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Tag Archives: George Gershwin

Gershwin Centennial—100th Anniversary “Rhapsody in Blue” Edition Now Available

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of George Gershwin’s iconic concerto fusing classical music and jazz, The George and Ira Gershwin Critical Edition at the Univeristy of Michigan has published musicologist Ryan Raul Bañagale‘s landmark scholarly edition of the original 1924 jazz band version of Rhapsody in Blue, orchestrated by Ferde Grofé. The publication now makes the work’s full original musical notation—as it likely sounded when it was first premiered—available to Gershwin fans, music students, scholars, and performers. A signal voice in the American musical imagination, the melodies of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue were first heard on February 12, 1924 […]

Interview with Timothy McAllister: Gershwin, Adams, and the Orchestral Saxophone

  The Gershwin Initiative’s own Lisa Keeney (lead editorial assistant and saxophonist) sat down in August 2016 to talk with Grammy award-winning saxophonist Timothy McAllister as a promotion for our September 2016 concert with the University of Michigan’s University Symphony Orchestra (USO). The USO premiered both the new edition of Concerto in F and the Unabridged Edition of An American in Paris. This program also featured Adams’ The Chairman Dances, and his Saxophone Concerto with soloist Timothy McAllister, for whom the concerto was written. We are delighted today to bring you the extended cut of the interview.  It is broken into three parts […]

All Manner of Merry Things: Hanukkah in the ‘20s

Ever wonder what Hanukkah in the Gershwins’ world was like? Turns out it was only just coming into its own as the celebratory holiday we know today. Let’s take a peek at this well-loved festival’s face in the 1920s… By Cassidy Goldblatt Prior to the ‘20s, Hanukkah as celebrated by America’s Jewish population was a rather humble holiday, centered around lighting the menorah candles in commemoration of the 2nd-century BC Maccabean Revolt and the Temple’s subsequent purification. But the 1920s saw the rise of new opinions about tradition and religious devotion. Victor Emanuel Reichert quoted a rabbi in 1927 speaking […]

Rhapsody in. . . who?

In today’s post, Frances traces some of the various transformations (or potential misprints) of the Gershwin family name. George and Ira’s father arrived in New York in 1890 still accompanied by his Russian Jewish name: Moishe Gershovitz. Moishe soon changed his name to the much more Americanized Morris Greshevin, as was frequently the custom with immigrants’ names upon arriving in America. Morris’s wife, Roza Bruskin, similarly became known as simply Rose. By the time of their union in 1895, their marriage license read “Gershvin.” In the 1900 US census, two years after George’s birth, Morris was back to using the […]

“Our Love is Here to Stay”: Language, Gender, Brotherly Love, and Sexual Politics

“ Love is Here to Stay” has been a celebrated jazz standard for more than six decades, and it is most often treated as a straightforward love ballad. However, the lack of gendered language in its lyrics opens up the possibility for alternative interpretations, as well as creative and political performances. By Megan Hill, Ph.D. The presence of gendered language (he/she/him/her, man/woman, etc.) in song lyrics provides the opportunity for people concerned with gender and sexuality politics to perform the song in order to make political statements, regardless of whether or not the song’s composer and/or lyricist had such politics […]

An American Lost in Paris: Gershwin Navigating the Classical Sphere

  George Gershwin is well-known for his mixed use of popular and traditional idioms. But what was his personal attitude towards contemporary composers, and how did this influence his approach towards composition? Take a look at how An American in Paris, situated at a critical point in George’s career, reflects both his developing tastes and shifting musical ambitions. By Cassidy Goldblatt George Gershwin began his career in the streets of Tin Pan Alley and Broadway, writing songs inspired by his love of jazz. Yet popular genres could only capture his attention for so long, and he soon felt the itch […]

From Flop to Top: The Story of “I’ve Got a Crush On You”

  George and Ira Gershwin’s song “I’ve Got a Crush on You” is arguably one of their most famous creations. However, few people know that what made the song a hit was a change from a fast-tempo, Broadway dance piece into a leisurely, sentimental ballad. By: Rachel Fernandes “I’ve Got a Crush on You” I’ve got a crush on you, sweetie pie All the day and night time give me sigh I never had the least notion that I could fall with so much emotion Could you coo, could you care? For a cunning cottage we could share The world […]

Farewells, Photographs, and Affections: A letter from Ira to DuBose

  After George Gershwin’s death, Ira writes a letter to DuBose Heyward passing along his and George’s respect and affection for the author.  Take a look at Ira’s letter of August 2, 1937, to DuBose, held at the South Carolina Historical Society. By Frances Sobolak By the middle of 1937, just shy of two years after the premiere of Porgy and Bess, George Gershwin’s growing brain tumor, undetected at the time, was causing him severe headaches and fainting spells. On July 11, after having fallen into a coma two days before, George underwent extensive brain surgery—but the 38-year-old composer passed […]

The First Memorials: Early Obituaries Struggled to Conceptualize George Gershwin’s Legacy

By Sarah Sisk The startling news was emblazoned on the front page of the New York Times on Monday, July 12, 1937. George Gershwin had died that Sunday despite an emergency operation to remove a brain tumor and save the 38-year-old composer’s life. The news came as a complete shock: while he had suffered from what was deemed a “nervous breakdown” in the weeks preceding, the real source of his ailment was discovered in his final hours, and far too late. In the days and weeks to follow, obituaries cropped up in newspapers across the country, as reporters and columnists […]

You[Tube] Can’t Take That Away From Me: New Video from Piano Dedication Concert Posted on Our YouTube Channel

  Just a brief post today to highlight some new videos from the U-M Gershwin Piano Dedication concert that are now up on our YouTube channel. We are so pleased to have Gershwin’s priceless instrument here at U-M where students perform on it regularly, and will be releasing more footage from the concert in the weeks to come. Today we have two videos for you to enjoy featuring two of the Gershwins’ beloved songs: “You Can’t Take That Away From Me” from Shall We Dance (1937), and “My Man’s Gone Now” from Porgy and Bess (1935). “You Can’t Take That […]