Remembering Gershwin
Remembering GershwinWho was George Gershwin? Today, most people would answer that
question by saying that he was the composer of the song that�s in the
airline commercial. Although that is true, he was much more than
that. Gershwin was the most celebrated and wealthiest American
composer who expressed the dreams of every American citizen of the
1920's. He achieved this by mixing different styles of music like
Jewish, black, jazz, classical, blues and put them into one genre and
created absolute music.
George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn, New York on September 26,
1898. He had the childhood of any average kid growing up in the early
1900's. His father Morris, a Russian Jewish immigrant, had many
different jobs so George was forced to move around a lot and learn how
to fight for his survival. Many people say that he was a very wild
and robust child who was not interested in any type of school work
(Schwartz 11).
In the neighborhood where Gershwin grew up, anyone who was
interested in music was known as a sissy. So after passing by a penny
arcade and discovering a mechanical piano, George would go to homes of
friends who had pianos and secretly tap out the popular tunes of the
day (Peyser 21). One day his parents purchased a piano for Ira, the
eldest, and as soon as it was moved in George sat down and began to
play. The family was flabbergasted! They had no idea he was
interested in music or where he learned how to play the piano (Adam
12:08).
George�s parents immediately sought a teacher for him. They
found a lady named Ms. Green from the neighborhood who, for fifty
cents an hour, taught him all of the scales and modes. He then moved
on to Mr. Goldberg who, for one dollar and fifty cents an hour, had
him progress to opera overtures and arias. When his skill was matched
to his teacher�s, he was introduced to Charles Hambutzer who taught
him proper techniques, lyricism, harmony and most importantly opened
up the worlds of Chopin, Liszt, Debussy and Schoenberg (Ewen 58-60).
Under Hambutzer�s guidance, Gershwin was faithful to
his practicing and musical studies and in May of 1914 he was offered a
job at Remick�s Music Publishing House in Tin Pan Alley. Gershwin
jumped at the chance to become the youngest pianist ever employed at
the popular music capital of the world. So at the age of fifteen, he
quit school and became a song plugger (Schwartz 21).
The purpose of a song plugger was to make a song become a hit.
Everyday hundreds of singers and actors came to Tin Pan Alley looking
for fresh new materials....
To view the complete essay, you be registered.