Ira Gershwin: A Life in Words

Ira Gershwin: A Life in Words PDF Author: Michael Owen
Publisher: Liveright Publishing
ISBN: 1324091827
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The man behind some of the most memorable lyrics in the great American songbook emerges from his brother’s shadow. The Pulitzer Prize–winning American lyricist Ira Gershwin (1896–1983) has been hailed as one of the masters of the Great American Songbook—songs written largely for Broadway and Hollywood from the 1920s to the 1950s. Now, in the first full-length biography devoted to his life, Ira Gershwin steps out at last from the long shadow cast by his younger and more famous brother George. It’s a life with a sharp dividing line; we witness Ira’s transformation by George’s death at thirty-eight. From carefree dreamer and successful lyricist, he becomes guardian of his brother’s legacy and manager of complex family dynamics, even while continuing to practice his craft with composers like Harold Arlen and Jerome Kern. Drawing on extensive archival sources and often using Ira’s own words, Michael Owen offers a rich portrait of the modest man who penned the words to many of America’s best-loved songs.

Ira Gershwin: A Life in Words

Ira Gershwin: A Life in Words PDF Author: Michael Owen
Publisher: Liveright Publishing
ISBN: 1324091827
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book

Book Description
The man behind some of the most memorable lyrics in the great American songbook emerges from his brother’s shadow. The Pulitzer Prize–winning American lyricist Ira Gershwin (1896–1983) has been hailed as one of the masters of the Great American Songbook—songs written largely for Broadway and Hollywood from the 1920s to the 1950s. Now, in the first full-length biography devoted to his life, Ira Gershwin steps out at last from the long shadow cast by his younger and more famous brother George. It’s a life with a sharp dividing line; we witness Ira’s transformation by George’s death at thirty-eight. From carefree dreamer and successful lyricist, he becomes guardian of his brother’s legacy and manager of complex family dynamics, even while continuing to practice his craft with composers like Harold Arlen and Jerome Kern. Drawing on extensive archival sources and often using Ira’s own words, Michael Owen offers a rich portrait of the modest man who penned the words to many of America’s best-loved songs.

George Gershwin

George Gershwin PDF Author: Howard Pollack
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520933141
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 938

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Book Description
This comprehensive biography of George Gershwin (1898-1937) unravels the myths surrounding one of America's most celebrated composers and establishes the enduring value of his music. Gershwin created some of the most beloved music of the twentieth century and, along with Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, and Cole Porter, helped make the golden age of Broadway golden. Howard Pollack draws from a wealth of sketches, manuscripts, letters, interviews, books, articles, recordings, films, and other materials—including a large cache of Gershwin scores discovered in a Warner Brothers warehouse in 1982—to create an expansive chronicle of Gershwin’s meteoric rise to fame. He also traces Gershwin’s powerful presence that, even today, extends from Broadway, jazz clubs, and film scores to symphony halls and opera houses. Pollack’s lively narrative describes Gershwin’s family, childhood, and education; his early career as a pianist; his friendships and romantic life; his relation to various musical trends; his writings on music; his working methods; and his tragic death at the age of 38. Unlike Kern, Berlin, and Porter, who mostly worked within the confines of Broadway and Hollywood, Gershwin actively sought to cross the boundaries between high and low, and wrote works that crossed over into a realm where art music, jazz, and Broadway met and merged. The author surveys Gershwin’s entire oeuvre, from his first surviving compositions to the melodies that his brother and principal collaborator, Ira Gershwin, lyricized after his death. Pollack concludes with an exploration of the performances and critical reception of Gershwin's music over the years, from his time to ours.

The Gershwins and Me

The Gershwins and Me PDF Author: Michael Feinstein
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451645309
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Book Description
Michael Feinstein was just 20 years old when he got the chance of a lifetime: a job with his hero, Ira Gershwin. During their six-year partnership, Feinstein blossomed under Gershwin's mentorship and Gershwin was reinvigorated by the younger man's zeal. Now, in The Gershwins and Me, Michael Feinstein shares unforgettable stories and reminiscences from the music that defined American popular song, along with rare Gershwin memorabilia he's collected through the years. Includes an accompanying CD packed with Feinstein's original recordings of 12 Gershwins' songs.

Lyrics on Several Occasions

Lyrics on Several Occasions PDF Author: Ira Gershwin
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
ISBN: 9780879100940
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 436

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Book Description
One of the most distinguished lyric-writers of his time, Ira Gershwin wrote for his brother George as well as Jerome Kern, Kurt Weill, Harold Arlen and others. Limelight presents a selection of stage and screen lyrics written for sundry situations and now arranged in arbitrary categories, to which have been added many informative annotations and disquistions on their why and wherefore, their whom-for, their how, and matters associative. "Gershwin's comments, witty and irreverent, and his anecdotes about the making of many favorites, are invariably interesting and frequently surprising." Chicago Tribune

Ira Gershwin

Ira Gershwin PDF Author: Philip Furia
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195353943
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
To the perennial question "which comes first, the music or the words?" Ira Gershwin always responded, "the contract." The jest reveals both Ira's consummate professionalism and the self-effacing wit with which he ducked the spotlight whenever possible. Yet the ingeniously inventive melodies George Gershwin composed for such classic songs as "Someone to Watch Over Me," "Embraceable You," "Fascinating Rhythm," "It Ain't Necessarily So," and "Love is Here to Stay" live on in no small part because of the equally unforgettable lyrics of Ira Gershwin, lines crafted with a precision that earned him the sobriquet "The Jeweller" among his Broadway peers. In Ira Gershwin: The Art of the Lyricist, the older and less flamboyant of the Gershwin brothers at last steps out of the shadows to claim his due as one of American songwriting's most important and enduring innovators. Philip Furia traces the development of Ira Gershwin's lyrical art from his early love of light verse and Gilbert and Sullivan, through his apprentice work in Tin Pan Alley, to his emergence as a prominent writer for the Broadway musical theater in the 1920s. Furia illuminates his work in satirical operettas such as Of Thee I Sing and Strike Up the Band, the smart "little" revues of the 1930s, and his contributions to the opera Porgy and Bess. After describing the Gershwin brothers' brief but brilliant work in Hollywood before George's sudden death--work that produced such classics as "They Can't Take That Away From Me" and "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off"--Furia follows Ira's career through such triumphs as Lady in the Dark with Kurt Weill, Cover Girl with Jerome Kern, and A Star is Born, with Harold Arlen. Along the way, Furia provides much insight into the art of the lyricist and he captures the magic of a golden era when not only the Gershwins, but Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II, Gertrude Lawrence, Fred Astaire, and other luminaries made the lights of Broadway and the Hollywood screen shine brighter than ever before. From his first major success, the now-classic "The Man I Love" (1924) to his last great hit, "The Man That Got Away" (1954), Ira Gershwin wrote the words to some of America's most loved standards. In Ira Gershwin: The Art of the Lyricist, Philip Furia illuminates the craft behind this remarkable achievement to reveal how Gershwin took the everyday speech of ordinary Americans and made it sing.

Ira Gershwin

Ira Gershwin PDF Author: Philip Furia
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190283386
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
To the perennial question "which comes first, the music or the words?" Ira Gershwin always responded, "the contract." The jest reveals both Ira's consummate professionalism and the self-effacing wit with which he ducked the spotlight whenever possible. Yet the ingeniously inventive melodies George Gershwin composed for such classic songs as "Someone to Watch Over Me," "Embraceable You," "Fascinating Rhythm," "It Ain't Necessarily So," and "Love is Here to Stay" live on in no small part because of the equally unforgettable lyrics of Ira Gershwin, lines crafted with a precision that earned him the sobriquet "The Jeweller" among his Broadway peers. In Ira Gershwin: The Art of the Lyricist, the older and less flamboyant of the Gershwin brothers at last steps out of the shadows to claim his due as one of American songwriting's most important and enduring innovators. Philip Furia traces the development of Ira Gershwin's lyrical art from his early love of light verse and Gilbert and Sullivan, through his apprentice work in Tin Pan Alley, to his emergence as a prominent writer for the Broadway musical theater in the 1920s. Furia illuminates his work in satirical operettas such as Of Thee I Sing and Strike Up the Band, the smart "little" revues of the 1930s, and his contributions to the opera Porgy and Bess. After describing the Gershwin brothers' brief but brilliant work in Hollywood before George's sudden death--work that produced such classics as "They Can't Take That Away From Me" and "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off"--Furia follows Ira's career through such triumphs as Lady in the Dark with Kurt Weill, Cover Girl with Jerome Kern, and A Star is Born, with Harold Arlen. Along the way, Furia provides much insight into the art of the lyricist and he captures the magic of a golden era when not only the Gershwins, but Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II, Gertrude Lawrence, Fred Astaire, and other luminaries made the lights of Broadway and the Hollywood screen shine brighter than ever before. From his first major success, the now-classic "The Man I Love" (1924) to his last great hit, "The Man That Got Away" (1954), Ira Gershwin wrote the words to some of America's most loved standards. In Ira Gershwin: The Art of the Lyricist, Philip Furia illuminates the craft behind this remarkable achievement to reveal how Gershwin took the everyday speech of ordinary Americans and made it sing.

The Memory of All that

The Memory of All that PDF Author: Joan Peyser
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
ISBN: 9781423410256
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 380

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Book Description
This is a startlingly fresh account of the life of one of the greatest 20th-century Americans, composer and songwriter George Gershwin. Joan Peyser examines Gershwin's character, his complex relationship with brother and collaborator Ira, and his several romantic affairs. This 2006 edition includes newly discovered information in a new author's introduction.

P. G. Wodehouse: A Life in Letters

P. G. Wodehouse: A Life in Letters PDF Author: P. G. Wodehouse
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393088995
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 640

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Book Description
A collection of letters from one of England's greatest comic writers includes his humorous and touching correspondence with family, friends, and great literary figures of the twentieth century.

Words by Ira Gershwin

Words by Ira Gershwin PDF Author: Thomas Inglis
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 0978411218
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 62

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Book Description


The Man I Love

The Man I Love PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781638871019
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 999

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Book Description
The Man I Love" is a classic American standard with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by his brother Ira. It was originally part of the 1924 score for the Gershwin musical comedy Oh, Lady, Be Good!. The song was deleted from that show and put into the Gershwins' 1927 government satire Strike Up the Band, where it appears as both "The Man I Love" and "The Girl I Love." Popular recordings in 1920s were by Marion Harris; Sophie Tucker; Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra (vocal by Vaughn De Leath); and by Fred Rich and His Orchestra (vocal also by Vaughn De Leath). As with many standards from that era, it has become far more famous as a stand-alone popular song than as one from a Broadway musical. This symphonic arrangement of "The Man I Love" by Tom Myron is based on George Gershwin's original piano-vocal and solo piano versions of the song. The style of orchestration is meant to strongly evoke the symphonic world of pre-war Broadway and Golden Age Hollywood."