GERSHWIN, GEORGE (b. New York, USA 26 Sept 1898 d. Hollywood USA 11 July 1937)
Gershwin started his career as a jazz pianist and popular composer. He was influenced by composers and performers as diverse as Stravinsky and Scriabin, Fats Waller and the black arranger and composer, Will Vodery.
In the 1920s, George and his lyricist brother, Ira, were part of the flowering of the American musical. His first recognised "serious" piece was Rhapsody in Blue, composed for piano and orchestra in 1924, followed in 1925 by a purely orchestral piece, An American In Paris.
In 1922, Blue Monday, a one-act opera about Negro life, orchestrated by Vodery, appeared and was withdrawn for revisions. Performed three years later as 135th St, it remained unsuccessful.
In 1935 his only full-length opera, Porgy and Bess, based on DuBose Heyward's novel, Porgy, opened in New York. Despite 124 performances it was considered a failure. Its mix of jazz and "serious" music confused audiences, and Gershwin was accused of " only writing songs." His defence was to point out the number of hit songs in Verdi's operas, adding, " I am not ashamed of writing songs so long as they are good songs. "
Porgy and Bess was still considered unsuccessful when DuBose Heyward died, a year after George. Only Ira, who had written the libretto, saw it become a worldwide triumph, performed - amongst other places - at La Scala, the Vienna Volksoper, The Palace of Culture, Leningrad, and the Metropolitan Opera, New York.
