George Gershwin Research Paper

George Gershwin
George Gershwin, was born September 26, 1898, in Brooklyn, New York by the name of Jacob Gershowitz. At the young age of 15, George dropped out of school and began playing piano professionally at age 15. Only a few years there after, he was to be one of the most sought after musicians in America. A man of many eclectic genres, he composed jazz, opera and popular songs for stage and screen. Many of his works are now considered to be standards. Gershwin died immediately following his brain surgery on July 11, 1937, at the tragically young age of 38.
George Gershwin is considered to be one of the most successful composers of the united states. Many of his compositions have become jazz standards which have survived from
That tune was the inspiration and is used as the subject constantly throughout the piece. Richard Crawford writes that the “…melodies of Gershwin’s concert works are surely the chief reason for their appeal. They share with many of his popular songs a trait that helps to imprint them firmly on the listener’s memory: the opening material is consistently restated before contrasting material is heard.” In his classical music Gershwin commonly wove in his tune. Wayne Schneider explains “Gershwins’ musical building blocks are not those of Bach or Beethoven or Brahms, but the ways in which he fashions music by carefully foreshadowing and lovingly remembering his million-dollar tunes should not be denied their aesthetic right”(Schneider). He would surround them with music that would reveal and hide the subject. It was all very calculated. His talent in doing so is what made his music timeless and what sets him apart as a composer. Composers who used similar mechanisms of writing were Strauss and
In comparison, his tonal vocabulary was more modern. A notable characteristic of his music are his common use of blue notes. Crawford explains that “Sometimes these notes function as dissonances, as in one theme of the Rhapsody, where on strong beats they clash with the bass At other times they soften the melodic contour” (Crawford). Most of Gershwin’s works infuse African American elements. It is no coincidence that his largest work, Porgy and Bess is a drama centered around African Americans. He infuses harmonies that contain unusual voice leading. Richard Crawford explains how Gershwin employed “…against five descending upper voices the bass line ascends. Parallel octaves between soprano and tenor, alto and baritone, lend an artless quality to the passage; yet only a sophisticated ear could have calculated the progression’s freshness” (Crawford). This approach to the form in his compositions exemplifies him as composer with strong technique that doesn’t cloud expression.
Gershwin was fascinated with rhythm. Patterns were very apparent in his early music. Steven Gilbert explains, “..in his mature and final periods, Gershwin’s rhythmic language…reached new levels of complexity while retaining significant links with the earlier music”(Gilbert).
George Gershwin is still a prevalent composer who holds high acclaim in the music world and has shaped the way music is written