American Composers: George Gershwin | Leonard Bernstein | Irvin Berlin | Philip Glass, produced by Cobie Ivens.
I– George Gershwin. (18:15 min)
He grew up in a poor neighborhood in New York. His parents were Russian immigrants who struggled to make ends meet.
Nevertheless, they decided to buy an old piano so Ira Gershwin could make it as a musician. However, it turned out that it wasn’t Ira, but his younger brother George, who was the musical genius. Ira devoted himself to writing lyrics, and together the Gershwin brothers became absolute giants of the twentieth-century musical world. George’s compositions remain popular today, as evidenced by his 1924 song “Rhapsody in Blue,” which appeared several times in the Top 2000. CD. On the town – Leonard Bernstein. LABEL: Universal Records (2002), code: 00028947173724. VIDEO
II– Leonard Bernstein. (17:27 min)
An American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and philanthropist. He is considered one of the most important conductors of his time and was the first American-born conductor to achieve international recognition. Bernstein composed the music for West Side Story, a groundbreaking 1957 Broadway musical that brought a complex, emotional, and symphonic score to the stage. The work is praised for its innovative blend of musical styles, including jazz, Latin American rhythms, and classical techniques, which captured the drama’s urban setting and social themes.
CD. West Side story – Leonard Bernstein. LABEL: San Francisco Symphony (2014), code: 821936-0059-2. VIDEO
III– Irving Berlin. (11:43 min)
Berlin’s contribution to the American Songbook is invaluable. Classic songs such as Alexander’s Ragtime Band, There’s No Business But Show Business, are by him. Irving Berlin was born Israel Baline in Tsarist Russia in 1888 and came to New York as a boy, where he initially sang on the streets. Eventually, he managed to get into the song factory of Tin Pan Alley as a freelance writer. There he developed his unique style as an American folk composer, drawing inspiration from a melting pot of jazz, folk songs, and classical music. Irving Berlin wrote for both Broadway and Hollywood. By working his way up from a poverty-stricken immigrant to a millionaire, Irving Berlin ultimately came to embody the American Dream. The composer reached the respectable age of 101.
CD. Berlin for Brass – Irving Berlin. LABEL: Naxos (2003), code: 8.559123. VIDEO
IV–
Philip Glass. (10:56 min)
He was born in 1937 in Baltimore, Maryland, to Ida and Benjamin Charles Glass. His family consisted of Latvian-Jewish and Russian-Jewish immigrants. His father owned a record store, and his mother was a librarian.
Composer Philip Glass is one of the dominant, transnational influences of the past half-century. He first gained a global following in the 1970s with Koyaanisqatsi, Einstein on the Beach, and Satyagraha, and has collaborated with Allen Ginsberg, Robert Wilson, Martin Scorsese, Ravi Shankar, David Bowie, and many others.
CD. Glass box – Philip Glass. LABEL: None (2008), code: 424508-2. VIDEO
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