#gershwin

George Gershwin taking a bow after the premiere of Porgy and Bess, October 10, 1935, at the Alvin (now the Neil Simon) Theater. "The starry opening drew Hollywood royalty, including Katharine Hepburn and Joan Crawford. After the ovations died down, the A-listers headed to a glamorous after-party, where George Gershwin played excerpts from his score on the piano."—NY Times

(Who knew that "A-listers" was a phrase in the 1930s?)

Woah, that’s really interesting, I didn’t know about that

Interviewer: so how do you start writing a song?

Composer: okay, so basically the very first thing I have to do is get my chicken suit on, and then I start slapping the piano keys as George Gershwin’s Fascinating Rhythm is played in the background, -specifically the Ella Fitzgerald version, otherwise I just write the same 4 chords again and again- and then the ideas start popping in my head, it usually works best if I’m bawk bawking like a chicken as I do it

Interviewer: oh’ what?-

There is an old joke, "What is Beethoven up to these days?" Answer, "Decomposing." Haha very funny. Everybody laughs. But what if I told you that in the 1960's famous dead musicians of the past got tired of decomposing and decided to start re-composing? With the help of a mild mannered British single mother and lunch lady, a full Liszt of the greats were ready to take the stage once more and start their encore. 

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Enjoy the episode images below!

Rosemary Brown (1916-2001), a widowed single mother who became a medium through whom dead classical composers dictated new works years after their deaths.

Franz Liszt (1811-1886) Hungarian composer and former bad boy. Seriously, look up Lisztomania. He was so popular at his height that his performances could be compared to rock shows of the 20th century, complete with screaming, fainting young women who would fling articles of their clothing on stage for him. His spirit was the first to visit Rosemary and task her with the mission of helping him and others get their new music out.

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) Polish composer who also came to Rosemary.

The list of composers who came to her was long. Including Beethoven, Schubert, Rachmaninoff, Gershwin, and even John Lennon after his death. Rosemary would eventually obtain a recording contract for her otherworldly compositions.

And she would even become the subject of BBC documentaries.