"Making music is actually little else than a matter of invention aided and abetted by emotion. In composing we combine what we know of music with what we feel." -- Composer George Gershwin, in a letter to Issac Goldberg, in "The Memory of All That" by Joan Peyser.
Gershwin's classic orchestral pieces "Rhapsody In Blue" and "An American In Paris", his popular musicals "Strike Up The Band," "Porgy and Bess" and his songs "Fascinating Rhythm", "I Got Rhythm", and "Swanee" form an important part of the "American Songbook." Born on this day in 1898, he died of a brain tumor in 1937, leaving behind a giant musical legacy.
(photo: Getty Images)
