. This particular release has quite a few obscure Gershwin songs, including his very first tune, "When You Want 'Em, You Can't Get 'Em, When You've Got 'Em, You Don't Want 'Em." Certainly such tunes as "Novelette in Fourths," "So Am I," and "Idle Dreams" are long forgotten but worth reviving. Among the other highlights of the fascinating and highly enjoyable recital are "Sweet and Lowdown," "Swanee" and a 14-minute rendition of "Rhapsody in Blue." The 1933 item is a bit unusual, for it is a two-piano rendition of "An American in Paris" that lasts over 16 minutes and was arranged by Frank Milne. Well worth exploring. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
Source:
The great musical border crosser of the twentieth century, George Gershwin excelled in the fields of concert music and popular song alike. The son of Jewish immigrants from Russia, he was born Jacob Gershvin in Brooklyn on September 26, 1898. His father ran a great variety of small businesses, and George, in the words of the New Grove Dictionary of Music, "excelled at street sports." He ... studied the piano and was introduced to the European classics by his teacher, Charles Hambitzer.
Source:
Many of George Gershwin's songs were first written for musical plays performed in theaters in New York City. These comedies, with plenty of songs, were a popular form of entertainment in the 1920s and 1930s.
Source:
George Gershwin played a prominent role in one of the most colorful eras of American popular music: the so-called age of Tin Pan Alley - roughly 1890-1930 - when popular music became big business. In Tin Pan Alley (28th Street between Broadway and Fifth Avenue in New York City) numerous music publishing houses poured forth popular songs each year. The musical theater and the private parlor rang with the sounds of ragtime, romantic ballads, and comedy songs. Talented composers such as Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and Jerome Kern, among dozens of lesser figures, fed this lucrative music-making machine and flourished.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Music