George Gershwin: A New Biography

George Gershwin was a pioneer in crossing over from Broadway musicals to the concert audience, culminating in what is arguably America’s greatest opera, Porgy and Bess . William G. Hyland reexamines Gershwin’s personality and music alike and illustrates how, for decades, the composer’s craftsmanship was criticized and his music relegated to the status of lowbrow until recently, when his achievements found new appreciation. Though brilliant in his art, in his personal life Gershwin was vulnerable and discontent. Hyland reveals both the man and his creations here, revealing how he 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. Making use of research from the Library of Congress’s Gershwin Collection, Hyland’s work also compares its subject with his contemporaries Aaron Copland, Duke Ellington, and Leonard Bernstein.