Gershwin In Vienna

Description

Between jazz and twelve-tone music – and on the tennis courts: Gershwin in Vienna tells the surprising yet true story of the friendship between George Gershwin and Arnold Schoenberg, who, in 1930s California, were connected not only artistically but also as tennis partners. Levi Hammer follows this thread, placing Gershwin's piano works in a captivating dialogue with those of Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern, revealing how closely the American superstar was linked to the aesthetics of the Second Viennese School. Encounters such as Gershwin's legendary visit to Alban Berg in Vienna or Schoenberg's moving tribute in 1937 open up a fascinating panorama of mutual influences. The result is a portrait of Gershwin as a modernist – and of a Viennese avant-garde that suddenly seems remarkably close to Broadway.