After you have read the text

1. Answer the following questions about the text.

1. In what fields of musical activities did George Gershwin succeed first of all?

2. Which of Gershwin’s works for the concert hall are mostly appreciated?

3. Why is Gershwin regarded as the American equivalent of Verdi?

4. What facts testify that Gershwin is popular even with the people who are far from the world of music?

5. How do musicologists estimate “Rhapsody in Blue”, “An American in Paris”, “Cuban Overture”?

6. What were the main sources of Gershwin’s music?

7. Where and when was George Gershwin born?

8. When did George discover music for himself?

9. When was he given his first piano lessons?

10. What is the name of Gershwin’s teacher who provided him with the main musical education?

11. What was George’s first job?

12. When did his first song appear?

13. Who mainly wrote librettos and lyrics for Gershwin’s songs and musicals?

14. What was the weak point of Gershwin’s early musicals?

15. In what musicals did he manage to overcome this defect?

16. When did Gershwin’s opera “Porgy and Bess” appear?

17. Why is it called “folk opera”?

18. What was the reason of Gershwin’s early death?

2. Learn the following information.

– Ragtime is a style of American popular music which originated at the end of the 19th century, one of the earliest known examples being the “Harlem Rag” of 1895. It probably derived from the early minstrel show tunes of the 1840’s and from marches, especially those improvised for street parades in New Orleans. Its main feature was a slight rhythmic complexity which produced simple effects of syncopation. Ragtime was made popular by the pianist Ben Harvey, who published his “Regtime Instruction” in 1897. It reached its peak about 1910 – 15, afterwards merging into jazz.

– “Jazz” is a general term for the 20th–century development of American popular music. Growing out of ragtime it was primarily dance music in duple meter, characterized by the frequent use of syncopation and other rhythmic complexities. The instruments normally used in jazz are trumpets, trombones, clarinets, saxophones and the rhythm instruments – piano, guitar, bass and drums. Most of the various types of jazz developed in the Negro districts of the large cities of the South (New Orleans, St. Luis) and spread to Chicago and New York. The word “jazz”, of uncertain origin, first appeared in print in 1916.

– “Rhapsody” is a term of Greek origin, properly meaning something like “fragmentary song”, used in music chiefly as a designation for free fantasies of a somewhat epic, heroic or national character (e.g., Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsodies”) or for compositions which, although in strict form, have a certain epic or archaic flavour (Brahm’s Rhapsodies for piano). Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” is a free fantasy in jazz idiom, modeled somewhat after Liszt’s Rhapsodies.

3. Insert the words given below in the correct form into the sentences.

1. African songs … considerably to the development of American original music. 2. Toscanini … Gershwin’s works as “really American music”. 3. In his “Rhapsody in Blue” Gershwin … Negro lyrical songs “the blues”. 4. “Porgy and Bess” … much more humor and warmth as it is done in Mark Twain’s stories. 5. My sister knows many songs of The Beatles and often … them while cooking. 6. I don’t like soap operas because of their … plots. 7. The melody of this song is so … that it is heard everywhere. 8. Deep feelings of the creator become the sources of his … 9. Many elder people are against pop music, in this … my father is more tolerant. 10. The opera was … to the public in 1935. 11. The tunes of ragtimes, blues and spirituals left … traces in young George. 12. The music of Pulenk, Prokofyev and Stravinsky … Gershwin and inspired to set more serious tasks for himself as a composer. 13. First Gershwin’s parents … to believe George to become a musician. 14. In 1934 Gershwin toured much in the USA and everywhere his concerts were a … success. 15. While working as … at Tin Pan Alley George kept studying the fundamentals of composition.

infectious, exploit, regard, overwhelm, inspiration, notable, song-plugger, refuse, inane, contribute, feature, define, introduce, tremendous, hum

4. Select the correct meaning of the words.

1. identifiable a) выдающийся, значительный

2. debt b) головокружение

3. undoubtedly c) затемнение сознания

4. infectious d) опухоль

5. unfortunately e) заразительный

6. innovate f) тембр

7. tumour g) несомненно

8. camp h) неудачно

9. blackout i) вводить новшества

10. dizziness j) идентифицируемый, определяемый

k) пустой, бессодержательный

l) долг

m) вводить, представлять

n) чернота

o) лагерь, стан

5. Review text A orally.

6. Tell about your impressions of Gershwin’s music.

7. Read and retell text B.