SUMMERTIME

How popular music of the 1920s and ’30s was indelibly influenced by one composer.

Musicologist Crawford (Emeritus, Music/University of Mich.; America’s Musical Life: A History, 2001, etc.) adds to the burgeoning number of biographies about composer and pianist George Gershwin (1898-1937) with what he calls “an academic scholar’s account of Gershwin’s life in music during the composer’s own time.” Drawing on previous studies as well as archival material, the author traces Gershwin’s musical development, analyzes technical qualities of his compositions, and highlights his critical reception. He is less interested in examining Gershwin’s personal life, character, friendships, and romantic relationships, and he barely glances at events beyond the theater and concert hall. Despite this narrow perspective, however, the author offers an engaging chronicle of a brilliant musician. The list of his compositions is stunning: Rhapsody in Blue; An American in Paris, and the folk opera Porgy and Bess as well as songs that include the memorable “I Got Rhythm,” “The Man I Love,” “Someone To Watch Over Me,” “Swanee,” and “But Not for Me.” More than his contemporaries, Gershwin embraced the verve, melodies, and rhythm of jazz and blues. Together with his lyricist brother Ira, he became a major force in musical theater, creating shows featuring a famed roster of performers, notably Fred Astaire and Astaire’s sister Adele. “I do not know whether Gershwin was born into this world to write rhythms for Fred Astaire’s feet or whether Astaire was born into this world to show how the Gershwin music should really be danced,” the critic Alexander Woollcott observed, but the match was sensational. Although Crawford describes Gershwin as gregarious, and although he was linked romantically with many women, he was emotionally reticent. “He didn’t understand why he couldn’t get out of life what he wanted, which was a companion,” his sister once commented. Crawford is reticent, too, about analyzing his subject’s needs and desires, merely paraphrasing one possibly revealing letter that Gershwin wrote to his psychoanalyst. While not delving deeply into his subject’s heart, he provides a thorough analysis of his talent.

A warm homage to a central figure in American music and theater.