George Gershwin: The Man and the Legend
George Gershwin may be one of the most significant American composers of all time. A son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Gershwin took an interest to music at the young age and began his musical education at age eleven (“George Gershwin: American Composer”). He wrote orchestra and jazz music, one composition after the other during his lifetime, and influenced many musicians long after he had passed away. He may have lived a very short life, but it is evident that he made the most out of the time that he had, enjoying what he did. From his early life to the day that he died, George Gershwin composed many pieces of music that will not soon be forgotten.
Firstly, a legend was born and began his journey to…show more content… Gershwin wanted to make his mark as a serious composer, not just as a musical composer. He especially liked jazz though, and not everyone thought that jazz was appropriate. It was referred to as “street music,” and was not taken seriously, but Gershwin loved the way it sounded. He called it “a conglomeration of many things” (Pollack 170) and that “Jazz has contributed an enduring value to America in the sense that it has expressed ourselves” (Pollack 171). At age twenty-five, he premiered his jazz-influenced song, “Rhapsody in Blue” in New York’s Aeolian Hall (“George Gershwin Remembered”). Some critics did not know what to think of his newer, more serious tone. There were mixed feelings about his new style of music, and Gershwin felt dissatisfied. He wanted approval of his music, like any musician does. He had been contemplating it for years and came to believe that writing an opera would get him to the standard in which most composers were held to. At first, he thought that the setting should be in his home city of New York. In a quote to his friend Issac Goldberg, he said; “I’d like to write an opera of the melting pot, of New York City itself, with its blend of native and immigrant strains” (“Summertime for George Gershwin”). It also presented him with a challenge, to “a librettist, and to [his] own muse,” (“Summertime for George Gershwin”) to create a play that would be diverse and opposite, but would come together to make a unified act. In 1926, he found his inspiration in a book called Porgy. It was a book about African Americans living in the South, and he decided that it was the best choice for an American opera. In 1935, he wrote music for the book and it soon became a play called “Porgy and Bess,” but its first run was brief. The critics had mixed feelings for it. He had also written other plays that dealt with social issues of the time, that saw more success than “Porgy and Bess”.
