George Gershwin

George Gershwin (1898-1937) was taken from this life tragically at the early age of 38 by a brain tumor. While he was here he demonstrated to be not only one of the great songwriters of the contemporary time period, but he was also considered one of the most gifted composers of the twentieth century whose contribution to music history included conjoining the genres of popular and classical music. George Gershwin’s impact has been felt on Broadway as well as the jazz world through his various works. Along with the work of other significant songwriters such as Cole Porter, many of Gershwin’s popular songs have become standards, easily recognizable by several generations of music lovers. He was inspired by French Composers of the early twentieth century. In addition, his range of musical talent allowed him to compose everything from popular tunes to jazz masterpieces and opera.
George Gershwin was born Jacob Gershwin in Brooklyn in 1898, from a Jewish-Russian immigrant family and was the second of four children. When George was young he did not show signs that he would be interested in music as he was more into sports and rough housing but that all changed when at the tender age of 10 George’s parents Morris Gershowitz and Rosa Bruskin bought his older brother Ira a second-hand piano. This purchase would not only change the course of George’s life but also forever change the course of music history as George would take a strong interest in the piano and began playing popular songs by ear. A neighbor of his by the name of Charles Hambitzer took an interest to him and gave him free lessons and began to introduce him to the world of classical music. These lessons would soon pay of as by the age of 15 he gave up on high school and become the youngest song plugger in Tin Pan Alley where he would earn 15 dollars a week with the Jerome Remick music publishing company and soon after he began writing his own pieces. In his spare time to make extra money, he recorded piano