George Gershwin is at once one of America's most popular and least appreciated composers. He is loved and revered for his wonderful songs, a few instrumental works, and for the opera Porgy and Bess. Most of his music, however, is virtually unknown—hundreds of songs, show music, and even several large and important instrumental works are gradually fading with the generations that first heard them.

This book promises to make a key contribution to American music research, and Schneider has corra...