GEORGE GERSHWIN, A GREAT AMERICAN COMPOSER

That in the thirty-eight short years of his life George Gershwin did more than any other composer to make American music famous throughout the world is clear to everybody. Born in Brooklyn on September 26, 1898, George Gershwin was the second of four children—almost two years younger than his brother and later his collab­orator, Ira. When he was 12, his parents bought a piano for Ira's lessons but the question was who would monop­olize it. It was George who did it. A few years later, the composer and pianist Charles Hambitzer who became his teacher and, according to Gershwin " the first great musical, influence in my life, " wrote of him, " That the boy is a genius is without doubt."

But it is well known that even- a genius must eat—and so, while still 15 George left high school to become a pianist. Plugging other writers' songs he composed his own in his mind and it was in 1916 that his first song was published. Before he was 25, George Gershwin was one of Broadway's outstanding musical comedy composers. The Broadway musical is a theatre production which is typical of America. Songs and melodies from such musicals by Gershwin as Oh, Kay. Funny Face, Girl Crazy, Of Thee I Sing and others are played over and over again on radio, are hummed, sung and whistled by people everywhere.

At the same time Gershwin was devoting his boundless talents to serious and almost equally popular compositions. His first concert work in jazz-influenced style Rhapsody in Blue was a great success.

The idea of Porgy and Bess as a musical drama—­as a native American folk opera—was born one night in October, 1926 when George Gershwin reached for a recently published novel on his night table hoping to relax and fall asleep. It was surprising that instead, at 4 a.m. he was writing to Du Bose Heyward, the author of Porgy, suggesting they collaborate on a musical version of the novel. Some years passed before they actually sat down to work.

It took Gershwin about twenty months to write and orchestrate the opera. Some of that time was spent in South Carolina where Gershwin steeped himself in the life and folk music of the Negroes there.

On October 10, 1935, almost 9 years to the day after the idea was born, Porgy and Bess opened in New York City to the thunderous applause of the first night audience and the reserved approval of the New York critics. This American classic brought joy to the hearts of all who have seen it or heard its superb songs and music. It brought glory to the country by its contribution to the music and drama of the world.

 

Task:

I. Answer the questions:

1. When and where was George Gershwin born?

2. When did he start to play piano?

3. When was his first song published?

4. What are famous musicals by Gershwin?

5. What do you know about the history of the opera “Porgy and Bess”?

II. Choose one musical composition by Gershwin and tell about it.

III. Retell the text.

 

-Delete the Beatles Add Entertainmentt ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Beatles

On 24^th October 1962, LOVE ME DO, entered the British Top Thirty. It was the first single by an unknown group from Liverpool called the Beatles. It was the first of a number of big hits that would make Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr the most successfull pop group the world has ever known.

Paul McCartney (born in 1942), John Lennon (1940), George Harrison (1945), Ringo Starr (1940) were all from Liverpool, an industrial port on the north-west coast of England. At Quarry Bank Grammar School with his school friends, John formed a group called the Quarrymen. In 1957 he met Paul McCartney. One year later, they had already written about fifty songs. They called themselves Johnny and the Moondogs. George Harrison joined the group as a guitarist. In I960 together with two other boys, Stu Sutcliffe - bass - and Pete Best - drums - the group became The Beatles. Stu and Pete left the group, Richard Starkey joined them as drummer. Because he used to wear a lot of rings, they nicknamed him Ringo Starr!

There they were: the Fab Four. It all started in The Cavern, a rather shabby night club near the Liverpool docks. Their first record " Love Me Do", has become a col­lector's item. In 1965 they were made members of the Order of the British Empire. In April 1970, Paul announ­ced that the group was splitting up.

The story never really came to an end until one December night when John Lennon was assassinated in New York in 1980,

The surviving Beatles are still deeply involved in music and film projects, but many fans still long for the music of the 60s.

Born in Newcastle, in 1952, Gordon Matthew Sumner was nicknamed Sting because of a black and yellow striped T-shirt he used to wear.

Sting got his first guitar when he was nine and soon became a bass guitarist in small jazz bands. Later on he met Steward Copeland in London and together with Andy Summer they formed the world-famous group Police.

The group gave its first concert in Birmingham in 1977. Then he produced an album on his own and sang with famous jazz musicians such as Philip Collins and Miles Davis. He is also a first class actor and a great sportsman. He has never forgotten that he comes from a working-class family and is very generous and interested in today's social and political problems.

 

As far as Agatha Christie is concerned everyone knows her as the " Mistress of Mystery". She was born in Torquay in 1890. She was a nurse and became a world-famous writer of detective novels by chance.

She wrote 77 detective novels which were translated into 103 languages. A great number of them also became films. She died in January, 1976. The centenary of her birth was celebrated in 1990.

---------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

Concerts in London

Though classical music is a minority interest in Great Britain, London is said to be a very musical capital. Every evening you can see or hear opera, or classical music, ballet or rock music. The Royal Opera House, also known, from its location, as Govern Garden, is internationally known for its opera and ballet productions, as well for its dancers and singers. During the performances the house is always full though seat prices are comparatively high. There are three concert halls near the National Theatre in the South Bank are of London: the Queen Elizabeth Hall, used chiefly for performances of classical music. Royal Festival Hall and the smaller Purcell Room, used mainly for performances of chamber music. In the summer, there are sometimes one or two free open-air rock concerts in Hyde Park where an audience of a quarter of a million people is a usual thing. Every summer, from July to September, concerts are held in the Royal Albert Hall, including the famous Promenade concerts where serious music-lovers stand in the arena or the top gallery. In fact, you don't have to stand because there are plenty of seats but this is a kind of tradition dating back to the first concerts held in 1895.

The largest provincial centres also have orchestras giving regular concerts in their home cities and sometimes visiting other places.

 

Musical London.

 

1) 1. What do “proms” mean? Could you tell their history?

2. What are famous London orchestras?

3. What do you know about British pop-music?

4. What famous British pop-groups do you know?

5. What are your favorite British groups or vocalists?

2) Topics for discussion:

1. Classical Music

2. Opera in London

3. Pop-music in Britain

4. Promenade concerts

 

3) Choose the topic and write the report.

 

 

6. The Magical Melodies of Andrew Lloyd Webber

 

No figure in the history of stage musicals can match the magic touch of Britain’s own Andrew Lloyd Webber, a composer with a success rate second to none, an entrepreneur whose shows have dominated the West End and Broadway stages for more than two decades.

Andrew Lloyd Webber was born in London on 22^nd March 1948. He came from a musical family: his father was an accomplished organist and composer who taught at the Royal College of Music in London, and his mother was a choir singer. The young Lloyd Webber studied several instruments, and became particularly proficient on the piano. As a small child his favourite pastime was presenting shows with an elaborate toy theatre, and he was also interested in cats and trains. All three of those pastimes were to serve him well in the future.

From an early age he was taken to the theatre and became influenced by the work of the great American composers, particularly Richard Rodgers. In 1965, while still attending Westminster school, and just before going up to Oxford, he was introduced to Tim Rice who was more than three years older than him, and apparently destined for a career in law. Rice was already a pretty good lyricist and had written several songs in an effort to supplement his real ambition which was to be a pop singer. Lloyd Webber too, had composed several pieces of his own, and during the next two years they collaborated on numerous songs and one show, “The Like of Us”, which was based on the life of the Victorian philanthropist Dr Barnardo. However, their work met with widespread apathy until March 1968 when they dashed off a “little something” to entertain the pupils at an end-of-term concert at Colet Court School in London.

The “little something” was, of course, “Joseph and amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”, and at that stage it was only about 15 minutes long. Over the next few years it was presented at a variety of venues including the Central Hall, Westminster, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Edinburgh Festival and the Haymarket Ice Rink, where it aroused a good deal of interest and attention.

By the time “Joseph” reached the West End in 1973, Lloyd Webber and Rice had conceived another biblical musical, “Jesus Christ Superstar”. This show began its life as a concept album which was released first in America where it spent three weeks at the top of the chart in 1971. In October of that year a stage production opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on Broadway, and stayed there for nearly two years. However, that achievement paled in comparison with the show’s London run of 3, 358 performances (eight years) at the Palace Theatre, during which the versatile actor-singer Paul Nicholas, confirmed the star qualities he had displayed in “Hair” a few years earlier. It was entirely appropriate that he should again play the leading role of Jesus in the show’s enormously successful 20^th-anniversary tour of the UK in 1992. Several of the songs from the exciting score are on this Collection, including Everything’s Alright, King Herod’s song, Hosanna, and the heartrending ballad, I Don’t Know How To Love Him, which is sung by someone who is something of a superstar herself, Petula Clark, who had a UK hit with it back in 1972.

The ingenious idea of familiarising potential audiences for a stage musical by issuing a concept studio album containing superior versions of most of the songs, had been pioneered by Lloyd Webber and Rice with “Jesus Christ superstar”. In 1976 they did it again with “Evita”, and in early 1977 the album entered the charts, reaching number 4, and stayed there for 35 weeks. It produced one of the partnership’s greatest songs, Don’t Cry For Me Argentina. “Evita”, which was based on the life of Eva Peron, actress wife of the Argentinian dictator Juan Peron, eventually made its debut at the Prince Edward Theatre in June 1978. The show’s score produced two other contrasting hits: the powerful Oh What A Circus and the sad and lonely ballad, another Suitcase In Another Hall, which was successful for Barbara Dickson. “Evita” ran for an incredible seven years and eight months, a total of 2, 900 performances and took an estimated 20 pounds million at the box office. The London production won Laurence Oliver Awards for Musical of the Year and Performance of the Year in a Musical (Elaine Paige); and the Broadway version, which ran for 1, 568 performances, collected most of the main awards – the New York Drama Critics, Drama Desk, LA Critics Circle – and seven Tonys, including best musical, score, book, actress (Patti LuPone) and director (Harold Prince). The cast album also won a Grammy.

Lloyd Webber’s next venture was a project which he called “Cats”. It was, he explained, a musical adaptation of T.S. Eliot’s collection of poems, “Old Possum’s Book Of Practical Cats and other writings. The show would be co-produced by him, through his newly formed Really Useful Company, and the new theatrical wunderkind, Cameron Mackintosh. Their inspired choice as director was Trevor Nunn of the Royal Shakespeare Company. It was a daring and imaginative combination, which, despite expressions of disbelief from various sections of the theatrical community and the media, worked from the start. Mackintosh’s flair for flamboyant merchandising and publicity ensured that “Cats’ had an advance ticket sale of over 3 million pounds when it opened at the New London Theatre in May 1981. To date, John Napier’s “rubbish tip” set, which has been called “a triumph of pop sculpture worthy of the most far-out gallery in Soho”, is still there at the New London, and similar collections of tin cans assorted garbage litter the stage of theatres throughout the world, including the Winter Garden in New York, where “Cats”, with its legend “Now And Forever”, is well on the way to overtaking “A Chorus Line” as the longest-running production (musical or otherwise) in Broadway history. It almost goes without saying that “Cats” has held the record for the longest-running London musical for quite some time. As for awards, in Britain there were Evening Standard and Laurence Oliver Awards for best musical, and another Oliver for outstanding achievement of 1981 in musicals, which went to the brilliant choreographer Gillian Lynne.

Abroad, “Cats” collected Moliere and Drama Desk awards, seven 1983 Tonys for best musical, book, score, supporting actress (Betty Buckley), director (Trevor Nunn), lighting (David Hersey) and costumes (John Napier), and a Grammy. The original all-star London cast included Paul Nicholas, Brian Blessed, Srah Brightman, Bonnie Langford and Wayne Sleep. Most of the songs, with lyrics culled from the writings of T.S. Eliot, are named after the various cat characters, such as Old Deuteronomy, Mr Mistoffelees, Rum Tum Tugger, and so on. The show’s big hit song was Memory, the lyric of which is credited to T.S. Eliot and Trevor Nunn. It has been estimated that there have been well over 1, 000 different recorded versions of this lovely, poignant ballad, but the impassioned treatment it receives from Shirley Bassey on this set ranks with the best of them. One of the feline members of the show’s cast was the 20-yearold Sarah Brightman, who eventually became Lloyd Webber’s wife, and introduced many of his loveliest songs. Even after they were divorced in 1990 their professional relationship continued to flourish, and there is a possibility that the composer will write a film or stage musical based on the life of the delightful 30s actress, Jessie Matthews, in which Sarah Brightman will play the lead.

After utilising one of his boyhood interests, cats, as the inspiration for the most lucrative stage musical so far (world-wide income of 587 million pounds estimated in 1991), Andrew Lloyd Webber turned to his other early fascination, trains. “Starlight Express”, began its journey at the Apollo Victoria in March 1984. First-night audiences were somewhat bewildered to discover that the theatre’s auditorium had been restructured and fitted out with a complicated network of swivelling bridges and metal tracks on which roller-skating members of the cast, masquerading as trains with names such as Rusty, Greaseball and Dinah, careered at great speed. Rusty (Ray Shell), the little steam locomotive, finally hitches up with Pearl (Stephanie Lawrence), the consenting carriage, in spite of opposition from the dreaded modern trains in a spectacular production which was designed by John Napier and choreographed by Arlene Phillips, the creator of the popular dance group, Hot Gossip. Richard Stilgoe, the accomplished television entertainer, was Lloyd Webber’s lyricist and librettist this time, but no obvious chart hits emerged, although there were several highly amusing and engaging numbers in a variety of musical styles, such as Only You, Pumping Iron, Rolling Stock and the title song, all of which are on this Collection. The original “Starlight Express” continued to roll until April 1992 when it became the second longest-running London musical ever. Shortly afterwards, in November of that year, it was totally revamped and recast, with a revised book and five additional songs. One of those, the charming Next Time You Fall In Love, with a lyric by Don Black, is sung here by the show’s original female lead, Stephanie Lawrence. In September 1993, “starlight Express” became the first big-time musical to be presented in the US gambling city of Las Vegas. For the occasion, the famous Showroom of the Hilton Hotel, where legendary figures such as Elvis Presley, Bill Cosby and Ann-Margret used to regularly appear, increased its seating capacity from 1, 400 to 1, 600 and was totally refurbished to receive the railways.

After composing the highly contemporary, pop-inclined score of “Starlight Express”, Lloyd Webber turned to a different, far more serious work. “Requiem”, which was inspired by his father’s death, included the beautiful and moving Pie Jesu, for which Lloyd Webber won a Grammy for best new classical composition.

By this stage in Lloyd Webber’s career, it seemed that anyone playing a major role in any of his projects, either on or off stage, could guarantee that their own careers would receive an enormous boost. Their was the case with Michael Crawford who hit the heights during the 70s in the highly popular television comedy series “Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em”, and the smash-hit stage musical “Billy”. By the mid-80s Crawford’s career was more or less becalmed until one day, when Lloyd Webber was collecting Sarah Brightman from her singing lesson, he heard the actor, who shared the same teacher, exercising his vocal cords. And that is how Michael Crawford came to costar with Sarah Brightman in perhaps the most highly regarded and critically acclaimed Lloyd Webber musical to date “The Phantom of the Opera”, which opened at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London in October 1986. The tragic story of the demented and disfigured Phantom and his love for the beautiful actress, Christine, gave Lloyd Webber the opportunity to create his most romantic score so far, full of soaring melodies and majestic themes. Both Crawford and Brightman were superb, and several of the most exquisite and beautiful ballads (with lyrics by Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe) burned into the memory. Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again, All I Ask Of You and The Phantom Of The Opera all became popular favourites, while Michael Crawford entered the Top 10 with the haunting The Music Of The Night. It’s marvellous to Hear Crawford sing that lovely ballad again on this Collection along with The Phantom Of The Opera and All Ask Of You. After receiving the 1985 Laurence Olivier Award for the outstanding performance by an actor in a musical (which itself won Oliver and Evening Standard awards), Crawford re-created his masked role for the 1988 Broadway production. As in London, the whole affair was a triumph with full houses every night, and Drama Desk and Outer Critics Awards, and seven Tonys including best musical and actor (Crawford). Since that time Michael Crawford has become known in America as “the last matinee idol of the decade”, and toured with a large orchestra in a concert production of “The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber”. The composer’s magic touch” certainly worked for Michael Crawford.

Andrew Lloyd Webber is a shrewd man – he is also a perfectionist. Straight away he realised that the Los Angeles “Sunset Boulevard” was superior in several ways to the original London production, particularly in its general look – the colours and textures of the show. As soon as he returned to London, he quietly removed a block of tickets from the Adelphi’s computer so that when the time was right, changes could be made. That time came in March 1994 when “Sunset Boulevard’ closed for three weeks at a cost of 1 million pounds in ticket sales so that what Lloyd Webber himself called “his artistic pride’ could be satisfied. Such a move is thought to be unprecedented in the history of the London theatre. The closure coincided with the departure of Patti LuPone and Kevin Anderson. LuPone was replaced by Betty Buckley who won a Tony Award for her role as Grizabella in the 1981 New York production of “Cats”. At the time of writing, the identity of the lucky lady who will play the lead in the Broadway version of “Sunset Boulevard” is anybody’s guess, but there are firm reports of several star actresses enrolling for singing lessons – it is acknowledged as the role of a lifetime.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s own future is also unclear at this stage, but no doubt he has something exciting in the pipeline.

In view of the above, when another America publication, the trade paper Variety, recently posed the question: “Andrew Lloyd Webber: legit immortal or flash in the pan? ”, the answer seemed rather obvious.

 

TASK:

IV. Answer the questions:

1. When was Webber born?

2. What family did he come from?

3. What was his childhood?

4. What biblical musicals did he conceive?

5. When did the album ”Evita” enter the charts? What is it about?

6. Could you tell anything about “Cats”?

7. What Awards did “Cats” collect?

8. When and where was “the Phantom of the Opera” opened?

 

 

V. Retell the text.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

V. Literature

 

English LITERATURE

 

English writers stand high in world Literature. Shakespeare, Swift, Byron. Dickens and many others are dear to all those who love literature. Have you ever heard of a boy who hasn't travelled together with Gulliver or lived on a small island in the sea with Robinson Crusoe? Both young and old enjoy works by English authors which tell us about life and man. They teach the reader to love man, to struggle for all that is good and great, and to fight against all that is bad and low. We can say that the best works of English writers are, and will always be, a great school of life for those who read them.

Shakespeare was one of the greatest writers that ever put pen to paper. People in all countries enjoy his plays. We can say this, too, about the works of Byron arid Shelley, two great English poets. They loved freedom, and they tell their readers how people have. fought for it. In their works we read about a happy future. when people will live in peace and friendship all over the earth.

Among the books we read and enjoy there are many English novels. One of the first novels in the history of literature was writ-. ten in England in 1719; it was " Robinson Crusoe" by Defoe. Some-years passed, and Swift wrote his famous " Gulliver's Travels". In the middle of the century, Fielding became one of the greatest English writers.

At the beginning of the XIX century, the world heard about Walter Scott, who wrote historical novels. Today people often call Walter Scott the father of the historical novel.

Among the nineteenth century authors Dickens and Thackeray were, perhaps, the greatest. In their novels, Dickens and Thackeray described English life in those, days, and told people the truth about it.

Next to these great names stand the names of the three English women-writers, Jane Austen and the two sisters — Charlotte and Emily Bronte.

As you see, England has had many great writers. Poems and novels by English writers are translated into Russian, French, German and other languages.

TASK:

I. Answer the questions:

1. Who is this text about?

2. Do English writers really stsnd high in world literature?

3. What do works by English authors tell us about?

4. What do they teach their readers?

5. What can we say about the best works of English writers?

6. Who was the greatest English playwright?

7. What are the names of two great English poets?

8. What did Byron and Shelley tell their readers about?

9. Where was one of the first novels in the history of literature written?

10. What novel was it?

11. When was it written?

12. What other English novelists do you know?

II. Retell the text.

 

 

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