Sarah or Sara (; ISO 259-3 ''Śarra''; ; Arabic: ) was the wife of Abraham and the mother of Isaac as described in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran. Her name was originally Sarai. According to ''Genesis'' 17:15 God changed her name to Sarah as part of a covenant after Hagar bore Abraham his first son, Ishmael.

The Hebrew name ''Sarah'' indicates a woman of high rank and is sometimes translated as "princess". It also means "lady."

Sarah in the Bible

Sarah was the wife of Abraham, as well as being his half-sister, the daughter of his father Terah (Genesis 20:12). The Talmud identifies Sarai with Iscah, daughter of Abraham's deceased brother Haran (Genesis 11:29), so that Sarah turns out to be the niece of Abraham and the sister of Lot and Milcah. She was considered beautiful to the point that Abraham feared that when they were near more powerful rulers she would be taken away and given to another man. Twice he purposefully identified her as being only his sister so that he would be "treated well" for her sake. It is apparent that she remained attractive into her later years. Despite her great beauty, she was barren for an unknown reason. She was originally called "Sarai" which is translated "my princess." Later she was called "Sarah" i.e., princess." In Biblical times, the changing of one's name was significant and used to symbolize the binding of a covenant. In this case, God promised to put an end to her barrenness and give her a child (Isaac).

In Pharaoh's harem

On the journey to Egypt, Abraham hid Sarai in a chest in order that no one might see her. At the frontier the chest had to pass through the hands of certain officials, who insisted on examining its contents in order to determine the amount of duty payable. When it was opened a bright light proceeded from Sarai's beauty. Every one of the officials wished to secure possession of her, each offering a higher sum than his rival. When brought before Pharaoh, Sarai said that Abraham was her brother, and the king thereupon bestowed upon the latter many presents and marks of distinction ("Sefer ha-Yashar," l.c.). As a token of his love for Sarai the king deeded his entire property to her, and gave her the land of Goshen as her hereditary possession: for this reason the Israelites subsequently lived in that land (Pirḳe R. El. xxxvi.). It is likely that she acquired her Egyptian maidservant Hagar during this stay. Sarai prayed to God to deliver her from the king, and He thereupon sent an angel, who struck Pharaoh whenever he attempted to touch her. Pharaoh was so astonished at these blows that he spoke kindly to Sarai, who confessed that she was Abraham's wife. The king then ceased to annoy her ("Sefer ha-Yashar," l.c.). According to another version, Pharaoh persisted in annoying her after she had told him that she was a married woman; thereupon the angel struck him so violently that he became ill, and was thereby prevented from continuing to trouble her (Genesis Rabbah xli. 2). According to one tradition it was when Pharaoh saw these miracles wrought in Sarai's behalf that he gave her his daughter Hagar as slave, saying: "It is better that my daughter should be a slave in the house of such a woman than mistress in another house"; Abimelech acted likewise (Genesis Rabbah xlv. 2). Sarai treated Hagar well, and induced women who came to visit her to visit Hagar also. Hagar, when pregnant by Abraham, began to act superciliously toward Sarai, provoking the latter to treat her harshly, to impose heavy work upon her, and even to strike her (ib. xlv. 9).

Relations with Hagar

thumb|215px|right|''Banishment of Hagar'', Etching. À Paris chez Fr. Fanet, Éditeur, Rue des Saints Pères n° 10. XVIIIth century. Sarah is seen on the left side, looking Some believe Sarai was originally destined to reach the age of 175 years, but forty-eight years of this span of life were taken away from her because she complained of Abraham, blaming him as though the cause that Hagar no longer respected her (R. H. 16b; Genesis Rabbah xlv. 7). Sarah was sterile; but a miracle was vouchsafed to her (Genesis Rabbah xlvii. 3) after her name was changed from "Sarai" to "Sarah" (R. H. 16b). According to one myth, when her fertility had been restored and she had given birth to Isaac, the people would not believe in the miracle, saying that the patriarch and his wife had adopted a foundling and pretended that it was their own son. Abraham thereupon invited all the notabilities to a banquet on the day when Isaac was to be weaned. Sarah invited the women, also, who brought their infants with them; and on this occasion she gave milk from her breasts to all the strange children, thus convincing the guests of the miracle (B. M. 87a; comp. Gen. R. liii. 13). None of this is Biblical, however, except for the fact that Abraham organized a celebration when Isaac was weaned. It was during this banquet that Sarah happened upon the then teenaged Ishmael "mocking" her son and was so disturbed that she requested that both he and Hagar be removed from their company.

Death

Legends connect Sarah's death with the attempted sacrifice of Isaac, there being two versions of the story. According to one, Samael came to her and said: "Your old husband seized the boy and sacrificed him. The boy wailed and wept; but he could not escape from his father." Sarah began to cry bitterly, and ultimately died of her grief. According to the other legend, Satan, disguised as an old man, came to Sarah and told her that Isaac had been sacrificed. She, believing it to be true, cried bitterly, but soon comforted herself with the thought that the sacrifice had been offered at the command of God. She started from Beer-sheba to Hebron, asking everyone she met if he knew in which direction Abraham had gone. Then Satan came again in human shape and told her that it was not true that Isaac had been sacrificed, but that he was living and would soon return with his father. Sarah, on hearing this, died of joy at Hebron. Abraham and Isaac returned to their home at Beer-sheba, and, not finding Sarah there, went to Hebron, where they discovered her dead. According to the Genesis Rabba, during Sarah's lifetime her house was always hospitably open, the dough was miraculously increased, a light burned from Saturday evening to Saturday evening, and a pillar of cloud rested upon the entrance to her tent.

New Testament references

The First Epistle of Peter praises Sarah for obeying her husband. Other New Testament references to Sarah are in Romans, Galatians and Hebrews. In Galatians 4, she and Hagar are used as an alegory of the old and new covenants:

''"For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise. These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother...Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise...Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman."''

Sarah in Islam

Sarah (Arabic: سارة, ''Sara''), the wife of the patriarch and Islamic prophet Abraham and the mother of the prophet Isaac is an honoured woman in the Islamic faith. According to Muslim belief, she was Abraham's first wife. Although not mentioned by name in the Qur'an, she is referenced and alluded to via the story of her husband. She lived with Abraham throughout her life and, although she was barren, God promised her the birth of a prophetic son, Isaac.

Muslim tradition holds that Sarah and Abraham had no children. Abraham, however, prayed constantly to God for a son. Sarah, being barren, subsequently gave him her Egyptian handmaiden, Hājar (Hagar), to wed as his second wife. Hagar bore Ismā'īl (Ishmael), when Abraham was 86, who too would become a prophet of God like his father. Thirteen years later, God announced to Abraham, now a hundred, that barren Sarah would give birth to a second son, Isaac, who would also be a prophet of the Lord. Although the Qur'an does not mention Sarah by name, it mentions the annunciation of the birth of Isaac. The Qur'an mentions that Sarah laughed when the angels gave her the glad tidings of Isaac, which is perhaps why the name Isaac has the root meaning of 'laughter'.

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Tomb of Sarah

Sarah is believed to be buried in the Cave of the Patriarchs (known by Muslims as the ''Sanctuary of Abraham''). The compound, located in the ancient city of Hebron, is the second holiest site for Jews (after the Temple Mount in Jerusalem), and is also venerated by Christians and Muslims, both of whom have traditions which maintain that the site is the burial place of three Biblical couples: Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Leah. According to the book of Genesis, Abraham purchased the plot of land for her tomb from a man named Ephron the Hittite. Although some Jews alternatively also believe this to be the burial place for Adam and Eve, this is a view not usually adopted by Christians or Muslims.

Notes

Category:Biblical characters in rabbinic literature Category:Biblical matriarchs Category:Burials in Hebron Category:Fertile Crescent Category:Old Testament female saints Category:People celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar Category:Abraham Category:Book of Genesis

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name	Wynton Marsalis
birth name	Wynton Learson Marsalis
background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
born	October 18, 1961New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
instrument	Trumpet
genre	Jazz, post-bop, jazz poetry, Classical
occupation	Composer, trumpeter, Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Opera
years active	1980–''present''
label	Columbia, Sony
associated acts	English Chamber Orchestra
website
notable instruments	}}

Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences. Marsalis has been awarded nine Grammys in both genres, and a jazz recording of his was the first of its kind to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music.

Marsalis is the son of jazz musician Ellis Marsalis, Jr. (pianist), grandson to Ellis Marsalis, Sr., and brother to Branford (saxophonist), Delfeayo (trombonist), Mboya, and Jason (drummer).

Biography

Wynton was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on October 18, 1961, to Dolores and Ellis Marsalis, Jr., the second of six sons. At an early age he exhibited an aptitude for music. At age eight, Wynton performed traditional New Orleans music in the Fairview Baptist Church band led by banjoist Danny Barker, and at 14, he performed with the New Orleans Philharmonic. During high school, Wynton performed with the New Orleans Symphony Brass Quintet, New Orleans Community Concert Band, New Orleans Youth Orchestra, New Orleans Symphony, various jazz bands and with a local funk band, the Creators.

At age 17, Wynton was the youngest musician admitted to Tanglewood's Berkshire Music Center, where he won the school's Harvey Shapiro Award for outstanding brass student. Wynton moved to New York City to attend Juilliard in 1979, and picked up gigs around town. In 1980, Wynton joined the Jazz Messengers led by Art Blakey. In the years that followed, Wynton performed with Sarah Vaughan, Dizzy Gillespie, Sweets Edison, Clark Terry, Sonny Rollins, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams and countless other jazz legends.

In 1995, PBS premiered ''Marsalis On Music'', an educational television series on jazz and classical music hosted and written by Marsalis. Also, in 1995, National Public Radio aired the first of Marsalis’ 26-week series, entitled ''Making the Music''. Wynton's radio and television series were awarded the George Foster Peabody Award. Marsalis has also written five books: ''Sweet Swing Blues on the Road'', ''Jazz in the Bittersweet Blues of Life'', ''To a Young Musician: Letters from the Road'', ''Jazz ABZ'' (an A to Z collection of poems celebrating jazz greats), and his most recent release ''Moving to Higher Ground: How Jazz Can Change Your Life''.

In 1987, Wynton Marsalis co-founded a jazz program at Lincoln Center. In July 1996, Jazz at Lincoln Center was installed as new constituent of Lincoln Center. In October 2004, Marsalis opened Frederick P. Rose Hall, the world's first institution for jazz containing three performance spaces (including the first concert hall designed specifically for jazz) along with recording, broadcast, rehearsal and educational facilities. Wynton presently serves as Artistic Director for Jazz at Lincoln Center and Music Director for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

Criticisms

Marsalis has been criticized by some jazz musicians and writers as a limited trumpeter who pontificates on strict views of jazz, as he did in his 1988 opinion piece in the ''New York Times'' "What Jazz Is - and Isn't".

Jazz critic Scott Yanow acknowledged Marsalis's talent but criticized his "selective knowledge of jazz history" and his regard for "post-1965 avant-garde playing to be outside of jazz and 1970s fusion to be barren" as the unfortunate result of the "somewhat eccentric beliefs of Stanley Crouch. Trumpeter Lester Bowie said of Marsalis, "If you retread what's gone before, even if it sounds like jazz, it could be anathema to the spirit of jazz." In his 1997 book ''Blue: The Murder of Jazz'', Eric Nisenson argues that Marsalis's focus on a narrow portion of jazz's past stifled growth and innovation. In 1997, pianist Keith Jarrett criticized Marsalis saying "I've never heard anything Wynton played sound like it meant anything at all. Wynton has no voice and no presence. His music sounds like a talented high-school trumpet player to me." Pierre Sprey, president of jazz record company Mapleshade Records, said in 2001 that "When Marsalis was nineteen, he was a fine jazz trumpeter...But he was getting his tail beat off every night in Art Blakey's band. I don't think he could keep up. And finally he retreated to safe waters. He's a good classical trumpeter and thus he sees jazz as being a classical music. He has no clue what's going on now." Bassist Stanley Clarke said "All the guys that are criticizing—like Wynton Marsalis and those guys—I would hate to be around to hear those guys playing on top of a groove!" In his autobiography, Miles Davis – who Marsalis said had left jazz and "went into rock" – hedged his praise of Marsalis by suggesting that he was unoriginal. He also found him too competitive, saying "Wynton thinks playing music is about blowing people up on stage." In 1986, in Vancouver, Davis stopped his band to eject an uninvited Marsalis from the stage. Davis said "Wynton can't play the kind of shit we were playing", and twice told Marsalis "Get the fuck off."

Some critical exchanges have included insults. Besides insinuating that Davis had pandered to audiences, Marsalis said Davis dressed like a "buffoon." Trumpeter Lester Bowie called Marsalis "brain dead", "mentally-ill" and "trapped in some opinions that he had at age 21... because he's been paid to." Marsalis in reply said Bowie was "another guy who never really could play."

Marsalis was criticized for pressing his neo-classicist opinions of jazz as producer and on-screen commentator in the Ken Burns documentary ''Jazz'' (2001). The documentary focused primarily on Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong among others, while ignoring other jazz artists. David Adler said that "Wynton's coronation in the film is not merely biased. It is not just aesthetically grating. It is unethical, given his integral role in the making of the very film that is praising him to the heavens."

Awards and recognition

Marsalis has won nine Grammy Awards. In 1983 and 1984, he became the only artist ever to win Grammy Awards for both jazz and classical records, and he is the only artist to win Grammy Awards for five consecutive years (1983–1987).

Honorary degrees Marsalis has received include those conferred by New York University, Columbia, Harvard, Howard, the State University of New York, Princeton and Yale. Marsalis was honored with the Louis Armstrong Memorial Medal and the Algur H. Meadows Award for Excellence in the Arts. He was inducted into the American Academy of Achievement and was dubbed an Honorary Dreamer by the I Have a Dream Foundation. The New York Urban League awarded Maraslis with the Frederick Douglass Medallion for distinguished leadership and the American Arts Council presented him with the Arts Education Award.

''Time'' magazine list of promising Americans under the age 40 selected Maralis in 1995, and in 1996, Time celebrated Marsalis as one of America's 25 most influential people. In November 2005, Marsalis received the National Medal of Arts. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan proclaimed Marsalis an international ambassador of goodwill for the United States by appointing him a UN Messenger of Peace (2001).

In 1997, Marsalis became the first jazz musician ever to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his epic oratorio, ''Blood On The Fields''. In a personal note to Marsalis, Zarin Mehta wrote, "I was not surprised at your winning the Pulitzer Prize for Blood On The Fields. It is a broad, beautifully painted canvas that impresses and inspires. It speaks to us all ... I’m sure that, somewhere in the firmament, Buddy Bolden, Louis Armstrong and legions of others are smiling down on you."

Marsalis won the Netherlands’ Edison Award and the Grand Prix du Disque of France. The Mayor of Vitoria, Spain, awarded Wynton with the city's Gold Medal – its most coveted distinction. In 1996, Britain's senior conservatoire, the Royal Academy of Music, made Marsalis an honorary member, the Academy's highest decoration for a non-British citizen. The city of Marciac, France, erected a bronze statue in his honor. The French Ministry of Culture appointed Wynton the rank of Knight in the Order of Arts and Literature, and in the fall of 2009, Marsalis received France's highest distinction, the insignia Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, an honor that was first awarded by Napoleon Bonaparte.

Marsalis, with his father and brothers, are group recipients of the 2011 NEA Jazz Masters Award.

Marsalis has toured 30 countries on every continent except Antarctica, and nearly five million copies of his recordings have been sold worldwide.

Music awards

Pulitzer Prize for Music

1997 ''Blood on the Fields'', oratorio

Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group

1986 ''Black Codes (From the Underground)''

1987 ''J Mood''

1988 ''Marsalis Standard Time - Volume I''

Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra)

1983 Raymond Leppard (conductor), Wynton Marsalis & the National Philharmonic Orchestra for ''Haydn: Trumpet Concerto in E Flat/L. Mozart: Trumpet Concerto In D/Hummel: Trumpet Concerto in E Flat''

1984 Raymond Leppard (conductor), Wynton Marsalis & the English Chamber Orchestra for ''Wynton Marsalis, Edita Gruberova: Handel, Purcell, Torelli, Fasch, Molter''

Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo

1983 ''Think of One''

1984 ''Hot House Flowers''

1985 ''Black Codes (From the Underground)''

Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children

2000 ''Listen to the Storyteller''

Discography

References

External links

Official website

Profile at Jazz at the Lincoln Center (click 'more')

Wynton Marsalis on ''The Tavis Smiley Show'', March 15, 2011 (23:31 video)

Post-Katrina Tulane University Speech

USA Today Q&A;, January 14, 2007

Wynton Marsalis: Reader's guide

Category:1961 births Category:African American musicians Category:American classical trumpeters Category:American jazz trumpeters Category:George Peabody Medal winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Jazz bandleaders Category:Jazz composers Category:Juilliard School alumni Category:Living people Category:Jazz musicians from New Orleans, Louisiana Category:Post-bop jazz musicians Category:Pulitzer Prize for Music winners Category:Blue Note Records artists

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name	George Gershwin
birth name	Jacob Gershowitz
birth date	September 26, 1898
birth place	Brooklyn, New York
death date	July 11, 1937
death place	Hollywood, California
resting place	Westchester Hills Cemetery
nationality	American
occupation	Composer
partner	Kay Swift
relatives	Frances, Arthur and Ira
signature	George Gershwin signature.svg }}

George Gershwin (September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known. Among his best known works are the orchestral compositions ''Rhapsody in Blue'' (1924) and ''An American in Paris'' (1928), as well as the opera, ''Porgy and Bess'' (1935).

He wrote most of his vocal and theatrical works, including more than a dozen Broadway shows, in collaboration with his elder brother, lyricist Ira Gershwin. George Gershwin composed music for both Broadway and the classical concert hall, as well as popular songs that brought his work to an even wider public. His compositions have been used in numerous films and on television, and many became jazz standards recorded in numerous variations. Countless singers and musicians have recorded Gershwin songs.

Biography

Early life

Gershwin was named Jacob Gershowitz at birth in Brooklyn, New York on September 26, 1898. His parents were Jews from Odessa(Ukraine). His father, Morris (Moishe) Gershowitz, changed his family name to 'Gershvin' some time after immigrating to the United States from St. Petersburg, Russia in the early 1890s. Gershwin's mother Rosa Bruskin had already immigrated from Russia. She met Gershowitz in New York and they married on July 21, 1895. George changed the spelling of the family name to 'Gershwin' after he became a professional musician; other members of his family followed suit.

George Gershwin was the second of four children. He first displayed interest in music at the age of ten, when he was intrigued by what he heard at his friend Maxie Rosenzweig's violin recital. The sound and the way his friend played captured him. His parents had bought a piano for lessons for his older brother Ira, but to his parents' surprise and Ira's relief, it was George who played it. Although his younger sister Frances Gershwin was the first in the family to make money from her musical talents, she married young and devoted herself to being a mother and housewife. She gave up her performing career, but settled into painting for another creative outlet; painting was also a hobby of George Gershwin.

Gershwin tried various piano teachers for two years, and then was introduced to Charles Hambitzer by Jack Miller, the pianist in the Beethoven Symphony Orchestra. Until Hambitzer's death in 1918, he acted as Gershwin's mentor. Hambitzer taught Gershwin conventional piano technique, introduced him to music of the European classical tradition, and encouraged him to attend orchestra concerts. At home, following such concerts, young Gershwin would attempt to reproduce at the piano the music that he had heard. He later studied with classical composer Rubin Goldmark and avant-garde composer-theorist Henry Cowell.

Tin Pan Alley and Stage

{|align=right | |} At the age of fifteen, George left school and found his first job as a performer, "song plugger" for Jerome H. Remick and Company, a publishing firm on New York City's Tin Pan Alley, where he earned $15 a week. His first published song was "When You Want 'Em You Can't Get 'Em, When You've Got 'Em, You Don't Want 'Em." It was published in 1916 when Gershwin was only 17 years old and earned him $5. His 1917 novelty rag "Rialto Ripples" was a commercial success, and in 1919 he scored his first big national hit with his song "Swanee" with words by Irving Caesar. In 1916, Gershwin started working for Aeolian Company and Standard Music Rolls in New York, recording and arranging. He produced dozens, if not hundreds, of rolls under his own and assumed names. (Pseudonyms attributed to Gershwin include Fred Murtha and Bert Wynn.) He also recorded rolls of his own compositions for the Duo-Art and Welte-Mignon reproducing pianos. As well as recording piano rolls, Gershwin made a brief foray into vaudeville, accompanying both Nora Bayes and Louise Dresser on the piano.

In the early 1920s Gershwin frequently worked with the lyricist Buddy DeSylva. Together they created the experimental one-act jazz opera ''Blue Monday'' set in Harlem, which is widely regarded as a forerunner to the groundbreaking ''Porgy and Bess''.

In 1924, George and Ira Gershwin collaborated on a stage musical comedy ''Lady Be Good'', which included such future standards as "Fascinating Rhythm" and "Oh, Lady Be Good!".

This was followed by ''Oh, Kay!'' (1926); ''Funny Face'' (1927); ''Strike Up the Band'' (1927 and 1930); Gershwin gifted the song with a modified title to UCLA to be used as a football fight song, "Strike Up The Band for UCLA". ''Show Girl'' (1929); ''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 (for Drama).

Classical music, opera, ballet, and European influences

In 1924, Gershwin composed his first major classical work, ''Rhapsody in Blue'' for orchestra and piano. It was orchestrated by Ferde Grofé and premiered by Paul Whiteman's concert band in New York. It proved to be his most popular work.

Gershwin stayed in Paris for a short period of time during which he applied to study composition with the famous instructor Nadia Boulanger who, along with several other prospective tutors such as Maurice Ravel, rejected him, being afraid that rigorous classical study would ruin his jazz-influenced style. While there, Gershwin wrote ''An American in Paris''. This work received mixed reviews upon its first performance at Carnegie Hall on December 13, 1928, but it quickly became part of the standard repertoire in Europe and the United States. Growing tired of the Parisian musical scene, Gershwin returned to the United States.

In 1929, Gershwin was contracted by Fox Film Corporation to compose the score for the movie ''Delicious''. Only two pieces were used in the final film, the five-minute "Dream Sequence" and the six-minute "Manhattan Rhapsody". Gershwin became infuriated when the rest of the score was rejected by Fox Film Corporation, and it would be seven years before he worked in Hollywood again.

His most ambitious composition was ''Porgy and Bess'' (1935). Gershwin called it a "folk opera," and it is now widely regarded as one of the most important American operas of the twentieth century. "From the very beginning, it was considered another American classic by the composer of 'Rhapsody in Blue' — even if critics couldn't quite figure out how to evaluate it. Was it opera, or was it simply an ambitious Broadway musical? 'It crossed the barriers,' says theater historian Robert Kimball. 'It wasn't a musical work per se, and it wasn't a drama per se — it elicited response from both music and drama critics. But the work has sort of always been outside category."

Based on the novel ''Porgy'' by DuBose Heyward, the action takes place in the fictional all-black neighborhood of Catfish Row in Charleston, South Carolina. With the exception of several minor speaking roles, all of the characters are black. The music combines elements of popular music of the day, with a strong influence of Black music, with techniques typical of opera, such as recitative, through-composition and an extensive system of leitmotifs. ''Porgy and Bess'' contains some of Gershwin's most sophisticated music, including a fugue, a passacaglia, the use of atonality, polytonality and polyrhythm, and a tone row. Even the "set numbers" (of which "Summertime", "I Got Plenty o' Nuttin'" and "It Ain't Necessarily So" are well known examples) are some of the most refined and ingenious of Gershwin's output. For the performances, Gershwin collaborated with Eva Jessye, whom he picked as the musical director. One of the outstanding musical alumnae of Western University in Kansas, she had created her own choir in New York and performed widely with them.

After ''Porgy and Bess'', Gershwin eventually was commissioned by RKO Pictures in 1936 to compose songs and the underscore for ''Shall We Dance'', starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Gershwin's extended score, which would marry ballet with jazz in a new way, runs over an hour in length. It took Gershwin several months to write and orchestrate it.

Hollywood and early death

Early in 1937, Gershwin began to complain of blinding headaches and a recurring impression that he was smelling burned rubber. Doctors discovered he had developed a type of cystic malignant brain tumor known as glioblastoma multiforme. Although some tried to trace his disease to a blow on the head from a golf ball, the cause of this type of cancer is still unknown. It occurs most often in males, accounts for 52% of all brain cancers, and is nearly always fatal.

The diagnosis of glioblastoma multiforme has been questioned. The surgeon's description of Gershwin's tumor as a right temporal lobe cyst with a mural nodule is much more consistent with a pilocytic astrocytoma, a very low grade of brain tumor. Further, Gershwin's initial olfactory hallucination (the unpleasant smell of burning rubber) was in 1934. It is highly unlikely that a glioblastoma multiforme would cause symptoms of that duration prior to causing death. Pilocytic astrocytomas may cause symptoms for twenty or more years prior to diagnosis. Thus, it is possible that Gershwin's prominent chronic gastrointestinal symptoms (which he called his "composer's stomach") were a manifestation of temporal lobe epilepsy caused by his tumor. If this is correct, then Gershwin was not "a notorious hypochondriac," as suggested by his biographer Edward Jablonski (who wrote, in a letter to the editor, that "Gershwin was a notorious hypochondriac, beginning as early as 1922, and his complaints were not taken seriously".

In January 1937, Gershwin performed in a special concert of his music with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under the direction of French maestro Pierre Monteux. Gershwin suffered "musical blackouts" during his final performances. It was in Hollywood, while working on the score of ''The Goldwyn Follies'', that he collapsed. He died on July 11, 1937 at the age of 38 at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital following surgery for the tumor. John O'Hara remarked: "George Gershwin died on July 11, 1937, but I don't have to believe it if I don't want to." A memorial concert was held at the Hollywood Bowl on September 8, 1937 at which Otto Klemperer conducted his own orchestration of the second of Gershwin's ''Three Piano Preludes''.

Gershwin received his sole Academy Award nomination, for Best Original Song, at the 1937 Oscars, for "They Can't Take That Away from Me" written with his brother Ira for the 1937 film ''Shall We Dance''. The nomination was posthumous; Gershwin died two months after the film's release.

Gershwin had a ten-year affair with composer Kay Swift and frequently consulted her about his music. ''Oh, Kay'' was named for her. After Gershwin died, Swift arranged some of his music, transcribed some of his recordings, and collaborated with his brother Ira on several projects.

Gershwin died intestate. All his property passed to his mother. He is buried in the Westchester Hills Cemetery in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. The Gershwin estate continues to collect 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 all Gershwin's solo works expired at the end of 2007 in the European Union, based on the life plus 70 years rule in force in the EU.

In 2005, ''The Guardian'' determined using "estimates of earnings accrued in a composer's lifetime" that George Gershwin was the wealthiest composer of all time.

Legacy and honors

The 1945 biographical film ''Rhapsody in Blue'' starred Robert Alda as George Gershwin.

George Gershwin was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2006.

The Gershwin Theatre on Broadway is named after George and Ira.

The George and Ira Gershwin Lifetime Musical Achievement Award was established by UCLA to honor the brothers for their contribution to music and for their gift to UCLA of the fight song "Strike Up the Band for UCLA." Past winners have included Angela Lansbury (1988), Ray Charles (1991), Mel Torme (1994), Bernadette Peters (1995), Frank Sinatra (2000), Stevie Wonder (2002), k.d. lang (2003), James Taylor (2004), Babyface (2005), Burt Bacharach (2006), Quincy Jones (2007), Lionel Richie (2008) and Julie Andrews (2009).

The Congressional Gold Medal was awarded to George and Ira Gershwin in 1985. Only three other songwriting recipients, George M. Cohan, Harry Chapin and Irving Berlin, have had the honor of receiving this award.

The 1932 Pulitzer Prize for Musical Comedy "Of Thee I Sing".

In Brooklyn, George Gershwin Junior High School 166 is named after him.

Musical style and influence

Gershwin was influenced by French composers of the early twentieth century. In turn Maurice Ravel was impressed with Gershwin's abilities, commenting, "Personally I find jazz most interesting: the rhythms, the way the melodies are handled, the melodies themselves. I have heard of George Gershwin's works and I find them intriguing." The orchestrations in Gershwin's symphonic works often seem similar to those of Ravel; likewise, Ravel's two piano concertos evince an influence of Gershwin.

Gershwin asked to study with Ravel. When Ravel heard how much Gershwin earned, Ravel replied with words to the effect of, "You should give ''me'' lessons." (Some versions of this story feature Igor Stravinsky rather than Ravel as the composer; however Stravinsky confirmed that he originally heard the story from Ravel.)

Gershwin's own ''Concerto in F'' was criticized for being related to the work of Claude Debussy, more so than to the expected jazz style. The comparison did not deter Gershwin from continuing to explore French styles. The title of ''An American in Paris'' reflects the very journey that he had consciously taken as a composer: "The opening part will be developed in typical French style, in the manner of Debussy and ''Les Six'', though the tunes are original."

Aside from the French influence, Gershwin was intrigued by the works of Alban Berg, Dmitri Shostakovich, Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud, and Arnold Schoenberg. He also asked Schoenberg for composition lessons. Schoenberg refused, saying "I would only make you a bad Schoenberg, and you're such a good Gershwin already." (This quote is similar to one credited to Maurice Ravel during Gershwin's 1928 visit to France – "Why be a second-rate Ravel, when you are a first-rate Gershwin?")

Russian Joseph Schillinger's influence as Gershwin's teacher of composition (1932–1936) was substantial in providing him with a method of composition. There has been some disagreement about the nature of Schillinger's influence on Gershwin. After the posthumous success of ''Porgy and Bess'', Schillinger claimed he had a large and direct influence in overseeing the creation of the opera; Ira completely denied that his brother had any such assistance for this work. A third account of Gershwin's musical relationship with his teacher was written by Gershwin's close friend Vernon Duke, also a Schillinger student, in an article for ''the Musical Quarterly'' in 1947.

What set Gershwin apart was his ability to manipulate forms of music into his own unique voice. He took the jazz he discovered on Tin Pan Alley into the mainstream by splicing its rhythms and tonality with that of the popular songs of his era. Although George Gershwin would seldom make grand statements about his music, he believed that "true music must reflect the thought and aspirations of the people and time. My people are Americans. My time is today."

In 2007, the Library of Congress named their Prize for Popular Song after George and Ira Gershwin. Recognizing the profound and positive effect of popular music on culture, the prize is given annually to a composer or performer whose lifetime contributions exemplify the standard of excellence associated with the Gershwins. On March 1, 2007, the first Gershwin Prize was awarded to Paul Simon.

Recordings and film

Early in his career Gershwin made dozens of player piano piano roll recordings, which were a main source of income for him. Many are of popular music of the period and others are of his own works. Once his musical theatre-writing career took precedence, his regular roll-recording sessions dwindled. He did record additional rolls throughout the 1920s, including a complete version of his ''Rhapsody in Blue''.

Compared to the piano rolls, there are few accessible audio recordings of Gershwin's playing. His first recording was his own ''Swanee'' with the Fred Van Eps Trio in 1919. The recorded balance highlights the banjo playing of Van Eps, and the piano is overshadowed. The recording took place before ''Swanee'' became famous as an Al Jolson specialty in early 1920.

Gershwin did record an abridged version of ''Rhapsody in Blue'' with Paul Whiteman and his orchestra for the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1924, soon after the world premiere. Gershwin and the same orchestra made an electrical recording of the abridged version for Victor in 1927. However, a dispute in the studio over interpretation angered Paul Whiteman and he left. The conductor's baton was taken over by Victor's staff conductor Nathaniel Shilkret.

In 1925, Gershwin sat down at the keyboard of an Aeolean Duo-Art Weber reproducing piano and created an exact record – note for note, pause for pause, inflection for inflection – of his famous ''Rhapsody in Blue''. The inspiration for the piece came to him during a train journey to Boston, "with its steely rhythms, its rattlety-bang . . . I suddenly heard – and even saw on paper – the complete construction of the rhapsody from beginning to end. I heard it as a sort of musical kaleidoscope of America – of our vast melting pot, of our unduplicated national pep, of our blues, our metropolitan madness." This piano and the recording survive today and can be heard several times per day at the Music House Museum located near Traverse City, Michigan.

Gershwin made a number of solo piano recordings of tunes from his musicals, some including the vocals of Fred and Adele Astaire, as well as his ''Three Preludes'' for piano. In 1929, Gershwin "supervised" the world premiere recording of ''An American in Paris'' with Nathaniel Shilkret and the Victor Symphony Orchestra. Gershwin's role in the recording was rather limited, particularly because Shilkret was conducting and had his own ideas about the music. When it was realized no one had been hired to play the brief celeste solo, Gershwin was asked if he could and would play the instrument, and he agreed. Gershwin can be heard, rather briefly, on the recording during the slow section.

Gershwin appeared on several radio programs, including Rudy Vallee's, and played some of his compositions. This included the third movement of the ''Concerto in F'' with Vallee conducting the studio orchestra. Some of these performances were preserved on transcription discs and have been released on LP and CD.

In 1934, in an effort to earn money to finance his planned folk opera, Gershwin hosted his own radio program titled ''Music by Gershwin''. The show was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network from February to May and again in September through the final show on December 23, 1934. He presented his own work as well as the work of other composers. Recordings from this and other radio broadcasts include his ''Variations on I Got Rhythm'', portions of the ''Concerto in F'', and numerous songs from his musical comedies. He also recorded a run-through of his ''Second Rhapsody'', conducting the orchestra and playing the piano solos. Gershwin recorded excerpts from ''Porgy and Bess'' with members of the original cast, conducting the orchestra from the keyboard; he even announced the selections and the names of the performers. In 1935 RCA Victor asked him to supervise recordings of highlights from ''Porgy and Bess''; these were his last recordings.

A 74-second newsreel film clip of Gershwin playing ''I Got Rhythm'' has survived, filmed at the opening of the Manhattan Theater (now The Ed Sullivan Theater) in August 1931. There are also silent home movies of Gershwin, some of them shot on Kodachrome color film stock, which have been featured in tributes to the composer. In addition, there is newsreel footage of Gershwin playing "Mademoiselle from New Rochelle" and "Strike Up the Band" on the piano during a Broadway rehearsal of the 1930 production of ''Strike Up the Band''. In the mid-30's, "Strike Up The Band" was gifted to UCLA to be used as a football fight song, "Strike Up The Band for UCLA". The comedy team of Clark and McCullough are seen conversing with Gershwin, then singing as he plays.

In 1965, Movietone Records released an album MTM 1009 featuring Gershwin's piano rolls of the titled ''George Gerswhin plays RHAPSODY IN BLUE and his other favorite compositions''. The flip side of the LP featured 9 other recordings.

In 1975, Columbia Records released an album featuring Gershwin's piano rolls of the ''Rhapsody In Blue'', accompanied by the Columbia Jazz Band playing the original jazz-band accompaniment, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. The flip side of the Columbia Masterworks release features Tilson Thomas leading the New York Philharmonic in ''An American In Paris.'' In 1976, RCA Records, as part of their "Victrola Americana" line released a collection of Gershwin recordings, taken from 78s recorded in the 1920s and called the LP "Gershwin plays Gershwin, Historic First Recordings" (RCA Victrola AVM1-1740) and included recordings of "Rhapsody in Blue" with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra and Gershwin on piano, "An American in Paris", from 1927 with Gershwin on celesta; "Three Preludes", "Clap Yo' Hands" and Someone to Watch Over Me", among others. There are a total of 10 recordings on the album.

In 1998, a selection of piano rolls originally produced by Gershwin for the Standard Music Roll Companywere issued by Nonesuch Records through the efforts of Artis Woodhouse. It is entitled ''Gershwin Plays Gershwin: The Piano Rolls''.

Countless singers and musicians have recorded Gershwin songs, including Paul Posnak, Fred Astaire, Louis Armstrong, Dean Martin, Al Jolson, Bobby Darin, Percy Grainger, Art Tatum, Yehudi Menuhin, Bing Crosby, The Moody Blues, Janis Joplin, John Coltrane, Frank Sinatra, Mel Tormé, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Sam Cooke, Diana Ross, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Hiromi Uehara, Madonna, Judy Garland, Julie Andrews, Barbra Streisand, Marni Nixon, Natalie Cole, Patti Austin, Nina Simone, Maureen McGovern, John Fahey, The Residents, Kate Bush, Sublime, Sting, and Liquid Tension Experiment.

In October 2009, it was reported by ''Rolling Stone'' that Brian Wilson is completing at least two unfinished compositions by George Gershwin for possible release in 2010. According to Wilson's Facebook page, the album is scheduled to be released on August 17, 2010.

Baseline Studio Systems announced in January 2010 that Steven Spielberg may direct a biopic about the composer's life, which is scheduled for release in 2012; 32-year-old American actor Zachary Quinto has been named for the leading role of George Gershwin.

Compositions

Orchestral

''Rhapsody in Blue'' (for piano and orchestra, 1924)

''Piano Concerto in F'' (1925)

''An American in Paris'' (for orchestra, 1928)

''Dream Sequence'' (for orchestra, 1929)

''Second Rhapsody'', originally titled ''Rhapsody in Rivets'' (for piano and orchestra, 1931)

''Cuban Overture'' (for orchestra, 1932), originally entitled Rumba

''March from ''Strike Up the Band'''' (for orchestra, 1934)

''Variations on "I Got Rhythm"'' (for piano and orchestra) (1934)

''Catfish Row'' (for orchestra, 1936) a suite based on music from ''Porgy and Bess''

''Shall We Dance (1937 film)'' a movie score feature-length ballet

Solo Piano

''Preludes For Piano'' (1926)

''George Gershwin's Songbook'' (1932) (piano arrangements of eighteen songs)

Operas

''Blue Monday'', (1922) one-act opera

''Porgy and Bess'' (1935) at the Colonial Theatre in Boston London Musicals

''Primrose'' (1924)

Broadway Musicals

''George White's Scandals'' (1920–1924) (featuring, at one point, the 1922 one-act opera ''Blue Monday'')

''Lady, Be Good'' (1924)

''Tip-Toes'' (1925)

''Tell Me More!'' (1925)

''Oh, Kay!'' (1926)

''Strike Up the Band'' (1927)

''Funny Face'' (1927)

''Rosalie'' (1928)

''Show Girl'' (1929)

''Girl Crazy'' (1930)

''Of Thee I Sing'' (1931)

''Pardon My English'' (1933)

''Let 'Em Eat Cake'' (1933)

''My One and Only'' (1983) (an original 1983 musical using previously written Gershwin songs)

''Crazy for You'' (1992), a revised version of ''Girl Crazy'', written and compiled without the participation of either George or Ira Gershwin.

Films for which Gershwin wrote original scores

''Delicious'' (1931) (an early version of the ''Second Rhapsody'' and one other musical sequence was used in this film, the rest were rejected by the studio)

''Shall We Dance'' (1937) (original orchestral score by Gershwin, no recordings available in modern stereo, some sections have never been recorded)

''A Damsel in Distress'' (1937)

''The Goldwyn Follies'' (1938) (posthumously released)

''The Shocking Miss Pilgrim'' (1947) (uses songs previously unpublished)

See also

List of people on the cover of Time Magazine: 1920s

Notes

References

Hyland, William G. ''George Gershwin : A New Biography'' (2003), Praeger Publishers, ISBN 0-275-98111-8

Jablonski, Edward ''Gershwin'' (1987), Doubleday, ISBN 0-385-19431-5

Kimball, Robert & Alfred Simon. ''The Gershwins'' (1973), Athenium, New York, ISBN 0-689-10569-X

Mawer, Deborah (Editor). Cross, Jonathan (Series Editor). ''The Cambridge Companion to Ravel (Cambridge Companions to Music)'' (2000), Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-64856-4

Peyser, Joan. ''The Memory of All That:The Life of George Gershwin'' (2007), Hal Leonard Corporation, ISBN 1-4234-1025-4

Pollack, Howard. ''George Gershwin. His Life and Work'' (2006), University of California Press, ISBN 978-0-520-24864-9

Rimler, Walter. ''A Gershwin Companion'' (1991), Popular Culture ISBN 1-56075-019-7

Rimler, Walter ''George Gershwin : An Intimate Portrait'' (2009), University of Illinois Press, ISBN 0-252-03444-9

Sloop, Gregory. "What Caused George Gershwin's Untimely Death?" Journal of Medical Biography 9 (February 2001): 28–30

Further reading

Carnovale, Norbert. ''George Gershwin: a Bio-Bibliography'' (2000. ) Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-26003-2 ISBN 0-313-26003-6

Alpert, Hollis. ''The Life and Times of Porgy and Bess: The Story of an American Classic'' (1991). Nick Hern Books. ISBN 1-85459-054-5

Feinstein, Michael. ''Nice Work If You Can Get It: My Life in Rhythm and Rhyme'' (1995), Hyperion Books. ISBN 0-7868-8220-4

Jablonski, Edward. ''Gershwin Remembered'' (2003). Amadeus Press. ISBN 0-931340-43-8

Rosenberg, Deena Ruth. ''Fascinating Rhythm: The Collaboration of George and Ira Gershwin'' (1991). University of Michigan Press ISBN 978-0-472-08469-2

Sheed, Wilfred. ''The House That George Built: With a Little Help from Irving, Cole, and a Crew of About Fifty'' (2007). Random House. ISBN 0-8129-7018-7

Suriano, Gregory R. (Editor). ''Gershwin in His Time: A Biographical Scrapbook, 1919–1937'' (1998). Diane Pub Co. ISBN 0-7567-5660-X

Wyatt, Robert and John Andrew Johnson (Editors). ''The George Gershwin Reader'' (2004). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-513019-7

External links

Free scores at the Mutopia Project

MusicalTalk Podcast on George Gershwin (part one of two)

MusicalTalk Podcast on George Gershwin (part two of two)

Official Site

Classical.net Gershwin page

George Gershwin at the Internet Broadway Database

George Gershwin Bio at Jewish-American Hall of Fame

George Gershwin Collection at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin

George Gershwin WWI draft card at National Archives

1922 passport photo, George Gershwin (flickr.com)

Category:20th-century classical composers Category:Jazz composers Category:1898 births Category:1937 deaths Category:American film score composers

Category:American musical theatre composers Category:American pianists Category:American people of Russian descent Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent Category:Songwriters from New York Category:American Theatre Hall of Fame inductees Category:Burials at Westchester Hills Cemetery Category:Cancer deaths in California Category:Congressional Gold Medal recipients Category:Deaths from brain cancer Category:Jewish American composers and songwriters Category:Jewish classical musicians

Category:Modernism Category:Musicians from New York City Category:Opera composers Category:People from Brooklyn Category:People from Manhattan Category:Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Category:Vaudeville performers Category:Victor Records artists

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