VOICE ONE: I'm Barbara Klein.
VOICE TWO: And I'm Steve Ember with People in America in VOA Special English. Today we tell about the life and music of one of America's 1 __________ composers, George Gershwin.
VOICE TWO: And I'm Steve Ember with People in America in VOA Special English. Today we tell about the life and music of one of America's 1 __________ composers, George Gershwin.
(MUSIC: "Rhapsody in Blue")
VOICE ONE: That was the opening of "Rhapsody in Blue," composed by George Gershwin. Gershwin lived 2_________ thirty-nine years. Yet, in that short time, he wrote hundreds of unforgettable popular songs. He wrote some concert works, such as "Rhapsody in Blue," that are still performed today. And he wrote what many consider to be the most beautiful American opera, "Porgy and Bess. "
VOICE TWO:
George Gershwin was 3__________ in New York City in eighteen ninety-eight. His parents were Russian Jews who had immigrated to the United States. George and his two brothers and sister had a close, happy family life. George liked 4__________ games on the streets of New York. He liked exploring the city. He did not like school or studying.
While exploring the city, George heard jazz and blues music spilling out of public drinking places. However, he did not become seriously interested in music until he heard another boy playing the violin in a concert at his school. George began to take piano lessons. His teacher was a fine classical musician. He immediately recognized George's unusual ability. The teacher wrote about him to a friend: "I have a student who will make his mark in music, if anybody will. The boy is a genius, without 5__________. "
VOICE ONE:
George studied classical piano. But his strongest interest continued to be jazz and popular music. At the age of fifteen, he left school and went to work in the music business. The New York City street where 6_________ music publishers had their offices was called "Tin Pan Alley."
The phonograph and radio had been invented in the late eighteen hundreds. But it would be many years before there were musical recordings or regular radio broadcasts. Tin Pan Alley publishers needed 7__________ way to sell new songs. So, they employed people to play the piano to do this.
VOICE TWO:
The piano players played the songs all day long to interested singers and other performers. George Gershwin was one of the 8__________ piano players in Tin Pan Alley. Soon, he was considered one of the finest there. He was already writing his own songs. He succeeded in getting one published when he was only eighteen years old. It had a long title: "When You Want 'Em, You Can't Get 'Em, When You've Got 'Em, You Don't Want 'Em."
VOICE ONE:
George Gershwin was now a real composer. The rest of his life was an unbroken record of success. He wrote song after song. His ideas were so endless that he was not even troubled when he once lost some music he had been writing. "There is plenty more where that came from," he said.
George Gershwin had his first big hit in nineteen nineteen, when he was twenty-one years old. It was a song called "Swanee." A popular entertainer, Al Jolson, sang the song. "Swanee" was made into one of the first musical recordings. George Gershwin was 9___________ famous. Here is Al Jolson singing what became his trademark song, "Swanee."
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO: Music critics note that "Swanee" is not like most of George Gershwin's music. Later, he 10_________ true love songs. Some were light and funny. Some were full of intense feeling. Many of these songs were written for the popular musical theater. One of his most emotional love songs never became part of a musical play, however. It is called "The Man I Love." Here is a modern recording by Maureen McGovern.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
George Gershwin's older brother, Ira, wrote the words to that song. As George became famous, Ira wrote the words to more and more of his songs. The two brothers were very different. Ira, the writer, was quiet and serious. George, the musician, was outgoing -- the life of any party. But George wrote better songs with Ira than with anyone else. It is impossible to imagine many of George's songs 11_________ Ira's perfectly chosen, often surprising words.
One of many examples is the song "They Can't Take That Away From Me." The Gershwins wrote the song for dancer and actor Fred Astaire for the film "Shall We Dance." That was George and Ira Gershwin's first 12_________ musical. Here is Fred Astaire, followed by a later version sung by Ella Fitzgerald.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
This program was written by Shelley Gollust. It was produced by Lawan Davis. I'm Steve Ember.
VOICE ONE:
And I'm Barbara Klein. Join us again next week as we continue the story of the music of George Gershwin on People in America in VOA Special English.
VOICE ONE: That was the opening of "Rhapsody in Blue," composed by George Gershwin. Gershwin lived 2_________ thirty-nine years. Yet, in that short time, he wrote hundreds of unforgettable popular songs. He wrote some concert works, such as "Rhapsody in Blue," that are still performed today. And he wrote what many consider to be the most beautiful American opera, "Porgy and Bess. "
VOICE TWO:
George Gershwin was 3__________ in New York City in eighteen ninety-eight. His parents were Russian Jews who had immigrated to the United States. George and his two brothers and sister had a close, happy family life. George liked 4__________ games on the streets of New York. He liked exploring the city. He did not like school or studying.
While exploring the city, George heard jazz and blues music spilling out of public drinking places. However, he did not become seriously interested in music until he heard another boy playing the violin in a concert at his school. George began to take piano lessons. His teacher was a fine classical musician. He immediately recognized George's unusual ability. The teacher wrote about him to a friend: "I have a student who will make his mark in music, if anybody will. The boy is a genius, without 5__________. "
VOICE ONE:
George studied classical piano. But his strongest interest continued to be jazz and popular music. At the age of fifteen, he left school and went to work in the music business. The New York City street where 6_________ music publishers had their offices was called "Tin Pan Alley."
The phonograph and radio had been invented in the late eighteen hundreds. But it would be many years before there were musical recordings or regular radio broadcasts. Tin Pan Alley publishers needed 7__________ way to sell new songs. So, they employed people to play the piano to do this.
VOICE TWO:
The piano players played the songs all day long to interested singers and other performers. George Gershwin was one of the 8__________ piano players in Tin Pan Alley. Soon, he was considered one of the finest there. He was already writing his own songs. He succeeded in getting one published when he was only eighteen years old. It had a long title: "When You Want 'Em, You Can't Get 'Em, When You've Got 'Em, You Don't Want 'Em."
VOICE ONE:
George Gershwin was now a real composer. The rest of his life was an unbroken record of success. He wrote song after song. His ideas were so endless that he was not even troubled when he once lost some music he had been writing. "There is plenty more where that came from," he said.
George Gershwin had his first big hit in nineteen nineteen, when he was twenty-one years old. It was a song called "Swanee." A popular entertainer, Al Jolson, sang the song. "Swanee" was made into one of the first musical recordings. George Gershwin was 9___________ famous. Here is Al Jolson singing what became his trademark song, "Swanee."
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO: Music critics note that "Swanee" is not like most of George Gershwin's music. Later, he 10_________ true love songs. Some were light and funny. Some were full of intense feeling. Many of these songs were written for the popular musical theater. One of his most emotional love songs never became part of a musical play, however. It is called "The Man I Love." Here is a modern recording by Maureen McGovern.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
George Gershwin's older brother, Ira, wrote the words to that song. As George became famous, Ira wrote the words to more and more of his songs. The two brothers were very different. Ira, the writer, was quiet and serious. George, the musician, was outgoing -- the life of any party. But George wrote better songs with Ira than with anyone else. It is impossible to imagine many of George's songs 11_________ Ira's perfectly chosen, often surprising words.
One of many examples is the song "They Can't Take That Away From Me." The Gershwins wrote the song for dancer and actor Fred Astaire for the film "Shall We Dance." That was George and Ira Gershwin's first 12_________ musical. Here is Fred Astaire, followed by a later version sung by Ella Fitzgerald.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
This program was written by Shelley Gollust. It was produced by Lawan Davis. I'm Steve Ember.
VOICE ONE:
And I'm Barbara Klein. Join us again next week as we continue the story of the music of George Gershwin on People in America in VOA Special English.
PART II
VOICE ONE: I'm Barbara Klein.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Steve Ember with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English. Today we continue our ___________ about the life and music of one of America's greatest composers, George Gershwin.
(MUSIC: "Rhapsody in Blue")
VOICE ONE:
As we reported last week, George Gershwin published his first song when he was just eighteen years old. During the next twenty years, until his death, he wrote more _ __________ five hundred more songs. He also wrote an opera, and music for piano and orchestra..
Many of George Gershwin's songs ___________ first written for musical plays performed in theaters in New York City. These comedies, with plenty of songs, were a popular form of entertainment in the nineteen twenties and nineteen thirties..
One of Gershwin's musical plays, "Girl Crazy," introduced a young singer named Ethel Merman. She became one of the most celebrated performers in America. In the play, Ethel Merman sang a song George Gershwin wrote just for her. It was called "I Got Rhythm. "
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
Many songs that George Gershwin wrote for musical plays and movies have remained as popular as ever. ___________ the years, they have been sung and played in every possible way -- from jazz to country.
One example is the song, "Someone to Watch Over Me." It was written for the nineteen twenty-six musical "Oh, Kay!" Here is a modern version of the song, sung by Willie Nelson.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
In the nineteen twenties, there was a debate in the United States about jazz music. Could jazz, some people asked, be considered serious music?
In nineteen twenty-four, jazz musician and orchestra leader Paul Whiteman decided to organize a special concert to show that jazz was serious music. George Gershwin agreed to compose something for the concert before he realized how little time he had to do it. The concert was just a ___________ weeks away. Gershwin got busy. And, in that short time, he composed a piece for piano and orchestra. He called it "Rhapsody in Blue."
VOICE TWO: Gershwin himself played the piano part of "Rhapsody in Blue" at the concert. The audience included some of the greatest classical musicians of the time. When they ___________ his music, they were electrified. It seemed to capture, for the first time, the true voice of modern American culture. Today, we can still hear Gershwin playing "Rhapsody in Blue." An old mechanical piano recording has been reproduced exactly on this recording.
(MUSIC)
A scene from a 1935 production of "Porgy and Bess"
VOICE ONE:
"Rhapsody in Blue" made George Gershwin famous all over the world. Several hundred thousand copies of the printed music ___________ immediately. Gershwin was satisfied that he had shown that jazz music could be both serious and popular. Gershwin also wrote an opera, "Porgy and Bess. " It was based on a book by DuBose Heyward. It is a tragic love story about black Americans along the coast of South Carolina.
"Porgy And Bess" opened in Boston, Massachusetts, in nineteen thirty-five. Audiences loved it. But most critics did not know ___________ to think of it. It was not like any other opera or musical play they had ever seen.
Gershwin was not affected by the critics' opinions. He believed some of his greatest music had gone into the opera. He said he had created a new musical form -- an opera based on popular culture. Here is the song "Summertime" from a later production of "Porgy and Bess" in nineteen fifty-two. Leontyne Price, who played Bess, sings the song.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
Another well-known Gershwin piece is "An American in Paris. " It is a long tone poem for orchestra. Its first public performance was by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in nineteen twenty-eight. Here is a modern recording from "An American in Paris."
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Once again, opinion was mixed. Most people loved "An American in Paris," as they loved all of Gershwin's music. Some critics liked it, too. They called it happy and ___________ of life. Others hated it. They called it silly and long-winded. Still, it remains one of his most popular works.
VOICE TWO:
George Gershwin died in nineteen thirty-seven, just days after doctors learned he had brain cancer. He was only thirty-nine years old. Newspapers all over the world reported his death on their front pages. Everyone mourned the loss of the man and all the music he might have written. George Gershwin is still considered one of America's greatest composers. His works _ __________ are performed by many singers and groups. They are probably performed more often than any other serious American composer.
VOICE ONE:
Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg was one of the people who praised George Gershwin. Schoenberg said Gershwin was a man who lived in music and expressed everything through music, because music was his native language.
(MUSIC: "Rhapsody in Blue")
VOICE TWO:
This program was written by Shelley Gollust. It was produced by Lawan Davis. I'm Steve Ember.
VOICE ONE:
And I'm Barbara Klein. Join us again next week for PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English.
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