Vol. 17  No. 21 FINAL EDITION Choose a Section -------------------------- Front Page Local Arts & Entertainment Datebook Real Estate Opinion Classifieds Search E-mail Bag About TNT Masthead Advertising Rates Local News Links Online Sponsors -------------------------- Avalon Club Archer's Music Chicken Pie Shop The Daily Planet Irene's Cafe Roger Rocka's 2nd Space InteriorDeco.com Presentations Inc. Cerro Negro Onomuse Melinda Masters Band Points Unknown PC Paramedics Web Portal Inc. Wednesday, February 2, 2000 George Gershwin Centennial Historical significance lies in his use of jazz-derived techniques. By Amy Williams, Managing Editor      FRESNO - George Gershwin's place in American popular culture, one hundred years after his birth, is as, in Irving Berlin's words, "the only songwriter I know who became a composer." As a songwriter, his historical significance lies in his use of jazz-derived techniques -- specifically the flattened thirds and sevens known as "blue" notes.      But his frame of reference continued to expand, which resulted in his Concerto in F and the tone poem "An American In Paris" -- quantum leaps from the less-developed segments that formed the Andante from "Rhapsody in Blue."      Ultimately, his broad comprehension of the classical repertoire led him to create an opera, "Porgy and Bess," now regarded as the composer's masterpiece.      Gershwin's stature among his peers continues to spark controversy. But he left behind three of the most effective concert scores ever written by an American composer, and the only American opera that truly has entered the global repertory.      He was, in short, the product of an immigrant family who became an internationally celebrated composer who made the whole world of music his own. Nothing could be more American. Letter to the Editor ©1984-2000 TNT Newspaper. All rights reserved. Tower District News Sections: Jukebox | Front Page | Local | Arts & Entertainment | Datebook | Events | Real Estate | Opinion Classifieds | Search | E-mail Bag | About TNT | Masthead | Advertise | TNT Marketplace | Screening Room Online Destinations: Archer's Music | CandyCreations | Daily Planet | Irene's Cafe | Majestic Pawn | Roger Rocka's | The 2nd Space InteriorDeco.com | Cerro Negro | Onomuse | Presentations Inc. | Points Unknown | PC Paramedics | Web Portal Foundation