I would, however, like to respond to his finding Gershwin's contemplation of writing a string quartet along the lines of Mozart an idea worth a chuckle by remarking that the idea might not have been quite so funny as it sounds; after all, didn't Ravel mention Mozart in connection with his G major concerto which is very much influenced by jazz idioms ? Nobody knows what Gershwin would have gone on to compose had he not died so tragically young and he might have aimed at a more simple neo-classical style had he lived. It's certainly known that - probably due to his musical upbringing in Tin Pan Alley rather than in the respectable atmosphere of a music conservatoire - he was keen to "educate" himself by studying significant works from earlier periods of music and some of Haydn's quartets were known to have come under his scrutiny. When Porgy and Bess was premiered he was presented with a score of Monterverdi's Orfeo with a note to the effect that it was a gift of the very first opera ever written (which it probably wasn't) to the composer of the very latest (which it probably was.) I can certainly believe that Gershwin might have studied the score avidly - which is something I've never been inclined to do.
It's well known that Gershwin tried , without much success, to get some of the foremost composers of the day to give him lessons. I think it was Stravinsky who replied that, due to the money that Gershwin was making out of his compositions, it would be better if the instruction was the other way round.
One composer who did give Gershwin lessons was Henry Cowell, the advocate of playing chords on the piano with one's forearms and attacking the strings of the instrument from the inside with India rubbers and various other blunt instruments. One fact that emerged from the Wikipedia article on Cowell will, depending on one's outlook, cause either amusement, intrigue or utter horror; apparently he liked to dress in women's clothing, preferably in a shade of pink, and be addressed as Mrs. Jones. I imagine it is highly unlikely that Jerome Kern's song, "Lovely to look at" was inspired by Cowell's alter ego.
Some observations to the thread - firstly, I am grateful for John Quinn's response and reassurance
that the MB will NOT be moved on to anti-social media.
As for the Déja reviews - I certainly enjoy reading them and feel they are a worthwhile addition.
Regarding the reviewers themselves, I am loathe to criticise any of them, (on the basis that if
it's a piece or a composer I don't care for, then they have already suffered enough!).
Apart from the reviewers themselves, I would like to take this opportunity to post a note of
gratitude to Jeffrey (God bless him!) - there is invariably something in his contributions that
cheers me - still chuckling at the recent revelation that Gershwin was thinking of writing a
quartet but in a rather simple style, along the lines of Mozart...
On a more technical note - the site was recently unavailable for several days and even though it
has returned there have been occasions when the MB itself has been unavailable... unsure if the
two are connected, but it seems too much of a coincidence?
Even now, if I select the MB link on the opening page of the MW site I never reach the MB, but if
I select a review and then the link on that page the MB appears - however, it can still sometimes
take as long as ten seconds for the MB to load (using up-to-date browser on an up-to-date system
and no problems on other sites). So a glitch appears to be lurking still within the site.
regards
Message Thread | This response ↓
« Back to index | View thread »
Thank you for taking part in the MusicWeb International Forum.
Len Mullenger - Founder of MusicWeb