George Gershwin Essay

George was born on February 14, 1859, in Galesburg, Illinois. His grandfather, Silvanus Ferris, and Reverend George W Gale founded the town of Galesburg, Illinois. George was named after his father, George Washington Gale Ferris. His mother, Martha Edgerton Hyde Ferris, and father were both farmers.

In the passage by Igor Stravinsky, he uses not only comparison and contrast, but also language to convey his point of view about the conductors of the time and their extreme egotism. Stravinsky believes that conductors exploit the music for their own personal gain, so rather, he looks on them in a negative light.

Soon after this, Gershwin began producing plays with his brother Ira. George would compose the music, and Ira would create the lyrics. This prolific partnership created many plays including Tip-Toes, Oh Kay!, Strike Up the Band, Funny Face, Girl Crazy, & Of Thee I Sing, which won a Pulitzer prize. George also created many songs at this time including Clap Yo Hands, Strike Up the

In George’s background, he faced many challenges beginning with his mother leaving leading up to loosing his daughter.  Born on May 18, 1952, George Harvey Strait was welcomed by his mother Doris Couser Strait and father John Byron Strait.  His father and brother raised him in Pearsall, Texas when his mother left them and took their sister with her (Dukes). George went to Pearsall High school with his father being a teacher there. Once he graduated he eloped with his high school sweetheart Norma strait (The Famous People). After he eloped, he joined the military and was stationed in Hawaii. He sang in the army inspired band called Rambling Country. When his daughter was 13 George lost her to an accident. George’s background has had many

The Harlem Renaissance was an era full of life, excitement, and activity. The world in all aspects was in gradual recovery from the depression. The world of music was

     On February 16, 1956 the film version of Carousel was released. It stared two actors were not strangers to Rodgers and Hammerstein. They were the stars of their previous movie, Oklahoma! Shirley Jones played Julie Jordan and Gordon MacRea was Billy Bigelow. Many of the same songs were included in the movie, such as “If I Loved You,” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

Percy Aldridge Grainger was born on the 8th of July 1882, in Brighton, Melbourne. As an only child of John and Rosa Grainger he began learning music at the age of 5 with his mother Rosa. Grainger’s music studies many aspects of life and artistic persona, making him a unique Australian musician. He had a diverse musical career including pianist, composer, folklore collector, musical arranger, ‘free musician’ and inventor, making him one of Australia’s greatest musicians of all time. Whilst living in Australia Grainger came before the public eye as a pianist at a concert at Melbourne’s Masonic Hall during 1894. His life intention was to communicate every feature of his life to the public and soon after his creative achievement was seen

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and bandleader of a jazz orchestra. Duke’s career spanned over half a century during which he composed thousands of songs, and was a member in numerous bands. Duke Ellington was one of if not the greatest musician during the Harlem Renaissance.

from big band to bebop. He did not always want to play the piano; he also had a love for

George Gershwin‘s opera Porgy and Bess is said to have been racist and outdated even in the time that it was written in 1935. There are many aspects of this work that are incorrect and prolong stereotypes about African Americans by depicting them as violent and religious. Gershwin classified this opera as a folk opera, a term which was offensive to African Americans. George Gershwin, arguably a great composer, composed an opera that is considered to be controversial due to its negative representation of African Americans. Porgy and Bess is a cultural artifact and when discussing it we bring up complex issues of race from the time it was written and even to this day in the United States.

     Jazz is a style of music that began and has been revolutionized within the United States. Jazz music first appeared in the city of New Orleans and eventually moved onto Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, and New York City. Jazz unites different elements of African, African- American, religious, brass brand, and blues style of music. The music of Jazz, and its changes through the years, is now a form of music that is known and respected throughout this nation and the world.

On 17 December 1770, Ludwig van Beethoven was born. He was an amazing and great classical musical composer. He is known for being the most famous composer of the classical and romantic periods of music. According to the “Enjoyment of Music” manual, Beethoven was born in Bohn, Germany. His father, with his grandfather, was the two singers at the court of a local prince, Friedrich Max. (Forney and Machlis 197).

George Gershwin, born in Brooklyn, New York on 26 September 1898, was born the second of four children of Morris and Rose Gershovitz, Russians who immigrated to New York in 1891. George and his family lived on Manhattan's lower east side in a poor Jewish community. After settling down in New York, his father changed the family name to Gershvin. It was George who later altered his last name to Gershwin when he entered the professional world of music. Most of his family was not musically talented, but his brother Ira became a wonderful well-known musician.

German composer and pianist, Ludwig van Beethoven, was born December 1770 and spent most of his life in Vienna, Austria. His first teacher was his alcoholic father, who worked as a musician at the Court of Bonn. Teaching him day and night, Ludwig suffered from his father's harsh and erratic behavior. For a time, he and his father played at the Church. As his father's alcoholism increased, Ludwig became the main musician.

Georges Bizet was a french music composer of the romantic era. Georges Bizet was originally named Alexandre Cesar Leopold Bizet, but his baptism name is Georges Bizet which he used for the rest of his life. He was born in Paris, and started his skill with music at age 10.He loved music, but also loved reading. As a kid his parents would hide his books so he would spend more time on music.