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＞ G.Gershwin
George Gershwin
1898-1937
Born in New York, USA. Around the age of ten he became interested in music and started learning to play the piano. After dropping out of high school, he got a job at a music publishing company in New York. In 1919 〈Swanee〉became a big hit and made his name known to all over USA.
〈Rhapsody in Blue〉, which was composed by combining the idioms of orchestral music and jazz, was a great success, and he was recognized not only as a composer of popular songs, but also as a new composer who fused classical music and jazz.
In 1928, he met Ravel, who had come to the USA. It is famous that when he applied for apprenticeship to learn composition, he was refused, saying to Gershwin, “You might lose your wonderful talent and become a bad Ravel.” It is a testament to how much he appreciated Gershwin’s talent and respected him for creating music that was different from his own.
Gershwin, who had great success in a wide range of genres such as orchestral music, musicals, and movie music, was one of America’s leading composers and was very active as “a popular composer”, but in 1937, he died during surgery for a brain tumor. He was 39 years old at the time, and he will be missed far too young. He is one of America’s leading composers and a musician with a unique personality.
【Q.What is your favorite piece？】
mezzopiano）〈I got rhythm〉I shouldn’t miss it! I also like〈3 Preludes〉. One of Gershwin’s few pure piano solos. It’s full of Gershwin-ness, and I’d like to get on the rhythm and play like an American. It’s so famous that it can be said that it is the number one representative piece,〈Rhapsody in Blue〉there is no doubt that . It looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun to be in charge of any instrument!
｜Piano solo
- 3 Preludes
｜Piano duo
〈for 4 hands〉
- 3 Preludes(arr. by G.Stone)
｜References / Websites
〈References〉
〈Web site〉