Coincidentally, last week saw the death of someone
who had surely become the exemplar of American class
to the point of cliché - La Hepburn. (Cliché but still,
probably, the real article in a way that that more recent
pretender, Grace Kelly, could never be, not in a million years.)
In an obituary, one of her goddaughters described a recent,
last evening together when the two of them had so happily
attended a performance of Porgy & Bess given by the American
company currently touring the world. By an even more tenuous
coincidence, I read this tribute the morning after my wife & I
had enjoyed the same wonderful show during its visit here to Cork.
I doubt if they had any more pleasure from it than we did -
or even as much. (Let me commend it to you next time it comes
to Poughkeepsie.)
Gershwin was a great melodic genius whom I revere. Yet with all
his elegance of line, his absolute individuality, the word 'class'
seems quite inappropriate. (As it is, I suspect, to artistic creative
activity generally.) As well as 'My man's gone', & the Rhapsody
& 'Love walked in', George - remember - also wrote 'Swanee'.
His tunes came out of those heart-broken worlds of ? synagogue ?
& blues where the word 'class' would be as out of place, it seems
to me, as a Chanel dress in a Rodin studio.
Scottie B.
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Received on Wed Jul 9 18:28:52 2003
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