名人轶事:George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue

（单词翻译）

George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
Written by - Shelley Gollust

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

I’m Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

George Gershwin      

And I’m Steve Ember with People in America in VOA Special English. Today we

tell about the life and music of one of America's greatest composers, George

Gershwin.

(MUSIC: "RHAPSODY IN BLUE")

VOICE ONE:

That was the opening of "Rhapsody in Blue," composed by George Gershwin.

Gershwin lived only thirty-nine years. Yet, in that short time, he wrote

hundreds of unforgettable popular songs. He wrote.

some concert works¹, such as "Rhapsody in Blue," that are still performed

today. And he wrote what many consider to be the most beautiful American

opera, "Porgy and Bess. "

VOICE TWO:

George Gershwin was born in New York City in eighteen ninety-eight. His

parents were Russian Jews who had immigrated² to the United States. George and

his two brothers and sister had a close, happy family life. George liked

playing games on the streets of New York. He liked exploring the city. He did

not like school or studying.

While exploring the city, George heard jazz and blues³ music spilling out of

public drinking places. However, he did not become seriously interested in

music until he heard another boy playing the violin in a concert at his

school. George began to take piano lessons. His teacher was a fine classical

musician. He immediately recognized George's unusual ability. The teacher

wrote about him to a friend: "I have a student who will make his mark in

music, if anybody will. The boy is a genius, without doubt. "

VOICE ONE:

George studied classical piano. But his strongest interest continued to be

jazz and popular music. At the age of fifteen, he left school and went to

work in the music business. The New York City street where most music

publishers had their offices was called "Tin Pan⁴ Alley⁵."

The phonograph and radio had been invented in the late eighteen hundreds. But

it would be many years before there were musical recordings⁷ or regular radio

broadcasts. Tin Pan Alley publishers needed another way to sell new songs.

So, they employed people to play the piano to do this.

VOICE TWO:

The piano players played the songs all day long to interested singers and

other performers. George Gershwin was one of the youngest piano players in

Tin Pan Alley. Soon, he was considered one of the finest there. He was

already writing his own songs. He succeeded in getting one published when he

was only eighteen years old. It had a long title: "When You Want 'Em, You

Can't Get ‘Em, When You've Got 'Em, You Don't Want 'Em. "

VOICE ONE:

George Gershwin was now a real composer. The rest of his life was an unbroken

record of success. He wrote song after song. His ideas were so endless that

he was not even troubled when he once lost some music he had been writing.

"There is plenty more where that came from," he said.

George Gershwin had his first big hit in nineteen nineteen, when he was

twenty-one years old. It was a song called "Swanee." A popular entertainer,

Al Jolson, sang the song. "Swanee" was made into one of the first musical

recordings. George Gershwin was suddenly famous. Here is Al Jolson singing

what became his trademark⁸ song, "Swanee."

(MUSIC: SWANEE)

VOICE TWO:

Music critics note that "Swanee" is not like most of George Gershwin's music.

Later, he wrote true love songs. Some were light and funny. Some were full of

intense⁹ feeling. Many of these songs were written for the popular musical

theater. One of his most emotional¹⁰ love songs never became part of a musical

play, however. It is called "The Man I love. " Here is a modern recording⁶ by

Maureen McGovern.

(MUSIC: THE MAN I LOVE)

VOICE ONE:

George Gershwin's older brother, Ira, wrote the words to that song. As George

became famous, Ira wrote the words to more and more of his songs.


George and Ira Gershwin with Fred Astaire.


The two brothers were very different. Ira, the writer, was quiet and serious.

George, the musician, was outgoing -- the life of any party. But George wrote

better songs with Ira than with anyone else. It is impossible to imagine many

of George's songs without Ira's perfectly¹¹ chosen, often surprising words.

One of many examples is the song "They Can't Take That Away From Me."  The

Gershwins wrote the song for dancer and actor Fred Astaire for the film

"Shall We Dance." That was George and Ira Gershwin's first movie musical.

Here is Fred Astaire, followed by a later version¹² sung by Ella Fitzgerald.

(MUSIC: "THEY CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME")

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Shelley Gollust. It was produced by Lawan Davis.

I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I’m Barbara Klein. Join us again next week as we continue the story of

the music of George Gershwin on People in America in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC: "THEY CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME" JAZZ INSTRUMENTAL BY DIZZY

GILLESPIE)