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George Gershwin Essay

581 Words3 Pages

George Gershwin
The 1920s was a period of time which glorified freedom and audacity. Heavily inspired by the liberating rhythms of Jazz, the newest generation gave celebrity status to those who could make a name for themselves in the new emerging culture.
Born to Russian immigrants in 1898 in Brooklyn, New York, George Gershovitz (Changed to Gershvin by his parents and later on Gershwin) was the second of four children in a moderately well off Jewish family. Displaying no musical talents early on, Gershwin didn’t begin playing piano until he was ten, on his brother Ira Gershwin’s piano. His demonstrated interest developed into a quickly recognized talent, and he dropped out of school at fifteen to work professionally as a song plugger in Tin …show more content…

His life as a musician may have never started had congress not declaring child labor laws unconstitutional. From his position as a song plugger he began writing songs, with his first published piece being When You Want ‘Em, You Can’t Get ‘Em which came out in 1916. His first big success was Swanee, sung by Al Johnson in 1919, but that was only the beginning of his career as a composer.
As Jazz evolved throughout the Roaring Twenties, so did the new culture associated with it, and likewise, the influential Jazz composers carried an important role in shaping society. After writing “Blue Monday”, bandleader Paul Whiteman asked Gershwin to compose a Jazz piece for An Experiment in Music, a concert intended to showcase newer forms of Jazz, that would elevate the status of the genre.
Like any laid back 1920s celebrity, George Gershwin reportedly forgot about his commission until his brother saw his name mentioned in a newspaper ad five weeks before the show. Under remarkable pressure, Gershwin wrote one of his most famous pieces, Rhapsody in Blue. The piece’s debut in 1925 raised the roof for the possibilities of Jazz, opening it to new styles and musicians and further influencing how society developed throughout the

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