COMPOSER

George Gershwin

1898 - 1937

Photo of George Gershwin

Icon of person George Gershwin

George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions Rhapsody in Blue (1924) and An American in Paris (1928), the songs "Swanee" (1919) and "Fascinating Rhythm" (1924), the jazz standards "Embraceable You" (1928) and "I Got Rhythm" (1930), and the opera Porgy and Bess (1935), which included the hit "Summertime". Gershwin studied piano under Charles Hambitzer and composition with Rubin Goldmark, Henry Cowell, and Joseph Brody. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of George Gershwin has received more than 5,893,516 page views. His biography is available in 76 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 74 in 2019). George Gershwin is the 86th most popular composer (down from 63rd in 2019), the 255th most popular biography from United States (down from 164th in 2019) and the 3rd most popular American Composer.

George Gershwin is most famous for his work in the 1920s and 1930s, including the opera Porgy and Bess, the jazz-influenced Rhapsody in Blue, and the orchestral An American in Paris.

Memorability Metrics

  • 5.9M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 70.39

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 76

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 6.33

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.95

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among COMPOSERS

Among composers, George Gershwin ranks 86 out of 1,451. Before him are Johann Pachelbel, Mikis Theodorakis, Alban Berg, Carl Czerny, Josquin des Prez, and Nino Rota. After him are François Couperin, Luigi Cherubini, Luigi Boccherini, Pietro Mascagni, Olivier Messiaen, and Guillaume Du Fay.

Most Popular Composers in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1898, George Gershwin ranks 15. Before him are Umm Kulthum, M. C. Escher, Zhou Enlai, William James Sidis, Stefania Turkewich, and Herbert Marcuse. After him are C. S. Lewis, Liu Shaoqi, Gunnar Myrdal, Leo Szilard, Tamara de Lempicka, and Isidor Isaac Rabi. Among people deceased in 1937, George Gershwin ranks 14. Before him are Maurice Ravel, Erich Ludendorff, Amelia Earhart, Lou Andreas-Salomé, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, and Mikhail Tukhachevsky. After him are Gustaf Dalén, Yevgeny Zamyatin, Gerda Taro, J. M. Barrie, Austen Chamberlain, and J. Bruce Ismay.

Others Born in 1898

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Others Deceased in 1937

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In United States

Among people born in United States, George Gershwin ranks 255 out of 20,380. Before him are Jay Leno (1950), Barbra Streisand (1942), Emily Dickinson (1830), Robert Forster (1941), Joe Pesci (1943), and Pearl S. Buck (1892). After him are Lee Van Cleef (1925), John Howard Northrop (1891), Dianne Wiest (1946), Ernest Lawrence (1901), Pete Conrad (1930), and Irvin D. Yalom (1931).

Others born in United States

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among COMPOSERS In United States

Among composers born in United States, George Gershwin ranks 3. Before him are Leonard Bernstein (1918), and John Williams (1932). After him are John Cage (1912), Henry Mancini (1924), Philip Glass (1937), Samuel Barber (1910), Scott Joplin (1868), Steve Reich (1936), Angelo Badalamenti (1937), James Horner (1953), and Jerry Goldsmith (1929).

American born Composers

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous