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George Gershwin A New Biography
William G. Hyland
ISBN: 0-275-98111-8
ISBN-13: 978-0-275-98111-2
312 pages
Praeger Publishers
Publication: 8/30/2003
List Price: $46.95 (UK Sterling Price: £32.95)
Discount Price: $23.48 Sale Price for U.S. Customers Only. Save 50%. Ends 12/31/2009.
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Also Available: Paperback Ebook
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects:
Description: Hyland reveals both the man and his creations, revealing how Gershwin became the first composer to apply popular music to classical forms, how his work reflected the turmoil of America in the Jazz Age, and how, despite his fame, he never achieved the happiness and contentment a genius of his stature deserved. This is a fascinating new biography that no Gershwin fan—and no music fan—should be without.

George Gershwin pioneered the crossover from Broadway musicals to concert audiences, culminating in what is arguably America's greatest opera, Porgy and Bess. In William G. Hyland's new biography, Gershwin's personality and music are reexamined. Hyland illustrates how the composer's craftsmanship was criticized and his music was relegated to the status of lowbrow for decades, until the relatively recent appreciation of his achievements.

Yet for all of his artistic brilliance, Gershwin was vulnerable and discontented in his personal life. Hyland reveals both the man and his creations, revealing how Gershwin became the first composer to apply popular music to classical forms, how his work reflected the turmoil of America in the Jazz Age, and how, despite his fame, he never achieved the happiness and contentment a genius of his stature deserved. This is a fascinating new biography that no Gershwin fan—and no music fan—should be without.
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
About the Author: WILLIAM G. HYLAND served a long career with the United States Government—at the White House, the State Department, and the NSC—and for ten years was the editor of Foreign Affairs Quarterly. He is the author of many works on international politics, as well as The Song Is Ended: Songwriters and American Music, 1900-1950 and Richard Rodgers.
LCC Class: 780
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