Upper Berth, Lower Berth, That's

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.

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).

Writing Music Is Not So Much Inspiration As Hard Work.

The Extraordinary Thing About My Mother, She's So Modest About Me.

It Took Me Three Weeks To Write The 'rhapsody In Blue.' I Had Always Wanted To Write Something Blue And Paul Whiteman Inspired.