July 11: George Gershwin

George Gershwin (Jacob Gershowitz) died of a brain tumor at the age of 39 on this date in 1937. He wrote music for more than a dozen Broadway shows with his lyricist brother Ira, including Of Thee I Sing, the first musical to receive a Pulitzer Prize (1931); he composed hundreds of songs, the best of which became classics of the American Songbook and jazz standards for the rest of the century; he created enduring orchestral works that included Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris, and the opera Porgy and Bess; and he composed for Hollywood films, most notably for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers’ Shall We Dance? Among Gershwin’s scores of famous, fabulous songs are “I Got Rhythm,” “Embraceable You,” “Summertime,” “Someone To Watch Over Me,” “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off,” “Man I Love,” “I’ve Got a Crush On You,” and “Love Is Here To Stay.”

“Jazz is the result of the energy stored up in America.” —George Gershwin

Watch George Gershwin perform “I Got Rhythm” 1931