It wasn't a full-fledged Pulitzer Prize, but it was the next best thing. And it was long overdue.
When the Pulitzers were awarded last week, the committee bestowed upon composer George Gershwin a special citation recognizing the 100th anniversary of his birth.It comes close to making up for the slight of a Pulitzer committee of 66 years ago that awarded Gershwin's brother and lyricist, Ira, and playwrights George M. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind the 1932 Pulitzer Prize for drama - while excluding George.
All four had collaborated to produce the political satire "Of Thee I Sing," the first musical ever to win a Pulitzer for drama. But the committee ruled that George Gershwin, being the only one of the foursome whose work on the show was in music rather than words, wasn't eligible for what was considered a literary prize - a somewhat technical if not pompous decision.
Pulitzer Prizes for music were not awarded until 1943, six years after George's death at the age of 38.
So George took a rare, momentary back seat to Ira, and his contribution to the American music scene lingered 66 more years before receiving recognition from the Pulitzer committee.
Interestingly, others in the field of music received special citations before Gershwin. In 1944, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were so honored for the musical "Oklahoma," after they were overlooked for the Pulitzer in music. And composer William Schuman received a special citation in 1985.
For recognition to come late to George Gershwin is not rare.
His "Porgy and Bess," which has become an American, if not worldwide, institution, was received with confusion in 1935, some critics claiming it was not opera in the classic sense - "an aggrandized musical show" - some claiming it was racist in nature, others simply not comprehending what Gershwin, along with his brother and Dubose Heyward, had created.
Philip Furia's biography "Ira Gershwin" quotes one reviewer as calling the emotion-choked, classic lament "I Loves You, Porgy," as "a blemish upon (the theater's) musical integrity."
"Porgy and Bess" struggled in its initial offering to the public but began to take its place in musical history in revivals.
Often I have wondered just how the critics received George's "Rhapsody in Blue," his brassy venture into the field of symphonic music in 1924. Like "Porgy and Bess" a decade later, critics were somewhat confused by Gershwin's journey down new roads.
In a review in The New York Times on Feb. 13, 1924, the introduction of "Rhapsody in Blue" at New York's Aeolian Hall fell under the heading "A Concert of Jazz." Reviewed by Olin Downes, first mention of Gershwin's composition was well down the column of type, as there were other debuts in what that night was billed as an "Experiment in Modern Music."
Downes did not quite know what to make of "Rhapsody in Blue." While he praised Gershwin as a composer of enormous talent, he also wrote that George was "struggling with a form with which he is far from being a master." He added that Gershwin's purpose in "Rhapsody" was defeated by technical immaturity and that it "also stands out as counter-acting, quite unconsciously, a weakness of the program, that is, a tendency to sameness of rhythm and sentiment to music" - whatever all that piffle means.
I suppose it meant that George Gershwin, despite being an internationally acclaimed composer who created new styles in music, was going to have to wait until 61 years after he died before being recognized formally by the Pulitzer committee for his work - and then just with a special citation.
What brother Ira wrote in his Pulitzer lyrics applies to George today:
Of thee I sing, baby
You have got that certain thing, baby!
Shining star and inspiration,
Worthy of a mighty nation
Of thee I sing!