Sunday, December 17, 2006

Gershwin Revisited

Check out the excellent review of Howard Pollack's new biography of George Gershwin. A work that clears away the debris and reveals Gershwin's work in a different light.

"It's helpful to be reminded that the clarinet introducing "Rhapsody in Blue" echoes the flute that begins Debussy's "Afternoon of a Faun," that Rachmaninoff attended many Gershwin performances, and that Gershwin not only witnessed the American premiere of Schoenberg's "Pierrot Lunaire" but played tennis with the composer, painted his portrait , and subsidized recordings of his string quartets. Under Schillinger's tutelage, Gershwin even composed 12-tone rows."



Currently listening to:
Milton Babbitt - Reflections for piano and synthesized tape

1 comment:

Daniel Wolf said...

I'm not terribly well-informed about Schillinger technique, but the claim that Schillinger would have Gershwin write 12-tone rows doesn't make much sense. I'm certain that Schilinger had Gershwin do a number of other rather formal operations, but just not that particular one.