Oscar Levant was born December 27, 1906, in Pittsburgh, PA. He was an American pianist, composer, author, comedian, and actor. In his early 20s he met and befriended George Gershwin. Levant became the sole interpreter and virtuoso performer of Gershwins music after Gershwins death. From 1929 to 1948 Levant composed the music for more than twenty movies. His Sonatina for Piano caught the ear of Copland, who persuaded him to premiere it in April 1932 at Coplands festival for contemporary American music. Around 1935, Levant began composing seriously. He studied with Schoenberg and impressed him sufficiently to be offered an assistantship (which he turned down, considering himself unqualified). Along with all of this he was also an amazing comedian. Ignore the poor video quality in the below clip, the content is excellent!
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 15:30:01 +0000
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