1 George Gershwin The Heart of American Music Captured in One Mans Compositions

George Gershwin is one of the most important American composers of the twentieth century. Music was Gershwin's language, and he aimed to use it to reflect the American spirit (Ford 4). George Gershwin is a composer whose pieces perfectly capture the soul of American music and whose passion and joy for the work he created encapsulated the music of a generation. Without his contributions, the identifiable sound of the American genre of music may not exist. Gershwin was born around the turn of a century, a time when music was undergoing a huge change in the United States. Until jazz came along in the 1920s, there was absolutely no type of music that people were willing to identify as coming from the country. However, as America itself is a mixture of many people and cultures, it only makes sense that its music would also be some sort of conglomeration of genres. Although many others have attempted to do what Gershwin did and flawlessly combine classical and popular categories, he was the first and the best. In 1898, he was born into a Jewish family that had emigrated from Ukraine to New York City, and at an early age Gershwin showed no particular interest in music, unlike many other musical geniuses. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart debuted at age four, Yo-Yo Ma at age 5, Frdric Chopin at age seven, and countless others at equally young ages. Until 1908, when Gershwin was ten, he preferred to roller-skate with

2 his friends in the streets of New York. Music was not something for a rough boy music was for girls (Ford 5). However when his older brother, Ira, was gifted a piano, Gershwin sat right down and began to teach himself. His mother noticed this, and immediately made sure that he was given piano lessons, although she was not expecting him to stick with it. Much to her surprise, piano began to consume young George Gershwins life and an appetite for music formed. As Ford so perfectly states in his book, George Gershwin: American Musical Genius: No one could have known that George Gershwin would become not only an outstanding pianist, but also one of Americas greatest and most famous composers (7). Gershwin was drawn to the more popular genres of the era. He eventually became an accompanist for vaudeville and dabbled in ragtime compositions, both of which got their start during his young life. However, his piano instructor insisted that he be trained in the classical method first and foremost. Old compositions are where the basics of musical theory originated, so what better way to become comfortable with music than to study the great composers and their creations? The styles of Johannes Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart were staples in classical piano, and Gershwin had to be comfortable in those before he was allowed to take liberties and create his own style and techniques. His love for modern music led him to leave high school at age fifteen and get a job as a song-plugger in Tin Pan Alley, against his mothers very strong wishes. A song-plugger is a pianist or vocalist hired to play new songs to entice people to buy the sheet music (Song-plugger). This work was perfect for Gershwin, as it allowed

3 him to sneak a peek at brand new music before it was even released to the market. Inspiration surrounded him. And he used this inspiration, and perhaps boredom of playing the same song all day, to improvise his own ideas into the songs he was hired to play and begin to write his own compositions. Thanks to this job, Gershwin got his start in the New York City music industry. His first hit Swanee was a collaboration with Irving Caesar, the lyricist who Gershwin met while working on Tin Pan Alley. Over one million copies of this song were sold. That same year, Gershwin wrote his first Broadway musical; a collaboration with Arthur L. Jackson and Buddy De Sylva, La, La Lucille was a huge accomplishment for Gershwin at the young age of twenty-one. Over the course of the next four years, Gershwin wrote forty-five songs; among them were Somebody Loves Me and Stairway to Paradise, as well as a twenty-five-minute opera, Blue Monday. Composed in five days, the piece contained many musical clichs, but it also offered hints of developments to come ("George Gershwin - About the Composer). And those developments did come, but only after Gershwin became comfortable enough with music industry to experiment and play around with new mixtures of technique. After this initial success, Gershwin went into a partnership with his older brother Ira, whose piano skills never grew but his poetic abilities as a lyricist made the two the perfect team. The Gershwin brothers became known for their musical comedies, writing numerous well-known shows, including Lady Be Good, Oh Kay!, and Funny Face. They wrote many happy quick tempo pieces and luscious,

4 soulful ballads for these shows and were very successful. In fact, in 1932, their musical Of Thee I Sing was the very first musical to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize. During this stage of musical success in his life, George Gershwin was also trying to make a name for himself in the classical world. As American Masters so aptly phrases it, While continuing to compose popular music for the stage, Gershwin began to lead a double life, trying to make his mark as a serious composer. This was not so easy to do, as the public was mainly interested in popular-style pieces instead of classical ones. At the time, a night out at a jazz club was considered much for enjoyable than an evening at the symphony. As briefly mentioned earlier, Gershwin compromised by including both varieties in his compositions. Some critics attest that these more determined attempts are not some of Gershwins finer works and that they do not even fit into the classical genre. Gershwin's only problem was [and remains] the condescension directed toward his more ambitious compositions by a very articulate, very influential - and very small- group of critics and intellectuals (Star 168). But why must a song be considered classical to be a serious work of art and for the composer to be praised for his musical acumen? An American in Paris and Rhapsody in Blue, potentially Gershwins two most famous masterpieces, are both heavily influenced by jazz with a classical feel and are two of the most famous and influential orchestral pieces to date. Furthermore, the general population loved this new, modern approach to the classics. Serious music critics were often at a loss as to where to place Gershwins

5 classical music in the standard repertoire. Some dismissed his work as banal and tiresome, but it always found favor with the general public ("George Gershwin About the Composer"). It is incredibly unfair to Gershwin to dismiss his pieces of music simply because they brought about a previously unheard sound. This new sound inspired a revolution in American music. Carol J. Oja, credits Gershwin for the American new-music movement in her piece Gershwin and American Modernists. She attests that his modern-style pieces inspired other composers to try their hand at this new American genre and contribute to history being made. His programs carried a general invitation to all American writers of music to contribute works to his modern American orchestra. It was an important effort to foster a new American concert repertory (651). Nevertheless, this issue of where and how to categorize Gershwins pieces is still a hot topic today among music historians. The two different educations and compositional paths in the music of Gershwin and the fascinating crossovers between them have been subjects for much musical debate since Rhapsody in Blues first performance in 1924 (Schnieder xii). The solution to the issue of where these pieces fit is simple; they blended genres together to create an American genre. He himself defended his compositions in saying that jazz is definitely the most American type of music and the ability combine jazz and classical music is all the more American. A very powerful one (style) which is probably in the blood and feeling of the American people more than any other style I believe that it can be made the basis of serious symphonic works of lasting value, in the hands of a composer with talent for both jazz and symphonic music (qtd. in Cowell 187).

6 By using jazz as the basis for which he composed, Gershwins style highly differed from all others. It offered musicians options in their interpretation and opportunities to take liberties without hurting the original intentions of the songs. A perfect example of this is in Gershwins song Summertime, which is a beautiful lament in his most known musical Porgy and Bess (this musical was revived recently and is currently playing on Broadway). In the musical itself, this song is sung by a soprano in an operatic style. The melody is stiff and precise and the singer must follow the conductor with no leeway to add in or take out phrases. However, it has been turned into a popular jazz piece sung by middle-rang singers who croak it out as slowly or quickly as they feel in the moment. This one piece can be construed so differently, which is perfect for American music. There is no room for boredom. A counterargument to the fact that Gershwin highly identifies with American music is that he is not well known today. How can a man who influenced and exemplifies the music we know today not be a household name? The answer is simple: although people do not realize that they know Gershwins music, they certainly do. When taking a look at George Gershwins Internet Movie Database (IMDb) page, there are over 400 movies and television shows in which his music is featured, stemming from 1929 to 2012. Airlines and airports, automobile companies, and films use Gershwins music in advertising to identify and connect their product or image with suave American urbanity. Who could ask for anything more? is today a pop-culture commercial slogan far removed from its original role as a riveting conclusion to the 1930s I Got Rhythm (Schneider xi). United Airlines has used Rhapsody in Blue in the majority

7 of their commercials. One of the most famous of these advertisements was a plug for the 2012 London Olympics, which showed numerous athletes from the American Olympic Team rising out of their seats at the airport to get on their United Airlines flight to London for the Olympics. It was an iconic and inspirational ad that sought pride out of the American population for their athletes. Even when a customer is placed on hold with the company, that song melts through the phone. The American genre can also be defined by the positive reaction of the American people, though they might not even realize it. This is apparent through the United Airlines commercial and numerous other commercials that use Gershwins music. His songs stir a sense of honor for the countrys citizens, which is the purpose that nationalistic music is written for. Typically nationalistic music is composed integrating folk songs and melodies that are easily recognizable from the nation. And although Gershwin did not partake in that specific form of nationalism, his music is still wholly American. He was dedicated, in his unique way, to creating a distinctly American art music (Star 168). American music simply comes down to the mixing of cultures and styles to make a distinctive product. It is a place is where all beliefs and civilizations can feel at home, and the music reflects that. As Gilmore so appropriately says "Historians often refer to America as a melting pot or tossed salad, where cultures from all around the world converged to form one distinct culture representative of all its parts." As clearly stated before, Gershwin did just this in his music by cleverly combining different forms to create something new and great. His music is a melting pot, just like the country it so accurately describes.

8 In Henry Cowells book of interviews with famous American composers, American Composers on American Music, Gershwin himself discusses American music and how America is the perfect place for all other styles of music to develop. He begins with how folk-music is the basis of music for any country (which ties back to nationalism), but then argues how American music does not necessarily have to use folk songs as a base. There are other composers who can be classed as legitimately American who do not make use of folk-music as a base, but who have personally, working in America, developed highly individualizes styles and methods. Their new-found materials should be called American, just as an invention is called American if it is made by an American! (187). In this excerpt he describes exactly what he did in his own music, bringing out the fact that he enjoyed mixing classical and popular (which at the time was jazz) styles. Gershwins music is not American because he managed to do this; he is one of many composers that blended styles. He is uniquely American because of the manner that he combined them. Because as a child he was forced into learning classical pieces, he developed an appreciation for them and incorporated that appreciation into all of his own pieces. His classical pieces could have been written only by a composer whose primary form of expression was the thirty-two-bar popular song; his songs owe their distinctive character to his early study of and abiding love for the classics. All his classical pieces contain tunes that could have appeared in shows, but they also helped him to enrich the harmonic sophistication and expressive warmth of his popular tunes (Schiff). In other words, his style is unlike any other before him. He was a true pioneer in American music.

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10 Bibliography

Cowell, Henry. American Composers on American Music. New York: Stanford University Press, 1933. Print. Ford, Carin T. George Gershwin - American Musical Genius. New York: Enslow Publishers, 2009. Print. "George Gershwin - About the Composer." American Masters. pbs.org, 7 June 2006. Web. 7 Apr. 2013. <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/georgegershwin/about-the-composer/65/>. Gilmore, James. "Definition of American Music." eHow. N.p., 2013. Web. 7 Apr. 2013. <http://www.ehow.com/facts_5798638_definition-american-music.html>. Oja, Carol J. "Gershwin and American Modernists of the 1920s." The Musical Quarterly 78.4 (1994): 646-68. Print. Schiff, David. "Misunderstanding Gershwin." Atlantic Monthly 1 Oct. 1998: 100-05. Print. Schneider, Wayne Joseph, comp. The Gershwin Style: New Looks at the Music of George Gershwin. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Print. "Song-plugger." Wikipedia. N.p., 2 Mar. 2013. Web. 7 Apr. 2013. Star, Larry. Ives, Gershwin, and Copland: Reflections on the Strange History of American Art Music. New York: University of Illinois Press, 1994. 167-187. Print.