George Gershwin (/r.

wn/; September 26, 1898 July 11, 1937) was an

American composer and pianist.[1][2] Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical
genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known. Among his best-known works are the
orchestral compositions Rhapsody in Blue (1924) and An American in Paris (1928) as well as the
opera Porgy and Bess (1935).
Gershwin studied piano under Charles Hambitzer and composition with Rubin Goldmark, Henry
Cowell and Joseph Brody. He began his career as a song plugger, but soon started
composing Broadway theatre works with his brother Ira Gershwin, and Buddy DeSylva. He
moved to Paris intending to study with Nadia Boulanger, who refused him, where he began to
compose An American in Paris. After returning to New York City, he wrotePorgy and Bess with
Ira and the author DuBose Heyward. Initially a commercial failure, Porgy and Bess is now
considered one of the most important American operas of the twentieth century.
Gershwin moved to Hollywood and composed numerous film scores until his death in 1937 from
a malignant brain tumor-- glioblastoma multiforme.[3]
Gershwin's compositions have been adapted for use in many films and for television, and several
became jazz standards recorded in many variations. Many celebrated singers and musicians
have covered his songs.

Early life[edit]
Gershwin was born of Russian and Ukrainian Jewish descent. His grandfather, Jakov
Gershowitz, had served for 25 years as a mechanic for the Imperial Russian Army to earn the
right of free travel and residence as a Jew. He retired near Saint Petersburg. His teenage son,
Moishe Gershowitz, worked as a leather cutter for women's shoes. Moishe met and fell in love
with Roza Bruskina, the teenage daughter of a furrier, born in Vilnius. Bruskina moved with her
family to New York due to fears of an increasing anti-Jewish sentiment in Russia; once re-settled,
she Americanized her first name to Rose. Moishe, faced with compulsory military service in
Russia, followed Rose as soon as he had the means to. Upon arrival in New York, Moishe
Gershowitz used the first name Morris. Moishe (Morris) settled at first with a maternal uncle in
Brooklyn: a tailor named Greenstein, where he worked as a foreman in a women's shoe factory.
When Morris and Rose married on July 21, 1895, they were 23 and 19, respectively. At some
time between 1893 and 1898, Moishe (Morris) Gershowitz changed his surname to Gershwine
even possibly at, or around, the time of his marriage to Roza. [4][5][6]
The first child to the new couple was Ira (given the name 'Israel'), on December 6, 1896. It was
about that time that Morris moved the family to Brooklyn, to a second-floor dwelling at 242
Snediker Avenue. George Gershwin was born at the new residence on September 26, 1898; his
birth certificate bears the name Jacob Gershwine, with the surname being commonly

pronounced 'Gersh-vin' by the predominantly expatriate Russian and Yiddish community. George
was named after his late grandfather (the Russian army mechanic). However, although the
common American practice was to give children two namesa first and a middle namehe had
no other name but 'George'. Years later, George changed the spelling of his surname to
'Gershwin' after he became a professional musician; subsequently, other members of his family
followed suit.[7]
George and Ira lived in many different residences, as their father changed dwellings with each
new enterprise with which he became involved. Mostly, the boys grew up around the Yiddish
Theater District. They frequented the local Yiddish theaters, with George occasionally appearing
onstage as an extra.[8][9][10]
After Ira and George, two more children were born to the family: Arthur (19001981),
and Frances (19061999).
George lived a usual childhood existence for children of New York tenements - running around
with his boyhood friends, roller skating and misbehaving in the streets. Remarkably, he cared
nothing for music until the age of ten, when he was intrigued by what he heard at his friend Maxie
Rosenzweig's violin recital.[11] The sound, and the way his friend played, captured him. His
parents had bought a piano for lessons for his older brother Ira, but to his parents' surprise, and
Ira's relief, it was George who spent more time playing it. [12] Although his younger sister Frances
Gershwin was the first in the family to make a living through her musical talents, she married
young and devoted herself to being a mother and housewife - thus surrendering any serious time
to musical endeavors. Frances, having given up her performing career, did however settle upon
another art: painting, as a creative outlet. Painting had also been a hobby George briefly
pursued. Arthur Gershwin followed in the paths of George and Ira, when he also became a
composer of songs, musicals, and short piano works.
With a degree of frustration, George tried various piano teachers for some two years, before
finally being introduced to Charles Hambitzer by Jack Miller, the pianist in the Beethoven
Symphony Orchestra. Until his death in 1918, Hambitzer remained Gershwin's musical mentor
and taught him conventional piano technique, introduced him to music of the European classical
tradition, and encouraged him to attend orchestral concerts. [13] At home, following such concerts,
young Gershwin would essentially try to play, at the piano, the music that he had heard completely from recall, and without sheet music. As a matter of course, Gershwin later studied
with the classical composer Rubin Goldmark and avant-garde composer-theorist Henry Cowell,
thus formalizing his classical music training.

Tin Pan Alley[edit]

Swanee

MENU
0:00

Al Jolson's hit 1920

recording of George
Gershwin and Irving
Caesar's 1919
"Swanee".

Problems playing this file?

See media help.

On leaving school at the age of 15, Gershwin found his first job as a "song plugger" for Jerome
H. Remick and Company, a Detroit-based publishing firm with a branch office on New York
City's Tin Pan Alley, where he earned $15 a week. His first published song was "When You Want
'Em, You Can't Get 'Em, When You've Got 'Em, You Don't Want 'Em". It was published in 1916
when Gershwin was only 17 years old and earned him 50 cents. His 1917 novelty rag, "Rialto
Ripples", was a commercial success, and in 1919 he scored his first big national hit with his
song, "Swanee", with words by Irving Caesar. Al Jolson, a famousBroadway singer of the day,
heard Gershwin perform "Swanee" at a party and decided to sing it in one of his shows. [14]
In 1916, Gershwin started working for Aeolian Company and Standard Music Rolls in New York,
recording and arranging. He produced dozens, if not hundreds, of rolls under his own and
assumed names (pseudonyms attributed to Gershwin include Fred Murtha and Bert Wynn). He
also recorded rolls of his own compositions for the Duo-Art and Welte-Mignon reproducing
pianos. As well as recording piano rolls, Gershwin made a brief foray into vaudeville,
accompanying both Nora Bayes and Louise Dresser on the piano.[15]
In the late 1910s, Gershwin met songwriter and music director William Daly. The two
collaborated on the Broadway musicals Piccadilly to Broadway (1920) and For Goodness'
Sake (1922), and jointly composed the score for Our Nell (1923). This was the beginning of a
long friendship; Daly was a frequent arranger, orchestrator and conductor of Gershwin's music,
and Gershwin periodically turned to him for musical advice.[16]
In the early 1920s, Gershwin frequently worked with the lyricist Buddy DeSylva. Together they
created the experimental one-act jazz opera Blue Monday, set in Harlem. It is widely regarded as
a forerunner to the groundbreaking Porgy and Bess. In 1924, George and Ira Gershwin
collaborated on a stage musical comedy Lady Be Good, which included such future standards as
"Fascinating Rhythm" and "Oh, Lady Be Good!".[17] They followed this with Oh, Kay! (1926);
[18]

Funny Face (1927);[19] Strike Up the Band (1927 and 1930). Gershwin gave the song, with a

modified title, to UCLA to be used as a football fight song, "Strike Up The Band for UCLA". [20]

The Gershwin brothers created Show Girl (1929);[21] Girl Crazy (1930),[22] which introduced the
standards "Embraceable You", debuted by Ginger Rogers; "I Got Rhythm", and Of Thee I
Sing (1931),[23] which was the first musical comedy to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama; the
winners were George S. Kaufman, Morrie Ryskind, and Ira Gershwin.[24]

Europe and classical music[edit]

George Gershwin, c. 1935.

In 1924, Gershwin composed his first major classical work, Rhapsody in Blue, for orchestra and
piano. This piece featured an intermediate work that would win over the audience when played. It
was orchestrated by Ferde Grof and premiered by Paul Whiteman's concert band in New York.
It proved to be his most popular work.
In the mid-1920s, Gershwin stayed in Paris for a short period of time, during which he applied to
study composition with the noted Nadia Boulanger, who, along with several other prospective
tutors such as Maurice Ravel, rejected him. They were afraid that rigorous classical study would
ruin his jazz-influenced style.[25] Maurice Ravel's rejection letter to Gershwin told him, "Why
become a second-rate Ravel when you're already a first-rate Gershwin?" While there, Gershwin
wrote An American in Paris. This work received mixed reviews upon its first performance
at Carnegie Hall on December 13, 1928, but it quickly became part of the standard repertoire in
Europe and the United States.[26] Growing tired of the Parisian musical scene, Gershwin returned
to the United States.
In 1929, Gershwin was contracted by Fox Film Corporation to compose the score for the
movie Delicious. Only two pieces were used in the final film, the five-minute "Dream Sequence"
and the six-minute "Manhattan Rhapsody," which in expanded form was later published as
the Second Rhapsody. Gershwin became infuriated when the rest of the score was rejected
by Fox Film Corporation, and it would be seven years before he worked in Hollywood again.

Opera[edit]
Gershwin's first opera, Blue Monday, is a short one-act opera which was not a financial success
and has received only limited performances. Gershwin's most ambitious composition was Porgy
and Bess (1935). Gershwin called it a "folk opera", and it is now widely regarded as one of the
most important American operas of the twentieth century. "From the very beginning, it was
considered another American classic by the composer of 'Rhapsody in Blue'even if critics
couldn't quite figure out how to evaluate it. Was it opera, or was it simply an ambitious Broadway
musical? 'It crossed the barriers,' says theater historian Robert Kimball. 'It wasn't a musical work
per se, and it wasn't a drama per se it elicited response from both music and drama critics. But
the work has sort of always been outside category."[27]
Based on the novel Porgy by DuBose Heyward, the action takes place in the fictional, colored
neighborhood of Catfish Row, Charleston, South Carolina. With the exception of several minor
speaking roles, all of the characters are African-American. The music combines elements of
popular music of the day, with a strong influence of African-American music, of the period, with
techniques typical of opera, such as recitative, through-composition and an extensive system
of leitmotifs. Porgy and Bess contains some of Gershwin's most sophisticated music, including
a fugue, a passacaglia, the use of atonality, polytonality and polyrhythm, and a tone row. Even
the "set numbers" (of which "Summertime", "I Got Plenty o' Nuttin'" and "It Ain't Necessarily So"
are well known examples) are some of the most refined and ingenious of Gershwin's
compositions. For the performances, Gershwin collaborated with Eva Jessye, whom he picked
as the musical director. One of the outstanding musical alumnae of Western
University in Kansas, she had created her own choir in New York and performed widely with
them. The work was first performed in 1935; it was a box-office failure in the middle of the Great
Depression. The musical has since been recognized as one of the greatest musical and
theatrical compositions of the 20th Century.

Last years[edit]
After the commercial failure of Porgy and Bess, Gershwin moved to Hollywood, California. He
was commissioned by RKO Pictures in 1936 to write the music for the film Shall We Dance,
starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Gershwin's extended score, which would marry ballet
with jazz in a new way, runs over an hour in length. It took Gershwin several months to compose
and orchestrate.
Gershwin had a ten-year affair with composer Kay Swift, whom he frequently consulted about his
music. The two never married, although she eventually divorced her husband James Warburg in
order to commit to the relationship. Swift's granddaughter, Katharine Weber, has suggested that
the pair were not married because George's mother Rose was "unhappy that Kay Swift wasn't
Jewish".[28] Oh, Kay was named for her.[29] After Gershwin's death, Swift arranged some of his

music, transcribed several of his recordings, and collaborated with his brother Ira on several
projects.[30]

Illness and death[edit]

Early in 1937, Gershwin began to complain of blinding headaches and a recurring impression
that he smelled burning rubber. On February 11, 1937, Gershwin performed his Piano Concerto
in F in a special concert of his music with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under the
direction of French maestro Pierre Monteux.[31] Gershwin, normally a superb pianist in his own
compositions, suffered coordination problems and blackouts during the performance. He was at
the time living with his brother Ira, and Ira's wife Leonore in a rented house in Beverly Hills while
they worked on other Hollywood film projects. Leonore Gershwin began to be disturbed by
George's mood swings and his seeming inability to eat without spilling food at the dinner table.
She suspected the onset of mental illness and she insisted he be moved out of their house to
lyricist Yip Harburg's empty quarters nearby, where he was placed in the care of his valet, Paul
Mueller. The headaches and olfactory hallucinations continued, and on June 23, after an incident
in which Gershwin tried to push Mueller out of the car in which they were riding, Gershwin was
admitted to Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles for observation. Tests showed no
physical cause and he was released on the 26th with a diagnosis of "likely hysteria." His troubles
with coordination and mental acuity worsened, and on the night of July 9, Gershwin collapsed in
Harburg's house, where he had been working on the score of The Goldwyn Follies. He was
rushed back to Cedars of Lebanon,[32] where he fell into a coma. Only at that point did it become
obvious to his doctors that he was suffering from a brain tumor. Leonore called George's close
friend Emil Mosbacher and explained the dire need to find a neurosurgeon. Mosbacher
immediately called pioneering neurosurgeon Dr. Harvey Cushing in Boston, who, retired for
several years by then, recommended Dr. Walter Dandy, who was on a boat fishing in
Chesapeake Bay with the governor of Maryland. Mosbacher then called the White House and
had a Coast Guard cutter sent to find the governor's yacht and bring Dandy quickly to shore.
[33]

Mosbacher then chartered a plane and flew Dandy to Newark Airport, where he was to catch a

plane to Los Angeles; however, by that time, Gershwin's condition was judged to be critical and
the need for surgery immediate. An attempt by doctors at Cedars to excise the tumor was made
in the early hours of the 11th, but it proved unsuccessful, and Gershwin died on the morning of
July 11, 1937, at the age of 38.
Gershwin's many friends and fans were shocked and devastated. John O'Hara remarked:
"George Gershwin died on July 11, 1937, but I don't have to believe it if I don't want to." [34] He was
interred at Westchester Hills Cemetery in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. A memorial concert
was held at the Hollywood Bowl on September 8, 1937, at which Otto Klemperer conducted his
own orchestration of the second of Gershwin's Three Preludes.[35]
Gershwin received his sole Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song at the 1937
Oscars for "They Can't Take That Away from Me", written with his brother Ira for the 1937

film Shall We Dance. The nomination was posthumous; Gershwin died two months after the
film's release.[36]

Gershwin's mausoleum inWestchester Hills Cemetery[37]

Musical style and influence[edit]

Birthday party honoring Maurice Ravel in New York City, March 8, 1928. From left: Oskar Fried; va
Gauthier; Ravel at piano; Manoah Leide-Tedesco; and George Gershwin.

Gershwin was influenced by French composers of the early twentieth century. In turn Maurice
Ravel was impressed with Gershwin's abilities, commenting, "Personally I find jazz most
interesting: the rhythms, the way the melodies are handled, the melodies themselves. I have
heard of George Gershwin's works and I find them intriguing." [38] The orchestrations in Gershwin's
symphonic works often seem similar to those of Ravel; likewise, Ravel's two piano concertos
evince an influence of Gershwin.
Gershwin asked to study with Ravel. When Ravel heard how much Gershwin earned, Ravel
replied with words to the effect of, "You should give me lessons." (Some versions of this story
feature Igor Stravinsky rather than Ravel as the composer; however Stravinsky confirmed that he
originally heard the story from Ravel.)[39]
Gershwin's own Concerto in F was criticized for being related to the work of Claude Debussy,
more so than to the expected jazz style. The comparison did not deter Gershwin from continuing
to explore French styles. The title of An American in Paris reflects the very journey that he had

consciously taken as a composer: "The opening part will be developed in typical French style, in
the manner of Debussy and Les Six, though the tunes are original."[40]
Aside from the French influence, Gershwin was intrigued by the works of Alban Berg, Dmitri
Shostakovich, Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud, and Arnold Schoenberg. He also asked
Schoenberg for composition lessons. Schoenberg refused, saying "I would only make you a bad
Schoenberg, and you're such a good Gershwin already." [41] (This quote is similar to one credited
to Maurice Ravel during Gershwin's 1928 visit to France "Why be a second-rate Ravel, when
you are a first-rate Gershwin?")
Russian Joseph Schillinger's influence as Gershwin's teacher of composition (19321936) was
substantial in providing him with a method of composition. There has been some disagreement
about the nature of Schillinger's influence on Gershwin. After the posthumous success of Porgy
and Bess, Schillinger claimed he had a large and direct influence in overseeing the creation of
the opera; Ira completely denied that his brother had any such assistance for this work. A third
account of Gershwin's musical relationship with his teacher was written by Gershwin's close
friend Vernon Duke, also a Schillinger student, in an article for the Musical Quarterly in 1947.[42]
What set Gershwin apart was his ability to manipulate forms of music into his own unique voice.
He took the jazz he discovered on Tin Pan Alley into the mainstream by splicing its rhythms and
tonality with that of the popular songs of his era. Although George Gershwin would seldom make
grand statements about his music, he believed that "true music must reflect the thought and
aspirations of the people and time. My people are Americans. My time is today." [43]
In 2007, the Library of Congress named their Prize for Popular Song after George and Ira
Gershwin. Recognizing the profound and positive effect of popular music on culture, the prize is
given annually to a composer or performer whose lifetime contributions exemplify the standard of
excellence associated with the Gershwins. On March 1, 2007, the first Gershwin Prize was
awarded to Paul Simon.[44]

Recordings and film[edit]

Early in his career, under both his own name and pseudonyms, Gershwin recorded more than
one hundred and forty player piano rolls which were a main source of income for him. The
majority were popular music of the period and a smaller proportion were of his own works. Once
his musical theatre-writing income became substantial, his regular roll-recording career became
superfluous. He did record additional rolls throughout the 1920s of his main hits for the Aeolian
Company's reproducing piano, including a complete version of his Rhapsody in Blue.
Compared to the piano rolls, there are few accessible audio recordings of Gershwin's playing.
His first recording was his own Swanee with the Fred Van Eps Trio in 1919. The recorded

balance highlights the banjo playing of Van Eps, and the piano is overshadowed. The recording
took place before Swanee became famous as an Al Jolson specialty in early 1920.
Gershwin recorded an abridged version of Rhapsody in Blue with Paul Whiteman and his
orchestra for the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1924, soon after the world premiere.
Gershwin and the same orchestra made an electrical recording of the abridged version for Victor
in 1927. However, a dispute in the studio over interpretation angered Paul Whiteman and he left.
The conductor's baton was taken over by Victor's staff conductor Nathaniel Shilkret.[45]
Gershwin made a number of solo piano recordings of tunes from his musicals, some including
the vocals of Fred and Adele Astaire, as well as his Three Preludes for piano. In 1929, Gershwin
"supervised" the world premiere recording of An American in Paris with Nathaniel Shilkret and
the Victor Symphony Orchestra. Gershwin's role in the recording was rather limited, particularly
because Shilkret was conducting and had his own ideas about the music. When it was realized
that no one had been hired to play the brief celestesolo, Gershwin was asked if he could and
would play the instrument, and he agreed. Gershwin can be heard, rather briefly, on the
recording during the slow section.
Gershwin appeared on several radio programs, including Rudy Vallee's, and played some of his
compositions. This included the third movement of the Concerto in F with Vallee conducting the
studio orchestra. Some of these performances were preserved ontranscription discs and have
been released on LP and CD.
In 1934, in an effort to earn money to finance his planned folk opera, Gershwin hosted his own
radio program titled Music by Gershwin. The show was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network from
February to May and again in September through the final show on December 23, 1934. He
presented his own work as well as the work of other composers.[46] Recordings from this and
other radio broadcasts include his Variations on I Got Rhythm, portions of the Concerto in F, and
numerous songs from his musical comedies. He also recorded a run-through of his Second
Rhapsody, conducting the orchestra and playing the piano solos. Gershwin recorded excerpts
from Porgy and Bess with members of the original cast, conducting the orchestra from the
keyboard; he even announced the selections and the names of the performers. In 1935 RCA
Victor asked him to supervise recordings of highlights from Porgy and Bess; these were his last
recordings.
A 74-second newsreel film clip of Gershwin playing I Got Rhythm has survived, filmed at the
opening of the Manhattan Theater (now The Ed Sullivan Theater) in August 1931.[47] There are
also silent home movies of Gershwin, some of them shot on Kodachromecolor film stock, which
have been featured in tributes to the composer. In addition, there is newsreel footage of
Gershwin playing "Mademoiselle from New Rochelle" and "Strike Up the Band" on the piano
during a Broadway rehearsal of the 1930 production of Strike Up the Band. In the mid-30s,
"Strike Up The Band" was given to UCLA to be used as a football fight song, "Strike Up The

Band for UCLA". The comedy team of Clark and McCullough are seen conversing with Gershwin,
then singing as he plays.
In 1945, the film biography Rhapsody in Blue was made, starring Robert Alda as George
Gershwin. The film contains many factual errors about Gershwin's life, but also features many
examples of his music, including an almost complete performance of "Rhapsody in Blue".
In 1965, Movietone Records released an album MTM 1009 featuring Gershwin's piano rolls of
the titled George Gerswhin plays RHAPSODY IN BLUE and his other favorite compositions. The
B-side of the LP featured nine other recordings.
In 1975, Columbia Records released an album featuring Gershwin's piano rolls of Rhapsody In
Blue, accompanied by the Columbia Jazz Band playing the original jazz band accompaniment,
conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. The B-side of the Columbia Masterworks release features
Tilson Thomas leading the New York Philharmonic in An American In Paris. In 1976, RCA
Records, as part of its "Victrola Americana" line, released a collection of Gershwin recordings
taken from 78s recorded in the 1920s and called the LP "Gershwin plays Gershwin, Historic First
Recordings" (RCA Victrola AVM1-1740). Included were recordings of "Rhapsody in Blue" with the
Paul Whiteman Orchestra and Gershwin on piano; "An American in Paris", from 1927 with
Gershwin on celesta; and "Three Preludes", "Clap Yo' Hands" and Someone to Watch Over Me",
among others. There are a total of ten recordings on the album. At the opening ceremony of the
1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, "Rhapsody in Blue" was performed in spectacular fashion
by many pianists.
The soundtrack to Woody Allen's 1979 film Manhattan is composed entirely of Gershwin's
compositions, including "Rhapsody in Blue", "Love is Sweeping the Country", and "But Not for
Me", performed by both the New York Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta and the Buffalo
Philharmonic under Michael Tilson Thomas. The film begins with a monologue by Allen: "He
adored New York City ... To him, no matter what the season was, this was still a town that existed
in black and white and pulsated to the great tunes of George Gershwin."
In 1998, two audio CDs featuring piano rolls recorded by Gershwin[48] were issued by Nonesuch
Records through the efforts of Artis Woodhouse; and entitled Gershwin Plays Gershwin: The
Piano Rolls.[49]
In October 2009, it was reported by Rolling Stone that Brian Wilson was completing at least two
unfinished compositions by George Gershwin for possible release in 2010. [50] Brian Wilson
Reimagines Gershwin was released on August 17, 2010. The album consists of ten George and
Ira Gershwin songs, bookended by passages from "Rhapsody in Blue", along with two new
songs completed from unfinished Gershwin fragments by Wilson and band member Scott
Bennett.

Baseline Studio Systems announced in January 2010 that Steven Spielberg may direct a biopic
about the composer's life; 32-year-old American actor Zachary Quinto was named for the leading
role of George Gershwin.[51][52]