Gershwin- Classical or Jazz?

I personally am cautious of using the word "jazz" to describe Gershwin's music. It might have been "jazzy" in the '20s and '30s, but jazz has changed a lot since its influence appeared in Gershwin's music. Regardless, his music is definitely infused with bits of the other genres of music he was interested in throughout his life, and the big band music of the 20's and 30's is one of the things that helped shape his musical language. It can be strongly heard in pieces like the overture to "Lady be good" and the famous Rhapsody in Blue.
Then you get pieces like his piano concerto.
Gershwin's piano concerto in f is one of the more classically-influenced pieces of his output, and has the traditional concerto's fast-slow-fast tempo set up. In it, you can hear things that you might hear out of Rachmaninoff, or Tchaikovsky. After that, he turns around and goes into long sections of jazzy melody and harmony.
So, what was Gershwin? Was he a jazz musician at heart who wrote pieces with classical forms, or did he lean towards the trends in the art music of his time? Or, as I've been convinced, was he a little bit of both? A man who wasn't one or the other, but used both classical and jazz influence to shape the music he wrote?
What do you think?

He was both. Listening to his music you can tell there is a lot of classical aspects to it. His concerto in F is heavily Debussy, and his American in Paris is the epitomizes his journey through French music.

At the same time, Ella Fitzgerald took some of his songs and recorded them. He took many jazz aspects sliced them up and mixed them into something the general public could enjoy.

Instead of discussing that here, why don't you read what Gershwin himself said, and read about Gershwin's own musical experiences?

Obviously, diehard jazz musicians are going to say it's not "real jazz", and likewise, strict classical people are going to say it's not "real classical".

You realize, I hope, that the vast majority of Gershwin's musical output was in the form of broadway shows? Meaning he was a composer who dedicated a large amount of energy to writing popular music.

I think he was "unique" in his approach. Never a "pure" jazz man, and with not quite the right background to be a classical composer per se.

The piano concerto, his single largest concert work, is one of the most piecemeal concertos in the repertoire. While it's a really fun piece to play (I have), there is something fundamentally unsatisfying about the form.

On the other hand, his opera "Porgy and Bess" is considerably more interesting and coherant. However, while the music requires strong singers, there is always a quality about it that is more Broadway than Met.

There you go: Gershwin, the musical contradiction.

Clazz? Jazzsical?

Jazzsicle





Gershwin tunes (adapted from the musicals) have long been standard jam session fare...I'm not too familiar with his extra-jazzsicle work. Recommend me something.

I always call his songs, meaning all the Broadway stuff, jazz and his concert works, like Rhapsody in Blue and American in Paris, classical. I don't really see why a diehard jazz person wouldn't call the bulk of his music jazz. I mean, he even wrote rags, how can that ever be conceived as something that's not real jazz? I have to admit though, I will never understand why Porgy and Bess is considered an opera and not a musical.

I guess either way the best way to look at his music would be as music. It doesn't really matter what you call it as long as you like it, right?

Originally Posted by JoshMc

...I will never understand why Porgy and Bess is considered an opera and not a musical.

...because originally, there was no spoken dialogue.

Really, Porgy and Bess is a jazz opera. It's an opera, there's no doubt about it. But the music is structured undoubtedly jazz. Songs like "Porgy, I's Your Woman Now" have such a jazz sound, even [especially] when sung by trained classical singers.

We have rock operas and rap operas now, and we call them what they are. Porgy and Bess is a jazz opera. One of the reasons it's probably a little more confusing is that this comes from a composer who obviously knew and was well-versed in classical, and chose to use jazz as his style for dramatic purposes.

My vote goes to the jazzsicle. But it all sounds good.

Gershwin is like Beethoven, i think he was both.