George Gershwin
He captured the restless, syncopated spirit of 20th-century America, weaving jazz, blues, and classical music into a thrilling new sound.
1898–1937 (age 39)·American composer and pianist·Birthday: September 26·The Lost Generation
Biography
George Gershwin's music is the sound of New York City in the Jazz Age—fast, brilliant, and endlessly inventive. Born Jacob Gershvin to Ukrainian-Jewish immigrants in Brooklyn, he was a street-smart kid who found his voice at the family's upright piano. Teaming with his lyricist brother Ira, George quickly became the toast of Tin Pan Alley and Broadway, crafting sophisticated, rhythmically complex songs that felt both utterly modern and instantly timeless. But Gershwin hungered for more. His ambition fused popular and classical worlds in spectacular fashion: 'Rhapsody in Blue,' with its wailing clarinet glissando, announced a truly American concert music. He followed with the tone poem 'An American in Paris' and his magnum opus, the folk opera 'Porgy and Bess.' His career, cut tragically short by a brain tumor at 38, was a meteoric quest to dissolve musical boundaries, leaving a catalogue that defines the energetic soul of a nation.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
George was born in 1898, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When George Was Born
The biggest hits of 1898
George's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1898Born
Spanish-American War; US emerges as a world power
President: William McKinley
1903Started school
Wright brothers achieve first powered flight
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1911Became a teenager
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire kills 146 in New York
President: William Howard Taft
1914Could drive
World War I begins
President: Woodrow Wilson
1916Could vote
The Battle of the Somme claims over a million casualties
President: Woodrow Wilson
1919Turned 21
Treaty of Versailles signed; Prohibition ratified
President: Woodrow Wilson
1928Turned 30
Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin; Mickey Mouse debuts
President: Calvin Coolidge"Ol' Man River" — Paul WhitemanBest Picture: Wings
1937Died at 39
Hindenburg disaster; Golden Gate Bridge opens
Gas: $0.20/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"A-Tisket, A-Tasket" — Ella FitzgeraldBest Picture: The Life of Emile Zola
Key Achievements
- Composed 'Rhapsody in Blue' for piano and jazz band, creating one of the most recognizable and influential works in American music.
- Wrote the opera 'Porgy and Bess,' which produced standards like 'Summertime' and became a cornerstone of the American operatic repertoire.
- His musical 'Of Thee I Sing' was the first of its kind to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1932.
- Penned dozens of enduring jazz standards, including 'I Got Rhythm,' 'Embraceable You,' and 'Someone to Watch Over Me.'
Did You Know?
He never learned to read music fluently until later in his career, relying initially on his remarkable ear.
Gershwin was an avid painter and counted among his friends artists like Pablo Picasso.
He performed 'Rhapsody in Blue' as a piano solo with the Paul Whiteman orchestra at its famous premiere.
A lifelong hypochondriac, his final headache was initially dismissed before the diagnosis of his fatal brain tumor.
““Life is a lot like jazz… it’s best when you improvise.””
