Remembering The Music Of George Gershwin

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(Peyser 21). One day his parents purchased a piano for Ira, the eldest, and as soon as it was moved in George sat down and began to play. The family was flabbergasted! They had no idea he was interested in music or where he learned how to play the piano (Adam 12:08).
George’s parents immediately sought a teacher for him. They found a lady named Ms. Green from the neighborhood who, for fifty cents an hour, taught him all of the scales and modes. He then moved on to Mr. Goldberg who, for one dollar and fifty cents an hour, had him progress to opera overtures and arias. When his skill was matched to his teacher’s, he was introduced to Charles Hambutzer who taught him proper techniques, lyricism, harmony and most importantly opened up the worlds of Chopin, Liszt, Debussy and Schoenberg (Ewen 58-60).
Under Hambutzer’s guidance, Gershwin was faithful to




his practicing and musical studies and in May of 1914 he was offered a job at Remick’s Music ...

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was completed and La La Lucille made it’s debut. It featured the tunes Nobody But You and There’s More to the Kiss than the Sound (Schwartz 45-46). It was billed as “. . . a brilliant, up to the minute musical comedy of class and distinction” (Adam 32:19). This put his name out on the streets and it also brought in a few new job offers.
After the huge success of La La Lucille, Gershwin and Caesar began to work on another project together. It took them ten minutes to compose a song called Swannee (Ewen 73). Al Jolson heard the tune at a party and he liked it so much that he
incorporated it into his show Sinbad at New York’s Winter Garden. It ...

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