George Gershwin: biography, interesting facts, creativity

George Gershwin

George Gershwin is a famous American composer and pianist. His most popular works are the Blue Rhapsody and the opera Porgy and Bess. The creative rise of the musician fell on 20-30 years of the last century, while in America was called the "jazz era". This musical style had a great influence on Gershwin, who tried to express with the help of music the spirit of modernity and the lifestyle of ordinary Americans. The composer has repeatedly stated that jazz is the music of the people, in which he hears the national life impulse and the boiling river of US life. Musical and public figure V. Damrosh wrote that many composers fascinated, but at the same time frightened jazz, so they did not dare to work in this style. George Gershwin made a real musical revolution. The critic compared the man with the prince, who took Cinderella by the hand and declared to the whole world that now she is a real princess. The biography of the maestro has many amazing ups and no less ambitious falls, his whole life seems to embody the American dream. Gershwin achieved everything by hard work, he found his vocation and in life he reached inconceivable heights and world fame.

A brief biography of George Gershwin and many interesting facts about the composer can be found on our page.

Short biography of Gershwin

The future virtuoso American pianist and composer George Gershwin was born on September 26, 1898 in the New York district of Brooklyn. Initially the boy was named Jacob. His parents had Jewish roots, and even before the birth of their children went to live in the United States. The composer’s father, Moishe Gershovits, left St. Petersburg in 1890, then changed his name to Morris Gershwin and worked all his life at a shoe factory. Mother - Rosa Bruskina was born in Odessa, went to the United States a little earlier than her future husband. Gershwins brought up four children, of which George was the second, he also had brothers Ira and Arthur and sister Frances.

The family did not have great wealth and huddled in a small wooden apartment. George, unlike his brothers and sister, was very capricious and had a complex character. At school, he did not differ in his special aspirations to study, which made Rose very sad, who dreamed that her children would study well and become teachers. But George did well in skating and even won the title of street champion. Friends of the boy from childhood noticed that he could for some time completely withdraw into himself and not pay attention to the world around him. The cause of all was music. When the future composer heard beautiful tunes, he froze and forgot about everything in the world.

Biography of Gershwin says that at age 8, George got to a school concert, at which musician Mark Rosenzweig performed with the musical play "Humoresque." The boy was so impressed with the performance of the violinist that he had been waiting for him for an hour and a half in the pouring rain. And when he learned that Mark had gone through the emergency entrance, he went straight to his home. Gershwin found a common language with Rosenzweig and often went to visit him. At home, the violinist had a piano, which seemed to beckon a boy. It was Mark who showed little George the wonderful world of art and introduced him to brilliant musical works. The future composer began to take the first professional lessons, and tried to reproduce familiar melodies by ear. Even then, George Ira's elder brother dreamed of becoming a musician and was engaged in a specialized school, his parents were greatly surprised by the fact that their younger son, without any help, mastered the piano and overtook his brother. Morris and Rosa realized that the boy also needs to be given into the hands of professionals.

Start a music career

With the music school, the affairs of the young George somehow did not work out. The study of boring scales, solfeggio and regular classes made the boy longing. Gershwin was trained in several places - at first, older teachers worked with him, and one of the teachers even had a special teaching technique, and the boy barely played the piano. None of the music schools George has ever graduated from. Parents saw their son as a merchant, but life chose a completely different road for him.

In 1915, one of the most important events in the life of a young man happened - he met the musician Charles Hambitzer, whom he instantly became friends with. The maestro gave him a lot of invaluable advice and ideas, and also offered excellent teachers. By the age of seventeen, George was well versed in the art of music, brilliantly owned the piano and wrote his first works. He diligently studied classical motifs, but he especially liked the popular style of music. Despite his young age, Gershwin got a job in the music publishing Jerome Remik, where he had the position of pianist-popularizer. The young musician worked part time in restaurants and wrote a large number of compositions. In 1926, George presented to the public one of his first "musical creations" entitled "When you want." Despite the fact that the composition did not become very popular, with its help Gershwin was able to attract the attention of directors from Broadway. The song was really liked by the famous singer in those days - Sophie Tucker. After her brilliant performance, George gained recognition on Broadway. His name began to appear frequently in the press, and the Hungarian composer Sigmund Romberg took his compositions in his revue. Then the directors of Broadway put on several musicals with Gershwin’s music, and one of the most famous American composers said that George had a spark of genius.

Creative way

Since 1918, a man stopped taking part-time work and giving individual lessons - now he could fully engage in his favorite work and get a tidy sum for it. George wrote compositions for stage performances on Broadway and worked as an author in the Paul Whiteman jazz group. In just one year, he “revived” 10 musicals with his music that thundered to the whole of America. In 1924, a large number of distinguished guests came to the premiere of "Rhapsody in Blues Tones" - in the first row there were brilliant musicians Rachmaninoff, Godovsky and Stravinsky. The musical has become very successful, and George has received real public recognition. Following her fame brought material wealth. The composer purchased a five-story building and went traveling around Europe for three whole years. The man personally made up the route, which began with England and France, and ended in Austria. When Gershwin returned to America, he presented to the public a symphonic poem "An American in Paris." The success of the work was overwhelming, after which many groups began to perform it. The music of George Gershwin was a mixture of completely different musical genres. It was also a classic, the newest Negro rhythms, folklore motifs,

extravagant melodies. All this was seasoned with incredible expression and bold rhythms.

When George gained much popularity, he began working with his sibling Aire. The man later called himself Arthur Francis (the names of their younger brothers and sisters), because he was sure that in the world of music the Gershwin name must be unique and unique. The creative union of the two brothers was a great success, together they created several dozens of compositions for Broadway performances and films. In those days it was a truly sought-after duet. The musical “Lady, Be Good” became the most triumphal composition of George and Arthur. One of his songs was recognized as the best ballad of love of the last century.

last years of life

According to the biography of Gershwin in 1936, the composer went to Hollywood to start writing the music for the film Shall We Dance (Let's Dance), which featured popular actors of the time. The works of the musician, who combined ballet and jazz, take about an hour of film. To create the perfect union of completely different styles, George wrote and arranged compositions for several months. At the beginning of the fateful year of 1937, Gershwin gave a unique musical concert together with a symphony orchestra, which was led by French maestro Pierre Monte. Right on stage, the man began to pursue "musical outages." In June, Gershwin fell during a regular speech, and they could no longer save him. The well-coordinated work of the two brothers George and Ira, welfare, fame — everything collapsed at once, in a tragic and unexpected way. George worked so hard on his legendary opera that he got a very strong nervous breakdown and was completely exhausted. As a result, his appetite and normal sleep were gone. Doctors insisted that the composer moved to more favorable climatic conditions and for a while forgot about work. Gershwin took the first advice, but he could not leave the music.

Externally, the man has not changed, but morally he was very tired and was very depressed. In 1937, doctors found symptoms in a composer that occur in cancer. After a medical examination, a brain tumor was diagnosed. Specialists did everything to save the life of a popular musician, in one of the best American clinics a malignant formation was removed. Unfortunately, all the doctors' efforts were in vain, and George died on July 11, 1937, right on the operating table. Gershwin didn’t live to see 39, and he had so many ambitious plans and ideas that he didn’t manage to bring to life.

Interesting Facts

• The musician was buried in the Westchester Hills cemetery, which is located in a suburb of New York.

• Gershwin was never married; he did not get children either. George did not write his will, so his property went to his mother. The heirs for a long time collecting profits from the copyright of his musical works. However, they lost their power in 2007, when 70 years passed since the death of the musician. In 2005, journalists conducted an investigation and concluded that Gershwin was one of the richest composers in the world.
• Gershwin was honored at the Academy Award in 1937 for the song “They Can't Take That Away from Me” (which will not be taken away from me), which he wrote with his brother for the film Shall We Dance (Let's Dance ). The legendary statuette was awarded posthumously; George was gone a couple of months after the film’s premiere.
• The musical language of Gershwin can be described as spontaneous, colorful, with a touch of humor. The main place in his creative career took musicals, which he loved, and in which he invested his whole soul.
• In all the musical masterpieces of the composer there is a peculiar form, the reality of stage situations and confrontations, the energetic development of the script, a duet of tragic and comedy films.
• In 1918-1919 the music of Gershwin was already thundering on the Broadway stage. The song "Swanee" that Al Johnson took on his Sinbad show was a real success. As a result, the singer recorded it several times on records and sang repeatedly in movies.

• The first teacher of Gershwin, Joseph Schillinger, was famous for his unique approach to composing music - the composer perceived the creative process from a mathematical point of view and tried to find a universal musical algorithm.
• Gershwin was very fond of painting and literature.
• George's elder brother and co-author Ira Gershwin took on his stage name Arthur Francis, which was composed of the names of their brother and sister.
• In 1945, a picture dedicated to the composer appeared on the screens. The film was called "Rhapsody in blues tones."

• The prototype of Gershwin was also used in the popular TV series "The Chronicles of Young Indiana Jones." The composer was played by actor Tom Beckett.
• The most impressive composition of the composer was the opera "Porgy and Bess". The author of the literary source personally participated in the process of writing a masterpiece.
• In New York there is a theater, which was named after the terrific creative union of two brothers - George Gershwin and Francis Arthur.

Personal life

Despite international recognition, George was very worried that he could not get a normal musical education. He worked on the piano several times a week to fill this shameful, in his opinion, gap in his life. It is also known that George was often tormented by nervous breakdowns and stomach ailments. The musician was constantly on a strict diet, which was built on a balanced diet. In addition, the man often attended psychoanalyst sessions, which helped him deal with personal experiences.

Despite illness and regular depression, the composer was not always sullen. He loved funny gatherings and instantly clutched at new ideas that caught his attention. His life was always boiling and breaking the key. Gershwin simply bathed in women's attention, because he was rich, had a beautiful appearance and a good figure. Often he did not have enough of the ladies who themselves hung on him, and then he came to brothels. One day George was not ashamed to ask his friend how much money he needed to give in order to take a woman for maintenance. However, having heard in response a shocking sum, I never asked myself such questions again.

During his lifetime, the composer was famous for his love affairs, he attributed romance with the most beautiful women of that era. Especially strongly George was in love with his student Alexandra Belykh. Gershwin’s ten-year relationship with composer Kay Swift, who gave him valuable advice about music, is also widely known. Unfortunately, they never became lawful spouses, although for the sake of her beloved Kay left her husband, James Warburg. Swift’s granddaughter, Catherine Weber, believes that the initiator of their break was Gershwin’s mother, who wanted to see a Jew as a daughter-in-law. The man dedicated to the former chosen one the song "Oh, Kay", which he named in her honor. After the composer's death, Swift wrote arrangements for several of his songs and repeatedly worked together with his brother Ayr. George had the reputation of a real Lovelace and heartbreaker. In his life there were a lot of bright love and loud novels. However, Gershwin couldn’t fall in love with any of his beautiful darlings as much as music.

The origin of the legend. "Porgy and Bess" story of creation

One night in 1926, when George could not fall asleep, he decided to read DuBose Hayward's novel Porgy. The work struck the man so much that he instantly began to invent musical melodies in his head. The composer forgot about the dream and could not tear himself away from the book until dawn, and then sent a letter to the writer in which he admitted that he was dreaming of writing an opera on his work. Duboz Hayward graciously agreed to a musician's proposal, but the music of the opera Porgy and Bess Gershwin began writing only in 1934, as he was very busy creating other compositions and the work of the conductor.

From the biography of Gershwin, we learn that George left New York and settled in the remote village of South Carolina, in order to fully immerse himself in the work on the grandiose work. In general, the musician spent almost 2 years creating the opera. Long work paid off and the work "Porgy and Bess" became a truly significant and famous work of the maestro. George was able to create a stunning masterpiece in which jazz fantasies, folklore motifs and orchestral parts came together flawlessly. The Americans first heard the opera at the Boston Colonial Theater in 1935. The audience liked the premiere so much that they applauded and shouted enthusiastic words for 15 minutes. "Porgy and Bess" entered the history of America, as the first presentation to which people of different races could come. In early 1963, the opera went on tour in the United States, and appeared in Europe only after 1945.

Gershwin's music sounds in films

George Gershwin became a real classic of his time. The main thing that remains after the death of the genius composer is his amazing musical works. The most popular musicians consider it an honor to perform the works of the maestro. George Gershwin during his lifetime was able to build a stunning career, he was adored by the public and respected by professional critics. The composer destroyed the wall between classical and popular music trends and had a huge impact on the development of jazz.