2.  Gershwin was primarily a composer of popular songs and a jazz pianist.  He was also attracted to works for the concert hall and composed four pieces that connected the worlds of popular and classical music. They include: Rhapsody in Blue, Piano Concerto, An American in Paris (a programmatic symphonic poem), Porgy and Bess (a full-length opera)  A year and a half and Porgy and Bess were completed in 1935, Gershwin died of a Brain tumor at the age of 38

3.  “Bess, You Is My Woman Now” from Porgy and Bess  Composed in 1935  In the twentieth century, opera and musicals are sometimes very similar  Gershwin conceived this work as an opera and envisioned its performance at the Metropolitan Opera  To compose this piece, he lived on a small island in South Carolina and worked with the Charleston writer DuBose Heyward  “Bess, You Is My Woman Now” celebrates a moment of happiness in Porgy’s struggle for the love of Bess. He is handicap and must compete for Bess’s love with a rough gambler and a drug dealer.  Large structure = three varied stanzas with a short refrain after the second and third.  The “togetherness” of Bess and Porgy is emphasized musically by their singing alternating stanzas with very similar music and wording  Gershwin includes jazz, “blue note” on the word “woman” and syncopated rhythmic patterns on “you is, you is”

4.  He continued the tradition started by Copland and Gershwin of blending popular and “serious” styles.  Bernstein was Jewish and a brilliant pianist.  He lectured and wrote books about music. He also loved to teach.  He got his musical start at Tanglewood, where he became a protege of the conductor and music patron Serge Koussevitsky.  Bernstein got his big break when he had to conduct the New York Philharmonic on only a few hours notice.  As a conductor, he conducted the New York Philharmonic for ten years and was wanted by many other orchestras.  As a composer, he was very versatile. He composed ballet music, musicals, songs, piano pieces, choral works, three symphonies, two operas and a Mass.

5.  Most popular work, collaboration between playwright Arthur Laurents, choreographer Jerome Robbins and composer Leonard Bernstein  The story is based on Romeo and Juliet, but it is modernized in such a way that it resonated with 1950s American culture.  Music incorporates jazz and popular song

6.  “America” from West Side Story  Composed in 1957 for Two solo singers, chorus, and full orchestra (with Latin percussion)  “America” is sung by the principal Latin characters in the show, who compare life in their new country with that back home in Puerto Rico, accompanied by the orchestra and a chorus of their friends.  Alternates 6/8 and 3/4 meters. Even though he uses two time signatures, the measures are equal in length, making the piece flow.  Follow along on pg. 370