GOLDEN ERA RECORDED MUSIC project (June 5, 2019): The Music of GERSHWIN

The GOLDEN ERA RECORDED MUSIC project continues on Wednesday, June 5, 7-8 pm at the AUDIO & ART showroom, 21 Thomson Avenue, Glens Falls. We will be hearing the music of George Gershwin.

Brooklyn-born of Russian/Jewish parents in 1898, George was not a child prodigy, showing little interest in music until about age 10, when he became intrigued by a piano his parents had purchased for his older brother (and future song collaborator) Ira. At age 15, he published his first song and entered the world of Tin Pan Alley (centered on Manhattan's 28th Street). He recorded paper rolls for the player pianos of the day, including the renowned WELTE-MIGNON system. Many performances of his own songs were preserved in this manner, and these pre-electronic recordings faithfully reveal the nuances of Gershwin's piano style to the modern listener. From 1924 until his tragic death from brain cancer in 1937 he composed his jazz influenced orchestral music: An American in Paris, I Got Rhythm Variations, Suite from “Porgy & Bess,” Cuban Overture etc.

We will hear this music from a 1975 vintage recording by the St. Louis Symphony, a private archive from Yale University and a Gershwin piano roll with orchestra accompanying (!) by Michael Tilson Thomas.

This event is free and open to all.