美国著名作曲家，生于纽约布鲁克林，曾广泛接触和研究通俗音乐领域的各种体裁风格，写过大量的流行歌曲和数十部歌舞表演、音乐剧，是百老汇舞台和好莱坞的名作曲家。1924年为保尔·怀特曼的爵士音乐会写了《蓝色狂想曲》获得巨大成功，影响了美国和其他国家的作曲家在作品中运用爵士的手法。接着，创作了管弦乐曲《一个美国人在巴黎》、《第二狂想曲》、《古巴序曲》，并以描写黑人生活的歌剧《波基与贝丝》达到创作的顶点。格什温的卓越贡献是把德彪西和拉赫玛尼诺夫的风格与美国的爵士乐风格结合了起来，虽缺乏熟练的写作技巧，却是个了不起的旋律天才。他的歌曲总是活泼有趣，温柔清新；大型乐曲则节奏明快，和声优美，富于幽默感，既有独特的个性，又是典型的美国风格，因而具有持久的艺术魅力。1937年夏因脑癌去世，年仅三十九岁。by William RuhlmannIn a career tragically cut short in mid-stride by a brain tumor, George Gershwin (1898-1937) proved himself to be not only one of the great songwriters of his extremely rich era, but also a gifted "serious" composer who bridged the worlds of classical and popular music. The latter is all the more striking, given that, of his contemporaries, Gershwin was the most influenced by such styles as jazz and blues.Gershwin's first major hit, interpolated into the show Sinbad in 1919, was "Swanee," sung by Al Jolson. Gershwin wrote both complete scores and songs for such variety shoes as George White's Scandals (whose annual editions thus were able to introduce such songs as "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise" and "Somebody Loves Me").After 1924, Gershwin worked primarily with his brother Ira as his lyricist. The two scored a series of Broadway hits in the '20s and early '30s, starting with Lady Be Good (1924), which included the song "Fascinatin' Rhythm." 1924 was also the year Gershwin composed his first classical piece, "Rhapsody in Blue," and he would continue to work in the classical field until his death.By the '30s, the Gershwins had turned to political topics and satire in response to the onset of the Depression, and their Of Thee I Sing became the first musical to win a Pulitzer Prize. In the mid '30s, Gershwin ambitiously worked to meld his show music and classical leanings in the creation of the folk opera Porgy and Bess, with lyrics by Ira and Dubose Heyward. The Gershwins had moved to Hollywood and were engaged in several movie projects at the time of George Gershwin's death.