George Gershwin A New Biography

Subjects:

• The Arts » Music (General)
• The Arts » Classical Music
• The Arts » Opera

Reviews:

• [J]oins the ranks of several fine and industrious authors who have produced estimable efforts....[w]ritten in an accessible style that addresses a wide readership....[i]s a work of significant ambition
  —Book Reviews September 2004
• William G. Hyland's biography ofsongwriter and composer George Gershwin is a detailed and very thorough one....William G. Hyland's biography of George Gershwin is clearly meant to eclipse the early biographies of the songwriter and to be the definitive one. He corrects the myths and errors about Gershwin in the earlier biographies and replaces them with facts.
  —Magill Book Reviews 2004
• [A]nyone curious about the new Gershwin scholarship will find this book to be an efficient starting point for further exploration.
  —The New York Times Book Review November 2, 2003
• Starred Review In this in-depth, well-researched biography, Hyland explores Gershwin's complex personality and his pioneering music....Hyland provides fresh insights on how Gershwin forged a link between jazz and the concert hall, new musical trends on Broadway in the 1920s, the composer's life and work in Hollywood, and his place in the pantheon of American music....Hyland explains how Gershwin became the first composer to apply popular music to classical forms and how his compositions reflected the restlessness of our country during the Jazz Age....a scrupulous portrait of a musical genius.
  —Booklist October 15, 2003
• Starred Review Previously, Gershwin biographers have been either hagiographic or unflattering. Hyland takes the middle of the road, and the Gershwin who emerges is both more complicated and more fascinating....This fresh and well-researched biography of one of America's great composers is highly recommended for all libraries.
  —Library Journal 8/1/2003
• [H]yland brings the scholar's approach. His documentation is superb, and he probes and assesses his sources, attempting to determine what actually happened: for example, the conflicting accounts of Gershwin's final illness. Hyland furnishes details of the life--personal and professional--and does a good job placing Gershwin's achievements in the context of his time....For comprehensive collections serving upper-division undergraduates through faculty.
  —Choice 3/1/2004

Table of Contents:

• Preface
  Introduction
  Youth
  Song Plugging
  Musical Influences
  Rhapsody in Blue
  Jazz
  Broadway
  Lady Be Good and The Concerto
  An American in Paris
  Of Thee I Sing
  Porgy and Bess
  Hollywood
  Personality
  Keeping the Flame
  American Music
  Bibliography
  Index