Shana tova! Rosh Hashanah began last night at sundown. To my Jewish friends, best wishes for a good and sweet 5783. Apples and honey all around.
This year’s observance happens to coincide with the birthday of George Gershwin (born Jacob Gershowitz to Jewish immigrant parents who settled on New York City’s Lower East Side).
Many sources claim that Gershwin, while culturally Jewish, was not particularly observant. Nevertheless, Kitty Carlisle recollected a zany Seder at the Gershwin home with Oscar Levant in attendance; Gershwin was an active supporter of Jewish charities; allegedly he wouldn’t marry Kay Swift, his lover of over ten years, because she wasn’t Jewish (Gershwin’s mother disapproved); and following his untimely death at the age of 38, he was remembered in bicoastal Jewish funeral services.
Furthermore, sharp-eared listens with some familiarity with Jewish tradition have identified Jewish themes and motifs in his music. It’s been remarked that you could keep Gershwin out of shul, but you couldn’t keep shul out of Gershwin. Here’s an interesting article on the subject.
Sadly, we’ll never know what an abandoned opera on Szymon Ansky’s “The Dybbuk” would have sounded like. (It was scrapped because of copyright issues.)
Early on, Gershwin expressed interest in writing for the Yiddish theater. He even made some piano rolls of Yiddish songs. Here’s one from 1917, a rendition of a 1903 Yiddish theater tune by Meyerowitz titled “Gott un Sein Mishpet Is Gerecht.”
Happy birthday, George Gershwin, and have a sweet New Year!
