GERSHWIN, GEORGE (1898-1937), American composer, prominently identified with music of the jazz type, was born in Brooklyn, New York city, on Sept. 26, 1898. Though he had already written the music for eight musical comedies, and various other works, it was his Rhapsody in Blue, an elaborate composition for piano and orchestra in the jazz style, that first drew serious attention. Later compositions are Concerto in F (1925); a suite of preludes for the piano, 1926; Porgy and Bess (opera),