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George Gershwin
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George Gershwin was born Jacob Gershwin on Sept. 26, 1898 in what is now Brooklyn, New York. He died in Hollywood, California on July 11, 1937. He parents were Russian-Jewish immigrants who had come to this country in search of a better life. The family name had been Gershovitz in Russia, but George anglicized it when he began school. He heard jazz first when he was six, and he was exposed to other forms of music as much as possible. When he was 12, George began to study piano.
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George Gershwin was an American composer. He was born Jacob Gershowitz in Brooklyn, New York to Russian Jewish immigrant parents. George made most of his works with his lyricist brother Ira Gershwin. Gershwin composed both for Broadway and for the classical concert hall. He ... wrote popular songs with success. Many of his compositions have been used in cinema, and many are famous jazz standards.
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The poetry and lyricism in songs by George Gershwin have universal appeal. The Lark Quartet plays three songs by Gershwin, arranged for string quartet by Stanley Silverman. "He Loves and She Loves," "Do It Again," and "Sweet and Lowdown," with a touch of Ella Fitzgerald.
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George Gershwin first read DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy in 1926, but it took seven years for the two to finish adapting the operatic version which premiered in Boston in October 1935. Gershwin composed the opera that features DuBose Heyward's libretto with additional lyrics by Ira Gershwin. Including some of George Gershwin's best known tunes -"Summertime," "Ain't Necessarily So" and "Bess, You Is My Woman Now" - Porgy and Bess has since been adapted for the Broadway stage in a play written by Dorothy Heyward, for Hollywood film and even television. Sidney Poitier, Dorothy Dandridge and Sammy Davis Jr. starred in the controversial 1959 film, which was released at a tenuous historical moment when the American Civil Rights Movement was gaining momentum, that galvanized American audiences. Houston Grand Opera's 1976 production of Porgy and Bess helped bring the work back into favor, and Porgy and Bess has since been staged in many theaters throughout the U.S. and Europe.
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George Gershwin's parents emigrated from Russia to the U.S.A in 1891. He was born Jacob Gershowitz in Brooklyn, New York, on September 26, 1898. Early on he excelled at street sports in his poor lower east side Manhattan neighborhood and had no early musical contact. His first musical exposure came when a piano was brought to the Gershowitz home for his brother, Ira. George (age 12) took an immediate interest in the instrument and began to play a popular song he had memorized from a neighbor's player piano. His parents invested in lessons for George beginning at age 13.
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George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn, New York, September 26, 1898. He began his musical training at thirteen. At fifteen he left high school to work as a pianist and song-plugger for musical publishers. He was soon writing songs. "Swanee", introduced by Al Jolson, brought Gershwin his first real fame. But it was George and his older brother, Ira, who became the dominant Broadway songwriters to emerge during the 20s, creating a ceaseless flow of brisk, infectious rhythms and affectingly poignant ballads.
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George Gershwin