LOOK FOR THE MUSIC
Herbert Feis relates how George Gershwin was talking to a friend on the crowded beach of a resort near New York City. The sounds and shrieks of voices pierced their conversation. Clanking tunes ground out from a nearby merry-go-round, while barkers and hucksters shouted themselves hoarse. From underground came the deep roar of the subway; beside them crashed the relentless tumble of the sea. Gershwin listened and then remarked to his friend, “All of this could form such a beautiful pattern of sound. It could turn into a magnificent musical piece expressive of every human activity and feeling with pauses, counterpoints, blends and climaxes of sound that would be beautifuly . . . But it is not that . . . It is all discordant, terrible and exhausting — as we hear it now. The pattern is always being shattered.” It is a parable of our time. So many confusing sounds and noises, so much unrest, so much rapid change.…
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