Gershwin - Historical Background
By Richard Glazier
George Gershwin was born September 26, 1898 in Brooklyn, New York. He was raised on the streets of the lower east side of New York City. George's older brother, Ira, was a very studious, quiet and intellectual boy who showed an interest in music. Young George and his friends thought music was for little girls. However when a piano was brought into the Gershwin home, George's talent soon became evident. He dropped out of high school at age 15 to become a song plugger in Tin Pan Alley and rebelled against his classical piano teachers -- improvising on Chopin's piano works, for example. He developed a great reputation as a song plugger and when entertainers came to the publishing house of Jerome H. Remick, they were told to go to Gershwin's room. In 1919, Gershwin became an overnight sensation when Al Jolson introduced the young songwriter's first song hit, Swanee. As a result, George White hired Gershwin to write for his musical revues entitled Scandals from 1920-1924. George White's Scandals were in direct competition with the Zigfield Follies and provided Gershwin with just the right setting to introduce many of his popular songs.
The Scandals musical director, Paul Whiteman, was so impressed with the young Gershwin that in 1924 he commissioned him to compose the Rhapsody in Blue headlining a concert entitled An Experiment in Modern Music. The Rhapsody in Blue was indeed a milestone for Gershwin because he discovered within himself a desire to explore serious musical composition.
Without early formal training Gershwin consciously strived to better himself as a musician and composer. He was eager, as Leonard Bernstein said "to cross over to the other side of the tracks". He truly combined popular song with the concert hall and developed a unique voice that represented the melting pot of America during the 1920's and 30's. The timeless romantic melodies that the Gershwins gave us in the concert hall, movies and Broadway stage are their great legacy to us.
As he matured, his technical skills as a composer were constantly improving. The first American folk opera Porgy and Bess written in 1935 was his real labor of love and a true masterpiece. His untimely death from a brain tumor at age 38 on July 11, 1937 was a great tragedy. It is impossible to speculate what Gershwin would have given to the world if he had lived longer. We can only be grateful that he lived and gave the world treasures that will live on for generations to come.
