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George Gershwin's songs, versified mostly by his brother Ira Gershwin,
represented a step forward in rhythm and sophistication, because Gershwin
was fluent in both pop, jazz and classical music, a fact best represented by
the jazz opera Blue Monday Blues (1922), the main attraction of George White's "Scandals" in 1922,
the symphonic Rhapsody in Blue (1924) and the folk opera Porgy and Bess (1935), containing Summertime.
After writing a future Al Jolson hit, Swanee (1919), Gershwin entered
the arena of Broadway musicals with Lady Be Good (1924),
that launched the career of dancer Fred Astaire and established the trend of
having the title-song, Lady Be Good, as one of the main hits. One of the best songs,
The Man I Love (1924), was omitted and unreleased for many years.
Oh Kay (1926) included Someone To Watch Over Me and Do Do Do, two of his signature songs.
More musicals followed:
Funny Face (1927), with S'Wonderful,
Show Girl (1929), that incorporated the ballet An American in Paris,
the political satire Strike Up the Band (1930), with I've Got a Crush on You,
Girl Crazy (1930), whose Sam and Delilah and especially I Got Rhythm launched the career of Ethel Merman (the band included Benny Goodman,
Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Jack Teargarden, Gene Krupa),
and another political satire, Of Thee I Sing (1931), the biggest hit of the decade.
His Cuban Overture (1932) was one of the first Latin pieces to become
popular in the USA.
His last hits were
They Can't Take That Away from Me, Let's Call The Whole Thing Off and Shall We Dance, from Shall We Dance (1937),
Nice Work If You Can Get It and A Foggy Day, from
A Damsel in Distress (1937), and
Love Is Here To Stay from The Goldwyn Follies (1938).
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da Matteo Nicoli)
Le canzoni di George Gershwin, perlopiù versificate da suo fratello Ira
Gershwin, rappresentano il passo successivo un'innovazione per quanto riguarda
ritmo e sofisticazione. Infatti Gershwin era un fluente compositore di musica
pop, jazz e classica; un fatto rappresentato al meglio dalla sua opera jazz
Blue Monday Blues (1922), l'attrazione principale degli "Scandals" di George
White del 1922, la sinfonica
Rhapsody in Blue (1924) e l'opera folk
Porgy and Bess (1935), contenente
Summertime.
Dopo aver scritto
Swanee (1919), che diventerà una hit di
Al Jolson, Gershwin entra nel mondo dei musical di
Broadway con
Lady Be Good (1924), che lancia la carriera da ballerino di Fred Aster, e lancia
la moda di fare della title-track la hit principale del disco. Una della canzoni migliori,
The Man I Love fu omessa e rimase per molti anni inedita.
Oh Kay (1926) include
Someone To Watch Over Me e
Do Do Do. Altri musical seguirono:
Funny Face (1927), con
S'Wonderful,
Show Girl (1929), che conteneva il balletto
An American in Paris, la satira politica
Strike Up the Band (1930), con
I've Got a Crush on You,
Girl Crazy (1930), di cui
Sam and Delilah e specialmente
I Got Rhythm lanciarono la carriera di Ethel Merman (il gruppo includeva Benny
Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Jack Teargarden, Gene Krupa), ed un'altra satira
politica,
Of Thee I Sing (1931) la più grande hit del decennio. La sua
Cuban Overture (1932) fu uno dei primi pezzi latini a diventare popolare in USA.
Le sue ultime hit furono
They Can't Take That Away from Me,
Let's Call The Whole Thing Off e
Shall We Dance, da
Shall We Dance (1937),
Nice Work If You Can Get It e
A Foggy Day, da
A Damsel in Distress (1937), e
Love Is Here To Stay da
The Goldwyn Follies (1938).
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