Book contents
- The Cambridge Companion to Gershwin
- Cambridge Companions to Music
- The Cambridge Companion to Gershwin
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Music Examples
- Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Historical Context
- 1 The Unlikely Patriarch
- 2 Hearing Gershwin’s New York
- 3 Gershwin’s Musical Education
- 4 Gershwin in Hollywood
- Part II Profiles of the Music
- Part III Influence and Reception
- Guide to Further Reading
- Index
3 - Gershwin’s Musical Education
from Part I - Historical Context
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 August 2019
- The Cambridge Companion to Gershwin
- Cambridge Companions to Music
- The Cambridge Companion to Gershwin
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Music Examples
- Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Historical Context
- 1 The Unlikely Patriarch
- 2 Hearing Gershwin’s New York
- 3 Gershwin’s Musical Education
- 4 Gershwin in Hollywood
- Part II Profiles of the Music
- Part III Influence and Reception
- Guide to Further Reading
- Index
Summary
Gershwin called himself “a man without traditions.” Although most early twentieth-century American composers eschewed tradition, ranging from Dane Rudhyar’s “spiritual dissonance” to Aaron Copland’s exploration of jazz rhythms, Gershwin’s approach was viewed cynically – his concert works labeled as tainted products of an uneducated outsider. Larry Starr crystallizes this disparity most succinctly: “There was simply no preexisting model for the kind of American composer that Gershwin became; he had to invent himself each step of the way, and it stands to reason that his remarkable success in doing so was met with skepticism and resentment by those personally invested in more traditional musical paths.”
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- Information
- The Cambridge Companion to Gershwin , pp. 29 - 42Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019
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