George Gershwin was a wonderful free and disciplined incarnation of the American spirit. "Why should I limit myself" he said, "to only one woman when I can have as many women as I want?" He understood that he represented his era: “True music must repeat the thought and inspirations of the people and the time.” With Irving Berlin and Paul McCartney, he dominated the crafting of great popular melody in his century, saying: “I frequently hear music in the very heart of noise.” The capacity for Great Music is a gift to us from God.