CancerTreatmentBooks.com
Information About Cancer and Cancer Treatment

George Gershwin




George Gershwin (September 26, 1898 - July 11, 1937) was an American
composer. He was born Jacob Gershowitz in Brooklyn, New York to Russian
Jewish immigrant parents.

Gershwin composed both for Broadway and for the classical concert hall, and
his music contains elements of both. He also wrote popular songs with
success. Many of his compositions have been used in cinema, and perhaps many
more are famous jazz standards: songbooks have been recorded by Ella
Fitzgerald (memorable 3 discs recording for Verve, with Nelson Riddle's
orchestra), Herbie Hancock and several other singers or players.

His most famous works in the classical field include:

   * Rhapsody in Blue, (1924), a symphonic jazz composition for jazz band,
     piano, and orchestra
   * Piano Concerto in F (1925)
   * An American In Paris, a tone poem with elements of jazz and realistic
     sound effects
   * Porgy And Bess, a folk opera (1935) (from the book by Dubose Heyward)
     about African-American life, which contains the famous aria
     "Summertime", in addition to hits like "I Got Plenty of Nothin" and
     "Tain't Necessarily So".
   * Three Preludes, (1936), for piano

George made most of his works with his brother Ira Gershwin, a lyricist. In
1910, the Gershwins had acquired a piano for Ira's music lessons, but George
took over, successfully playing by ear. He tried out various piano teachers
for 2 years, then was introduced to Charles Hambitzer - who became his
mentor (and would remain so until Hambitzer's death in 1918). Hambitzer
taught George conventional piano technique, introduced him to the European
masters, and encouraged him to attend orchestral concerts (at home following
such concerts, young George would attempt to reproduce at the keyboard the
music he had heard). His 1916 novelty rag "Rialto Ripples" was a commercial
success, and in 1918 he scored his first big national hit with his song
"Swanee".

In 1924, George and Ira collaborated on a musical comedy, "Lady Be Good". It
included standards as "Fascinating Rhythm" and "The Man I Love." This was
follwed by "Oh, Kay!" (1926); "Funny Face" in (1927); "Strike Up the Band"
(1927 & 1930); "Girl Crazy" (1930), which introduced the standard "I Got
Rhythm"; and "Of Thee I Sing" (1931), the first musical comedy to win a
Pulitzer Prize.

It was in Hollywood, while working on the score of The Goldwyn Follies, that
George Gershwin collapsed and, on July 11, 1937, died of a brain tumour. He
was interred in the Westchester Hills Cemetery, Hastings on the Hudson, New
York.

The Gershwin estate continues to bring in significant royalties from
licensing the copyrights on Gershwin's work. The estate supported the Sonny
Bono Copyright Term Extension Act because its 1923 cutoff date was shortly
before Gershwin had begun to create his most popular works.

The copyrights on those works expire in 2007 in the European Union and
between 2019 and 2027 in the United States of America.

Cancer - List of Famous Cancer Patients - Medical Topics - Medical_Terms - Medicine - Alternative Therapies -