![]() ![]() The speed of writing was due in part to George having forgotten about the commission. Asked by Paul Whiteman to write the work for a special concert of modern music to be presented at Aeolian Hall in New York, Gershwin finished his composition in less than three weeks. Gershwin wrote his first major successful musical work in 1924, Rhapsody in Blue. He studied with the American composers Rubin Goldmark, Henry Cowell, and Wallingford Riegger and with the Russian-born composer and theorist Joseph Schillinger. George was a great admirer of the comedian Ed Wynn and it is at this time, in honor of him, that Gershwin changed the end of his last name. ![]() ![]() He was one of the first composers to combine jazz and classical music styles. He was interested in both serious and popular music, and composed in both styles. For his efforts he received $35 for six rolls. To increase his income, Gershwin recorded piano rolls under various pen names. Remick & Company, at a salary of $15 a week. After playing from memory a song he had heard on a neighbor's player piano, Georges parents invested in lessons.īy age 15 Gershwin had quit school and landed a job as pianist and "song plugger" for a Tin Pan Alley music-publishing firm, Jerome H. When a piano was brought into the Gershowitz home for brother Ira, George (age 12) was the one whose interest was sparked. Georges early interests were not in music, but sports. He first discovered music at age 10 at a friend's violin recital in a school auditorium in the lower East Side of Manhattan. His parents emigrated from Russia to the U.S.A in 1891. George Gershwin was born Jacob Gershowitz. ![]()
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