Asked by Paul Whiteman to write an original work for a concert of modern music to be presented at Aeolian Hall in New York on February 12, 1924, George, who was hard at work on a musical comedy, SWEET LITTLE DEVIL, barely completed his composition in time. Starting with his early days as a song composer, Gershwin had ambitions to compose serious music. Later years produced the award-winning “new” stage musicals MY ONE AND ONLY (1983) and CRAZY FOR YOU (1992), which ran for four years on Broadway. Over the years, Gershwin songs have also been used in numerous films, including SHALL WE DANCE (1937), A DAMSEL IN DISTRESS (1937), and AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951). This extraordinary combination created a succession of musical comedies, including LADY, BE GOOD! (1924), OH, KAY! (1926), FUNNY FACE (1927), STRIKE UP THE BAND (19), GIRL CRAZY (1930), and OF THEE I SING (1931), the first musical comedy to win a Pulitzer Prize. In 1924, when George teamed up with his older brother Ira, “the Gershwins” became the dominant Broadway songwriters, creating infectious rhythm numbers and poignant ballads, fashioning the words to fit the melodies with a “glove-like” fidelity. Though this initial effort created little interest, “Swanee” (lyrics by Irving Caesar) - turned into a smash hit by Al Jolson in 1919 - brought Gershwin his first real fame. In 1914, Gershwin left high school to work as a Tin Pan Alley song plugger and within three years, “When You Want ‘Em, You Can’t Get ‘Em When You Have ‘Em, You Don’t Want ‘Em,” was published. As a boy, George was anything but studious, and it came as a wonderful surprise to his family that he had secretly been learning to play the piano. George Gershwin, born in Brooklyn, New York on September 26, 1898, was the second son of Russian immigrants.

1919 george gershwin compositions