George Gershwin: His Life and Work » (1ST)

Howard Pollack is John and Rebecca Moores Professor of Music at the University of Houston. Among his books are Aaron Copland: The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man and John Alden Carpenter: A Chicago Composer.

"Filled with new and revelatory information, Howard Pollack's fascinating and meticulous book is the closest anyone has come to capturing the essence of Gershwin's life and work"—Michael Feinstein, Grammy Nominated Singer-Songwriter

"The scholarship and breadth of coverage are remarkable. This outstanding work should become the first port of call for any future study of Gershwin's life and works."—Andrew Lamb, author of 150 Years of Popular Musical Theatre and Leslie Stuart, Composer of Florodora

"Brilliantly researched. Howard Pollack has written the most comprehensive survey of Gershwin's music."—Robert Kimball, editor, The Complete Lyrics of Ira Gershwin

The New York Times - Peter Keepnews

This is surely the closest reading Gershwin s music has ever received. Rhapsody in Blue and the other concert pieces get scrupulous attention, of course, generally admiring if not entirely uncritical. So does Porgy and Bess, Gershwin s only full-length opera, which Pollack examines in four tour-de-force chapters from every conceivable angle, racial and social as well as musical, beginning with the work s genesis and ending with a brief but intelligent survey of the many jazz and pop versions of its score. But unlike previous biographers, he takes a microscopic look at everything Gershwin wrote, or at least everything that survives.

Contents Preface

PART I. LIFE
1. Gershwin and His Family
2. Gershwin's Musical Education to the Rhapsody in Blue (1924)
3. Gershwin and the New Popular Music
4. The Popular Pianist
5. Toward a Career in the Theater
6. Gershwin among His Friends
7. Later Studies
8. Gershwin and the Great Tradition
9. Gershwin and Popular Music and Jazz after 1920
10. Working Methods
11. Gershwin the Man

PART II. WORK
12. From "Ragging the Traumerei" (ca. 1913) to The Capitol Revue (1919)
13. From Morris Gest's Midnight Whirl (1919) to The Perfect Fool (1921)
14. From The French Doll to Our Nell (1922)
15. From The Sunshine Trail to Sweet Little Devil (1923)
16. The Rhapsody in Blue (1924)
17. The Scandals of 1924, Primrose, and Lady, Be Good! (1924)
18. Short Story, Tell Me More, and the Concerto in F (1925)
19. Tip-Toes and Song of the Flame (1925)
20. Oh, Kay! and Other Works (1926)
21. Strike Up the Band and Funny Face (1927)
22. Rosalie and Treasure Girl (1928)
23. An American in Paris (1928) and East Is West (1929)
24. Show Girl and The Dybbuk (1929)
25. Girl Crazy (1930)
26. Delicious and the Second Rhapsody (1931)
27. Of Thee I Sing (1931)
28. George Gershwin's Song-Book (1932)
29. The Cuban Overture (1932) and Pardon My English (1933)
30. Let 'Em Eat Cake (1933) and Variations on "I Got Rhythm" (1934)
31. Porgy and Bess (1935)
32. The First Production of Porgy and Bess
33. Porgy and Bess in Revival
34. Porgy and Bess on Disc, Film, and the Concert Stage
35. From Swing Is King (1936) to A Damsel in Distress (1937)
36. From The Goldwyn Follies (1938) to Kiss Me, Stupid (1964)

Conclusion Notes Selected Bibliography
Index