Brain Fuel

A high-school drop-out, George Gershwin wrote his first major hit song “Swanee” at the age of 19. At the age of 25, he composed his first and perhaps most popular concert piece, Rhapsody in Blue. He continued to write both orchestral pieces and popular songs for Broadway and Hollywood until his untimely death from a brain tumor at the age of 38. Gershwin’s special contribution to American music was his singular ability to create concert works with the melodies and rhythms from the popular music of his day — ragtime, Latin dance rhythms, and the Blues. Using his masterwork Rhapsody in Blue, this lecture will demonstrate just how Gershwin melded the classical and the contemporary. By examining the musical influences of this icon of American music, we gain insight into the multicultural nature of American musical traditions and the compositional genius of one of our greatest composers.