JustSheetMusic
Portrait of George Gershwin

Composer

George Gershwin

American composer and pianist (1898–1937)

1898–1937

764 works in the index

Born
1898
Died
1937
Birthplace
Brooklyn
Citizenship / historical state
United States
Period (estimated from birth year)
Modern

Biography

Gershwin left school at 15 to get into the music business. His first job in that business was to play newly composed scores on the piano to interested singers or performers, helping the composers find their market. As he developed his own skill as a composer, he asked Maurice Ravel for lessons. Ravel refused, saying that he feared damaging Gershwin’s own unique style. Arnold Schoenberg, similarly, told him: “I would only make you a second-rate Schoenberg, and you are such a good Gershwin already.” Gershwin’s legacy includes the opera “Porgy and Bess,” with songs such as “Summertime” and “It Ain’t Necessarily So,” as well as “Rhapsody in Blue,” a jazz pianist’s concert work, and “An American in Paris,” a more fully orchestrated piece that inspired the 1951 movie musical of the same name. Gershwin, who had become the wealthiest composer of his time, died suddenly of a brain tumor in 1937. He was interred in Hudson, New York.

In this catalogue

Common listed instruments
Piano, Vocal, Voice, Guitar, Choir
Genres represented
Jazz, Classical, Pop, Broadway, pop
Works with composition dates
13 of 764

These details describe the indexed sheet music, including arrangements.

Catalogue

Works page 7 of 16

Years are composition dates where known. Instruments describe editions in our catalogue and may include arrangements. A dash means the detail is not recorded.

Works and available sheet music details
WorkYear composedCatalogue / opusKey in titleListed instrumentsGenreEditions
If I Became the President — —— Piano, VocalJazz, Classical 1
That New Fangled Mother of Mine — —— Piano, VocalJazz, Classical 1
Nashville Nightingale — —— Piano, VocalJazz, Classical 1
Innocent Lonesome Blue Baby — —— Piano, VocalJazz, Classical 1
Gershwin At The Keyboard — —— —Jazz, Classical 1
Someone To Watch For Me — —— —Jazz, Classical 1
Lullaby - Introductory Text — —— String QuartetJazz, Classical 1
Beneath the Eastern Moon — —— Piano, VocalJazz, Classical 1
She's Just a Baby — —— Piano, VocalJazz, Classical 1
Something About Love — —— Piano, VocalJazz, Classical 1
Under a One-Man Top — —— Piano, VocalJazz, Classical 1
The Best Of Gershwin — —— —Jazz, Classical 1
Concerto in F - Viola — —— String QuartetJazz, Classical 1
Meadow Serenade — —— Piano, VocalJazz, Classical 1
How About a Man — —— Piano, VocalJazz, Classical 1
Oh! Nina — —— Piano, VocalJazz, Classical 1
Crazy for You : Vocal Selections — —— Piano, VocalJazz, Classical 1
Introduction — —— Piano, VocalJazz, Classical, pop 1
Lullaby - Score — —— String QuartetJazz, Classical 1
By And By — —— Piano, VocalJazz, Classical 1
Snow Flakes — —— Piano, VocalJazz, Classical 1
The Songs of Long Ago — —— Piano, VocalJazz, Classical 1
Vodka — —— Piano, VocalJazz, Classical 1
Concerto in F - Cello — —— String QuartetJazz, Classical 1
Oh Lawd, I'm on My Way - Conductor's Score — —— —Jazz, Classical 1
Oh Lawd, I'm on My Way - Violin 2 — —— —Jazz, Classical 1
Oh Lawd, I'm on My Way - Cello — —— —Jazz, Classical 1
Prelude No. 1 in B-flat Major — —B-flat major —Jazz, Classical 1
Fletcher's American Cheese Choral Society — —— Piano, VocalJazz, Classical 1
The Unofficial Spokesman — —— Piano, VocalJazz, Classical 1
Homeward Bound / The Girl I Love — —— Piano, VocalJazz, Classical 1
I Was So Young — —— Piano, VocalJazz, Classical 2
Wintergreen for President — —— —Jazz, Classical 2
Jazz Medley — —— —Jazz, Classical 1
The Complete Gershwin Preludes for Piano — —— —Jazz, Classical 1
Porgy and Bess: Selections — —— Piano, VocalJazz, Classical 1
Lullaby - Violin 1 — —— String QuartetJazz, Classical 1
The Life of a Rose — —— Piano, VocalJazz, Classical 1
Pepita — —— Piano, VocalJazz, Classical 1
Critical Notes — —— —Jazz, Classical 1
Porgy and Bess for Strings - Violin 1 - Violin 1 — —— —Jazz, Classical 1
Porgy and Bess for Strings - Viola - Viola — —— —Jazz, Classical 1
Porgy and Bess for Strings - Bass - String Bass — —— —Jazz, Classical 1
Desafinado — —— PianoJazz, Latin 1
I've Got Beginner's Luck — —— Piano, Vocal— 2
Woman Is a Sometime Thing, A — —— Piano, Vocal— 0
Doin' Time — —— Vocal— 0
When It's Cactus Time in Arizona — —— Piano, Vocal— 0

Biographical record: Wikidata, matched on name and checked against dates held in the catalogue. The period label is an estimate from birth year. Authority record: VIAF 61554329. Portrait: Carl Van Vechten, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.