Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This comprehensive biography of George Gershwin (1898-1937) unravels the myths surrounding one of America's most celebrated composers and establishes the enduring value of his music. Gershwin created some of the most beloved music of the twentieth century and, along with Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, and Cole Porter, helped make the golden age of Broadway golden. Howard Pollack draws from a wealth of sketches, manuscripts, letters, interviews, books, articles, recordings, films, and other materials--including a large cache of Gershwin scores discovered in a Warner Brothers warehouse in 1982--to create an expansive chronicle of Gershwin's meteoric rise to fame. He also traces Gershwin's powerful presence that, even today, extends from Broadway, jazz clubs, and film scores to symphony halls and opera houses.



Pollack's lively narrative describes Gershwin's family, childhood, and education; his early career as a pianist; his friendships and romantic life; his relation to various musical trends; his writings on music; his working methods; and his tragic death at the age of 38. Unlike Kern, Berlin, and Porter, who mostly worked within the confines of Broadway and Hollywood, Gershwin actively sought to cross the boundaries between high and low, and wrote works that crossed over into a realm where art music, jazz, and Broadway met and merged. The author surveys Gershwin's entire oeuvre, from his first surviving compositions to the melodies that his brother and principal collaborator, Ira Gershwin, lyricized after his death. Pollack concludes with an exploration of the performances and critical reception of Gershwin's music over the years, from his time to ours.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface (p. xiii)
• Part 1 Life
• 1 Gershwin and His Family (p. 3)
• 2 Gershwin's Musical Education to the Rhapsody in Blue (1924) (p. 22)
• 3 Gershwin and the New Popular Music (p. 41)
• 4 The Popular Pianist (p. 61)
• 5 Toward a Career in the Theater (p. 81)
• 6 Gershwin among His Friends (p. 96)
• 7 Later Studies (p. 118)
• 8 Gershwin and the Great Tradition (p. 136)
• 9 Gershwin and Popular Music and Jazz after 1920 (p. 157)
• 10 Working Methods (p. 175)
• 11 Gershwin the Man (p. 193)
• Part 2 Work
• 12 From "Ragging the Traumerei" (ca. 1913) to The Capitol Revue (1919) (p. 219)
• 13 From Morris Gest's Midnight Whirl (1919) to The Perfect Fool (1921) (p. 242)
• 14 From The French Doll to Our Nell (1922) (p. 263)
• 15 From The Sunshine Trail to Sweet Little Devil (1923) (p. 279)
• 16 The Rhapsody in Blue (1924) (p. 294)
• 17 The Scandals of 1924, Primrose, and Lady, Be Good! (1924) (p. 316)
• 18 Short Story, Tell Me More, and the Concerto in F (1925) (p. 337)
• 19 Tip-Toes and Song of the Flame (1925) (p. 359)
• 20 Oh, Kay! and Other Works (1926) (p. 377)
• 21 Strike Up the Band and Funny Face (1927) (p. 395)
• 22 Rosalie and Treasure Girl (1928) (p. 417)
• 23 An American in Paris (1928) and East Is West (1929) (p. 431)
• 24 Show Girl and The Dybbuk (1929) (p. 451)
• 25 Girl Crazy (1930) (p. 465)
• 26 Delicious and the Second Rhapsody (1931) (p. 482)
• 27 Of Thee I Sing (1931) (p. 499)
• 28 George Gershwin's Song-Book (1932) (p. 519)
• 29 The Cuban Overture (1932) and Pardon My English (1933) (p. 534)
• 30 Let 'Em Eat Cake (1933) and Variations on "I Got Rhythm" (1934) (p. 549)
• 31 Porgy and Bess (1935) (p. 567)
• 32 The First Production of Porgy and Bess (p. 592)
• 33 Porgy and Bess in Revival (p. 609)
• 34 Porgy and Bess on Disc, Film, and the Concert Stage (p. 641)
• 35 From Swing Is King (1936) to A Damsel in Distress (1937) (p. 665)
• 36 From The Goldwyn Follies (1938) to Kiss Me, Stupid (1964) (p. 684)
• Conclusion (p. 701)
• Notes (p. 707)
• Selected Bibliography (p. 817)
• Index (p. 825)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Pollack (music, Univ. of Houston; Aaron Copland: The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man) here turns his attention to another American composer, George Gershwin (1898-1937). While he lacks the firsthand knowledge of which many previous biographers boasted, e.g., David Ewen in A Journey to Greatness: The Life and Music of George Gershwin (1956), Pollack has the advantage of perspective and new materials discovered in a warehouse in 1982. The book is organized into two broad sections: "Life" presents a balanced treatment of important events and people, including Gershwin's mother; "Work" tackles the whole of Gershwin's oeuvre, beginning with "Ragging the Traumerei" in 1913 and ending with the music he wrote for The Goldwyn Follies shortly before he died in 1937. Pollack treats Gershwin as primarily a composer for the theater and therefore focuses on the many forms theater music may assume. There are synopses of the stories for each of Gershwin's shows, many of which cannot be found elsewhere. The depth of detail and research into Gershwin's works (more than 100 pages of endnotes) makes this an essential purchase for all libraries and one of the best books available on Gershwin. Bruce R. Schueneman, Texas A&M Univ. Lib., Kingsville (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

University of Houston music professor Pollack (Aaron Copland: The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man) offers a look at Gershwin so exhaustive and comprehensive that it stands as a definitive statement. Bibliographic notes filling 100 pages indicate the extent of this in-depth re-examination. Scholarly yet entertaining, Pollack's survey is not chronological; it's divided into two book-length sections. In part one, a study of popular music trends serves as an overture to Gershwin's musical influences, his childhood and Tin Pan Alley years, followed by a look at Gershwin as a pianist and conductor through his death from a brain tumor at the age of 38. The book's second half, titled "Work,'' is an ambitious attempt to document Gershwin's entire output, from orchestral works to theater, radio and films, including the role of lyricist Ira Gershwin in reworking his brother's tunes, as he did for Billy Wilder's 1964 film Kiss Me, Stupid. The creation of Porgy and Bess and subsequent revivals, films, concerts, recordings and jazz interpretations (notably by Miles Davis) fill several chapters with fascinating details. Gershwin's innovative synthesis of classical, blues and jazz into a "glorious body of work" is illuminated by Pollack's insightful analysis. 51 b&w photos. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

CHOICE Review

Pollack (Univ. of Houston) already has to his credit Walter Piston (CH, Sep'82), John Alden Carpenter (2001), and Aaron Copland (CH, Oct'99, 37-0845), and now he presents a spectacular volume about Gershwin. The reader should not be daunted by the book's heft but instead consider it three titles in one: a 200-page biography, a 500-page study of individual works, and 100 pages of references and notes (plus two sections of photographs). The biography covers the composer's personal life and professional career. Pollack treats the individual works (both symphonic and stage) chronologically, also describing their subsequent history. He pays meticulous attention to details--the reader may on occasion exclaim, "Spare me!"--but these details provide the answers one expects from a comprehensive work. Most important, Pollack places Gershwin within his social, artistic, and musical milieu; thus one has a work not only about Gershwin but also about early- and mid-20th-century American music and musical theater. This work will not shove earlier biographical works from the shelves--readers will still enjoy more accessible titles, such as Edward Jablonski's Gershwin (CH, Mar'88)--but Pollack's book is a must for the serious reader. Summing Up: Essential. Large libraries serving upper-division undergraduates through faculty, professionals, and general readers. R. D. Johnson emeritus, SUNY College at Oneonta

Booklist Review

Pollack's preface indicates his book builds on the work of many chroniclers of composer George Gershwin's life and work, and he names 10 of them. However, their books largely predated not only the appearance of a number of important publications, dissertations, recordings, and performances but also the availability of a variety of archival materials, including a large cache of Gershwin manuscripts discovered in 1982 in a Warner Brothers warehouse in Secaucus, New Jersey. This biography is organized along partly thematic, partly chronological lines. Part 1, Life, contains chapters depicting Gershwin's childhood and family and his musical education, early relation to popular music, achievement as a pianist, youthful activities on Broadway, friendships and love affairs, involvement with serious music, and lifestyle and character. Part 2, Work, surveys Gershwin's output from his earliest compositions to those pieces that his brother, Ira, lyricized after Gershwin's death, in 1937. Pollack examines many of the composer's films, recordings, and critical writings; he provides, for each of Gershwin's shows, a synopsis of the story, details about the cast, and other aspects of its first production. With 51 black-and-white photographs, this engaging biography is also a tour de force of scholarship. --George Cohen Copyright 2006 Booklist

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Howard Pollack is John and Rebecca Moores Professor of Music at the University of Houston. Among his books are Aaron Copland: The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man and John Alden Carpenter: A Chicago Composer.