Gershwin, Strike Up the Band

We traditionally turn to something with an American theme for the Fourth of July. Yes, we have been doing this series long enough to have traditions. This years marks our 9th Fourth of July.

And when it comes to American music, few composers can match the renown of George Gershwin.

Strike Up the Band was conceived as Broadway Musical in 1927 with lyrics by George’s brother Ira Gershwin and book by George S. Kaufman. (The 1940 Judy Garland-Mickey Rooney film Strike Up the Band is an entirely different work.) The story was filled with political satire having to do with trade tariffs on cheese and calls for war with Switzerland of all places. It opened in Philadelphia and flopped.

Substantial revisions were made before it premiered on Broadway in 1930. Morrie Ryskind revised the book to add a greater level of silliness. He said at the time, “What I had to do, in a sense, is to rewrite War and Peace for the Three Stooges.” It should be noted, however, that Kaufman collaborated with Ryskind and the Gershwins quite successfully on other projects. Together they created the popular 1931 musical Of Thee I Sing, which won the Pulitzer Prize.

In addition to the title song “Strike Up the Band,” the 1930 musical includes the well-known Gershwin songs “Soon” and “I Got a Crush on You.” You can hear those in the Overture featured here. Another Gershwin standard “The Man I Love” was included in the original 1927 version but dropped from the 1930 version. Many other changes were made to the musical numbers.

We have an in-depth look at George Gershwin in our Composer Showcase.