To Be True Music It Must Repeat the Thoughts and Aspirations of the People and the Time. My People Are Americans. My Time Is Today

George Gershwin? Bennett Cerf? Edward Jablonski? Apocryphal?

Dear Quote Investigator: U.S. pianist and composer George Gershwin is known for works such as “Rhapsody in Blue” and “I Got Rhythm”. He believed that music should embody the thoughts and aspirations of a people and a time. He said his people were Americans and his time was now. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Quote Investigator: In 1927 George Gershwin published an essay titled “Jazz Is the Voice of the American Soul” in “Theatre Magazine”. His concluding paragraph included the following. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:^[1]1927 March, Theatre Magazine: For the Lovers of Stage and Screen, Volume 45, Number 311, Jazz Is the Voice of the American Soul by George Gershwin, Start Page 14, Quote Page 52B, Theatre Magazine … Continue reading

I do not know what the next decade will disclose in music. No composer knows. But to be true music it must repeat the thoughts and aspirations of the people and the time. My people are Americans. My time is to-day.

Of to-morrow, and of my to-morrow, as an interpreter of American life in music, I am sure of but one thing: That the essence of future music will hold enough of the melody and harmony of to-day to reveal its origin. It will be sure to have a tincture of the derided yesterday, which has been accepted to-day, and which perhaps to-morrow will be exalted—jazz.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

In 1933 “The Daily Times” of Davenport, Iowa published a profile of George Gershwin which included rephrased text from the 1927 article:^[2] 1933 November 25, The Daily Times, Gershwin Created New Type of Jazz, Critics Declare, Quote Page 8, Column 1, Davenport, Iowa. (Newspapers_com)

No composer knows what the next decade in music will disclose, but to be true music and lasting it must repeat the thoughts and aspirations of the people and the times. My people are Americans. My time is today.

Gershwin died in 1937. The publisher and columnist Bennett Cerf penned an essay commemorating his life in “The Saturday Review” in 1943. Cerf included a rephrased instance of Gershwin’s quotation:^[3] 1943 July 17, The Saturday Review, In Memory of George Gershwin (September, 1898—July, 1937) by Bennett Cerf, Start Page 14, Quote Page 16, Column 3, The Saturday Review Associates, New York. (Unz)

George Gershwin expressed his credo in these words: “My people are American, my time is today. Music must repeat the thought and aspirations of the times.”

Six years after his death, his exciting songs are played more frequently than they were during his lifetime.

In 1944 Bennett Cerf reprinted the above version of the quotation in his popular book “Try and Stop Me”.^[4] 1944, Try and Stop Me by Bennett Cerf, Quote Page 217, Simon & Schuster, New York. (Verified with hardcopy)

In 1962 “The Reporter” magazine of New York published a piece titled “The People and Time of George Gershwin” by Edward Jablonski containing the following passage:^[5] 1962 July 19, The Reporter, The People and Time of George Gershwin by Edward Jablonski, Start Page 46, Quote Page 47, Column 1 and 2, Publisher Max Ascoli, New York. (Unz)

It was his aim, as he put it, “to reflect the thoughts and aspirations of the people and the time.” He never defined either the thoughts or the aspirations, but he did add a typically Gershwinesque statement: “My people are American. My time is today.”

Edward Jablonski and Lawrence D. Stewart published “The Gershwin Years” in 1958, and the second edition was released in 1973. The following epigraph appeared at the beginning of the book:^[6]1973, The Gershwin Years by Edward Jablonski and Lawrence D. Stewart, Second edition, (Epigraph of book after title page), Quotation on Unnumbered Page, (First edition released in 1958), Doubleday … Continue reading

… true music … must repeat the thought and aspirations of the people and the time. My people are Americans. My time is today. …
George Gershwin, 1926

The 1980 edition of “Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations” included the following entry which cited “The Gershwin Years”. The word “aspirations” became “inspirations”:^[7]1980, Familiar Quotations by John Bartlett, Edited by Emily Morison Beck, Fifteenth and 125th Anniversary Edition, Entry: George Gershwin (1898-1937), Quote Page 842, Column 1, Published by Little, … Continue reading

True music … must repeat the thought and inspirations of the people and the time. My people are Americans. My time is today.
From Edward Jablonski and Lawrence D. Stewart, The Gershwin Years [1926]

In conclusion, George Gershwin deserves credit for the comments he wrote in “Theatre Magazine” in 1927. During the ensuing years the phrasing and wording evolved.

Image Notes: Illustration of notes on a scale from Clker-Free-Vector-Images at Pixabay. Image has been resized.

(Great thanks to Kevin Woodruff whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Special thanks to librarian Peter Armenti of the Library of Congress who accessed and verified the crucial 1927 citation. Thanks to discussants Jeff Graf and S. M. Colowick of the Wombats mailing list. Also, thanks to twitter discussants Jo Hedwig Teeuwisse, DissBugBear and FunkerHornsby1.)