George Gershwin: A New Biography

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.

Author: William Hyland
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published: 08/30/2003
Pages: 312
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.39lbs
Size: 9.48h x 6.58w x 1.12d
ISBN: 9780275981112

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 08/01/2003 pg. 87
Booklist 10/15/2003 pg. 374
New York Times 11/02/2003 pg. 28
Choice 03/01/2004 pg. 1306

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.