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The birth of Gershwin
The boy was named for his late grandfather, the army mechanic. However, he was not called anything but 'George'.
His family lived in Brooklyn. -
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Gershwin
George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn in a family with four children. Until he became 10, he did not care about music but was involved in roller skating and in mischief. -
Gershwin starts playing the piano
Gershwin was 16 when, after working with several piano teachers, became acquanited with the notorious Charles Hambitzer.the pianist in the Beethoven Symphony Orchestra. Until Hambitzer's death in 1918, he acted as Gershwin's mentor. Hambitzer taught Gershwin conventional piano technique, introduced him to music of the European classical tradition, and encouraged him to attend orchestra concerts. -
"When you wan'em, you can't get'em, when you've got 'em, you don't wan'em
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 $5. -
Meeting William Daly
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] -
Lady be Good
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!".
n 1924, Gershwin composed his first major classical work, Rhapsody in Blue, for orchestra and piano. It was orchestrated by Ferde Grofé and premiered by Paul Whiteman's concert band in New York. It proved to be his most popular work. -
An American in Paris
Gershwin wrote An American in Paris while staying in the French capital. 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. -
Porgy and Bess
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. The music combines elements of popular music of the day, with a strong influence of Black music, with techniques typical of opera. -
California
After moving to 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 write and orchestrate it. -
Illness
Early in 1937, Gershwin began to complain of blinding headaches and a recurring impression that he smelled burning rubber. 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. -
Death
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.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 Piano Preludes.
