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
- Part II Profiles of the Music
- 5 Blue Monday and New York Theatrical Aesthetics
- 6 Broadway in Blue: Gershwin’s Musical Theater Scores and Songs
- 7 The Works for Piano and Orchestra
- 8 Harmonizing Music and Money: Gershwin’s Economic Strategies from “Swanee” to An American in Paris
- 9 Exploring New Worlds: An American in Paris, Cuban Overture, and Porgy and Bess
- 10 Complexities in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess: Historical and Performing Contexts
- 11 Writing for the Big Screen: Shall We Dance and A Damsel in Distress
- Part III Influence and Reception
- Guide to Further Reading
- Index
8 - Harmonizing Music and Money: Gershwin’s Economic Strategies from “Swanee” to An American in Paris
from Part II - Profiles of the Music
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
- Part II Profiles of the Music
- 5 Blue Monday and New York Theatrical Aesthetics
- 6 Broadway in Blue: Gershwin’s Musical Theater Scores and Songs
- 7 The Works for Piano and Orchestra
- 8 Harmonizing Music and Money: Gershwin’s Economic Strategies from “Swanee” to An American in Paris
- 9 Exploring New Worlds: An American in Paris, Cuban Overture, and Porgy and Bess
- 10 Complexities in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess: Historical and Performing Contexts
- 11 Writing for the Big Screen: Shall We Dance and A Damsel in Distress
- Part III Influence and Reception
- Guide to Further Reading
- Index
Summary
George Gershwin has been both celebrated and reviled as a hybridizer of musics popular and classical. The tale that he was turned down as a pupil by Stravinsky is a case in point. In this frequently reprinted anecdote, the young American met Stravinsky (or Ravel in some tellings) and asked for lessons. The European master replied by asking Gershwin how much money he made and, after Gershwin named an astronomical sum, quipped: “Then I should take lessons from you!” Whether the story is true or not is irrelevant to the argument here. It is the persistence of the tale and its humor that highlight an ideological fault line between Old World and New, classical and popular, artistic accomplishment and economic success.
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- Information
- The Cambridge Companion to Gershwin , pp. 130 - 152Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019