My People Are Americans. My Time Is

An Entire Composition Written In Jazz Could Not Live.

The Composer Does Not Sit Around And Wait For An Inspiration To Walk Up And Introduce Itself...making Music Is Actually Little Else Than A Matter Of Invention Aided And Abetted By Emotion. In Composing We Combine What We Know Of Music With What We Feel.

It Sounds Simple, Of Course, But Personally I Can Think Of No More Mentally Arduous Task Than Making Music.

Gershwin's Melodic Gift Was Phenomenal. His Songs Contain The Essence Of New York In The 1920s And Have Deservedly Become Classics Of Their Kind, Part Of The 20th-century Folk-song Tradition In The Sense That They Are Popular Music Which Has Been Spread By Oral Tradition (for Many Must Have Sung A Gershwin Song Without Having Any Idea Who Wrote It).

Porgy Is...an Interesting Example Of What Can Be Done By Talent In Spite Of A Bad Setup. With A Libretto That Should Never Have Been Accepted On A Subject That Should Never Have Been Chosen, A Man Who Should Never Have Attempted It Has Written A Work That Has A Considerable Power.