George Gershwin: An Intimate Portrait

Copyright

© 2009 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America c 5 4 3 2 1 ∞ This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rimler, Walter. George Gershwin : an intimate portrait / Walter Rimler p. cm. — (Music in American life) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-252-03444-2 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Gershwin, George, 1898–1937. 2. Composers—United States—Biography. I. Title. ml410.g288r55 2009 780.92—dc22 [b] 2008047508 For Peg Rimler And in memory of Mark Trent Goldberg Just seven years tomorrow (my birthday) since George wrote “Plenty O’ Nuttin’” and I took it down as he played it. My “Porgy” lecture honestly wowed the people last night—the music is absolutely sure-fire in any group whatsoever. The whole audience left feeling proud that so important a work has been done in this country. And I left with a ghastly sense of the grayness of a world without George, a profound personal and universal sense of loss. For I believe his music is a force for strong Americanism, in the best sense, that it strikes a powerful blow against the evils that besiege us by giving people a magic lift and a strengthening touch. No wonder Hitler hates it so! It’s so positive and confident—a people that hear that rhythm in their ears can’t be licked. —kay฀swift฀in฀a฀1942฀letter฀to฀mary฀lasker ...