1920’s Music
George Gershwin
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George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn in 1898. He began his musical career as a song-plugger
on Tin Pan Alley, but was soon writing his own pieces. Soon after he met a young lyricist named
Irving Ceaser. Together they composed a number of songs including "Swanee," which sold more
than a million copies.
In 1924, George collaborated with his brother, lyricist Ira Gershwin, on a musical comedy "Lady
Be Good". It included such standards as "Fascinating Rhythm" and "The Man I Love." It was the
beginning of a partnership that would continue for the rest of the composer's life. Together they
wrote many more successful musicals including "Oh Kay!" and "Funny Face", staring Fred Astaire
and his sister Adele. While continuing to compose popular music for the stage, Gershwin began to
lead a double life, trying to make his mark as a serious composer.
When he was 25 years old, his jazz-influenced "Rhapsody in Blue“, which combines jazz
with classical music, premiered in New York's Aeolian Hall at the concert, "An Experiment in
Music."
In the early thirties, Gershwin experimented with some new ideas in Broadway musicals. "Strike
Up The Band", "Let ‘Em Eat Cake", and "Of Thee I Sing", were innovative works dealing with
social issues of the time. "Of Thee I Sing" was a major hit and the first comedy ever to win the
Pulitzer Prize. In 1935 he presented a folk opera "Porgy and Bess" in Boston with only moderate
success. Now recognized as one of the seminal works of American opera, it included such
memorable songs as "It Ain't Necessarily So," "I Loves You, Porgy," and "Summertime.“
In 1937, after many successes on Broadway, the brothers decided go to Hollywood. Again they
teamed up with Fred Astaire, who was now paired with Ginger Rogers. They made the musical
film, "Shall We Dance", which included such hits as "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" and "They
Can't Take That Away From Me." Soon after came "A Damsel in Distress", in which Astaire
appeared with Joan Fontaine. After becoming ill while working on a film, he had plans to return to
New York to work on writing serious music. He planned a string quartet, a ballet and another
opera, but these pieces were never written. At the age of 38, he died of a brain tumor. Today he
remains one of America's most beloved popular musicians.
Aaron
Copland
Nickname
– The Dean of American composers
Biography
– Aaron Copland was born on November 14, 1900 in New York City.
– Aaron Copland was the pioneer of American music -- he showed the world how
to write classical music in an American way.
– His musical works ranged from ballet and orchestral music to choral music and
movie scores. For the better part of four decades Aaron Copland was considered
the premier American composer. Copland learned to play piano from an older sister.
By the time he was fifteen he had decided to become a composer.
– Copland went to Europe for serious study, and, in the 1920s.
– His "Symphony for Organ and Orchestra" premiered in at Carnegie Hall in 1925.
– In 1936, his most important works were based on American folk lore including "Billy
the Kid" (1938) and "Rodeo" (1942). Other works during this period were a series of
movie scores including "Of Mice and Men" (1938) and "The Heiress" (1948).
– Aaron Copland is an Academy Award-winning composer (The Heiress (1949)),
author, conductor, lecturer and educator.
– After 1970 Copland stopped composing, though he continued to lecture and
conduct through the mid-1980s. He died on December 2, 1990 at the Phelps
Memorial Hospital in Tarrytown (Westchester County), New York.
The Jazz Age
Click on the
following for an
introduction to
the Jazz Age:
Harlem Renaissance
After Midnight
By Todd Olson
From Scholastic Search
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In 1927 limousines and taxis lined up for blocks under the glittering
entrances to the famous clubs.
Subway tunnels swallowed and spit out crowds of party-goers all night long.
And when Rudolph Fisher descended the narrow stairs to one of his favorite
haunts, he realized the complexion of the scene was different: "I became
aware that, except for the waiters and members of the orchestra, I was the
only Negro in the place."
In just half a decade, Harlem's throbbing nightlife had become a magnet for
thrill seekers from way beyond the black community.
"The Negro is in the ascendancy," said Carl Van Vechten, a white devotee
of black culture. "Everybody is trying to dance the Charleston or to sing
spirituals."
The fact remained that in much of the country, segregation kept whites and
blacks apart.
But after dark, when the music began to play, the whole world seemed to
cross the color line at 110th Street. There, said one black writer, they found
a place they thought was "exotic, colorful, and sensuous; a place of
laughing, singing, and dancing; a place where life wakes up at night."
Louis
Armstrong
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Louis Armstrong was the greatest of all
Jazz musicians. Armstrong defined what it
was to play Jazz.
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Like almost all early Jazz musicians, Louis
was from New Orleans. He was from a very
poor family and was sent to reform school
when he was twelve after firing a gun in the air
on New Year's Eve. At the school he learned
to play cornet. After being released at age
fourteen, he worked selling papers, unloading
boats, and selling coal from a cart.
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He didn't own an instrument at this time, but
continued to listen to bands at clubs like the
Funky Butt Hall. Joe "King" Oliver was his
favorite and the older man acted as a father to
Louis, even giving him his first real cornet, and
instructing him on the instrument. By 1917 he
played in an Oliver inspired group at dive bars
in New Orleans' Storyville section.
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While playing in Oliver's Creole Jazz Band,
Armstrong met Lillian Hardin, a piano player
and arranger for the band. In February of 1924
they were married.
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By the end of 1924, he moved to New York to
play in Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra.
•During that time he also did dozens of recording
sessions with numerous Blues singers, including
Bessie Smith's 1925 classic recording of "St. Louis
Blues.”
•In 1932 he left for England where he was a great
success.
•Armstrong became known as America's Jazz
Ambassador.
•In 1963 Armstrong scored a huge international hit
with his version of "Hello Dolly". This number one
single even knocked the Beatles off the top of the
charts. In 1968 he recorded another number one hit
with the touchingly optimistic "What A Wonderful
World".
•Armstrong's health began to fail him, but he
continued playing and recording. On July 6th 1971
the world's greatest Jazz musician died in his sleep
at his home in Queens, New York.
Bessie Smith
Importance
Although she was almost
completely unknown to the
white population, Bessie
Smith came to symbolize
the black renaissance. As
the “Empress of the
Blues”, she was a best
selling vocalist during the
mid-1920s. However, the
audience demanded more
than great singing; and the
queen delivered. She wore
lavish gowns on stage while
singing in a seductive and
powerful voice. Due to her
lack of success with white
audiences, Bessie Smith
never reached the level of
Louie Armstrong. However,
she is remembered in
blues and jazz history as
the queen.
Biography
Bessie Smith, born into poverty in Chattanooga, Tennessee
in 1895, was discovered by Ma Rainey at the age of eleven.
In her youth she performed at tent shows and record shops,
but would eventually make 160 records. The end of the
twenties marked the end of her style of blues and the
decline of her popularity. While driving in Mississippi her car
rear-ended a slow moving truck and rolled over crushing
Smith's left arm and ribs. Smith bled to death by the time
she reached the hospital. John Hammond caused quite a
stir by writing an article in Downbeat magazine suggesting
that Smith had bled to death because she had been taken to
a White hospital and had been turned away. This proved not
to be true, but the rumor persists to this day.
Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington: Master Composer
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Duke Ellington is one of the most significant
figures in music history. He and his band
are considered to be one of the greatest
big jazz bands of the period.
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was born
on April 29, 1899, in Washington, D.C.
He began studying the piano at the age of
seven.
He started playing jazz as a teenager, and
moved to New York City to become a
bandleader.
As a pianist, composer, and bandleader,
Ellington was one of the creators of the big
band sound, which fueled the "swing" era.
He continued leading and composing for his
jazz orchestra until his death in 1974.
"Ellington plays the piano, but his real
instrument is his band. Each member of his
band is to him a distinctive tone color and
set of emotions, which he mixes with others
equally distinctive to produce a third thing,
which I like to call the 'Ellington Effect.'" —
Billy Strayhorn, composer and arranger
Listen to Wynton Marsalis explain the
"Ellington Effect."
STOMPIN' AT
THE SAVOY
•Inside the lobby, both black and white are milling around. A
couple of black men with straightened hair, tails, and
cutaway coats stand under a huge cut-glass chandelier. On
the marble staircase some women in gleaming dresses and
fur coats are talking away.
•Not everyone is rich, though; there are dockworkers and
shoe shiners with patches on their pants and holes in their
shoes. But once you get on the dance floor, it doesn't
matter how you dress as long as you can step.
•The floor is as long as a football field and about half as
wide, all painted in orange and blue. The music is jumping
— sounds like "Sugar Foot Stomp" — and it seems like all
4,000 people are out there shuffling and shaking.
The Cotton Club’s Jumpin’
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The original Cotton Club first opened the
club in 1920 as the Club Deluxe, and in
1922 changed it's name to the Cotton Club
During it's years of operation, the Cotton
Club spawned a generation of top flight
talent; in 1927, Duke Ellington's orchestra
was hired.
The club had an "all-White" policy, - only the
performers were Black.
The shows had the best choreography, and
It all started at the Savoy Ballroom
and the Cotton Club in Harlem.
You Try
• You MUST complete all questions
before going on!
• Together choose one of the musicians.
• Read more about him or her.
• Pretend the musician just died, together
write a short obituary on the artist’s life.
Place this on your poster with all group
member’s names visible
Explore Some More!
• Time left over?
• Explore Black History Month by clicking on
the information below.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/timeline/game.htm