He would have turned 113 today. I can’t imagine what Brooklyn's own George Gershwin could have produced if had not died at 38 years old. In his short life he produced a huge catalogue of theatre & popular songs that are among the best ever composed. He worked with several lyricists, but it was his life long collaboration with his brother Ira that are, for me, the cream of American theatre music: Swanee, The Man I Love, Embraceable You, But Not For Me, I've Got A Crush On You, Our Love Is Her To Stay, Somebody Loves Me, & Fascinatin' Rhythm. The brothers went to Hollywood & made musical films like Shall We Dance, which included such hits as Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off & They Can’t Take That Away From Me. The brothers were often associated with the work of Fred Astair, on Broadway & in Hollywood.
When he was 25 years old, his jazz-influenced Rhapsody in Blue premiered in New York’s Aeolian Hall at the concert, “An Experiment in Music.” The audience included Jascha Heifitz, Leopold Stokowski, Serge Rachmaninov, & Igor Stravinsky. Gershwin followed this success with his orchestral work Piano Concerto in F, Rhapsody No. 2 & An American in Paris.
Serious music critics were often at a loss as to where to place Gershwin’s classical music in the standard orchestral works. In 1935 he presented an opera- Porgy & Bess in Boston with only moderate success. It is now recognized as one of the most loved works of American opera & is included in the repertoire of the major opera companies around the world. A new production, with a re-worked libretto by Suzan-Lori Parks, is slated to open in December on Broadway with Audra McDonald. Porgy & Bess contains such memorable songs as It Ain’t Necessarily So, I Loves You, Porgy, & Summertime.
Gershwin planned a string quartet, a ballet & another opera, but these pieces were never written. At the age of 38, he died of a brain tumor. Today he remains one of America’s most beloved popular musicians.
More than 74 years after his death, rumors are still rampant that George Gershwin was a closeted gay man. Michael Feinstein, who got his professional start as archivist for Gershwin’s brother, Ira, says he never could establish George’s sexual orientation.
Feinsein: “So many people have claimed he was gay. There is no definitive proof that George Gershwin was gay. For people to say he was gay is bad reportage. He might have been, from my point of view, he so sexually confused in a certain way that he was unable to form a lasting relationship. Lyricist Irving Caesar,who co-wrote Swanee with Gershwin, did say in an interview that George Gershwin was homosexual. But, he could have been bisexual or asexual.”
My favorite Gershwin song (I think it is a very perfect song, really): Someone To Watch Over Me. But what version? It has been covered by everyone from Ella to Pink, even talented Amy Winehouse does a stand-up job on this rather difficult tune. Men do it also; I dig Frank Sinatra's take on it. I did it for audtions for a while in the 1980s without changing the pronouns. But, I think I like Linda Ronstadt & Nelson Riddle's the best:
