We’re
celebrating Leonard Bernstein’s centennial year this summer on Clef Notes.
Bernstein is remembered for his work as a composer, conductor, pianist,
educator, and so much more. Today, let’s focus our attention on Bernstein as a
composer – specifically how his heritage impacted many of his works. This post was written by WGUC intern, Connor Annable.
Leonard
Bernstein was born in 1918 to Jewish immigrants from Ukraine. This heritage
would later impact his compositions. We first see an example this in his Symphony #1, written not
long after Bernstein graduated from Harvard. He called it “Jeremiah” because it
drew from a Hebrew setting of the Lamentations of Jeremiah in the Bible, which
is sung in the symphony’s final movement by a solo mezzo-soprano. What do you
think of this work? Bernstein began work on this piece in the late 1930s,
during a time when tensions were rising in Europe under Hitler. Do you think
these tensions are reflected in this piece?
It
was not until 1965 that Bernstein allowed his Jewish heritage to fully come
through in his music. In that year, he composed the Chichester Psalms
on a commission from Walter Hussey for performance at that year’s Southern
Cathedrals Festival in Chichester, England. The work is a setting of selected
texts from the Psalms in Hebrew. Bernstein’s musical structures are firmly
rooted in tonality while also being rhythmically adventurous. Interestingly enough, Bernstein’s melodic
roots in Chichester Psalms appear to
be centered in American popular music, since most of its themes are based on
recycled material from West Side Story.
At
roughly the same time, Bernstein had completed his Symphony No. 3
“Kaddish,” composed to honor the memory of John F. Kennedy, who had been
assassinated in 1963. This work sets the traditional Kaddish prayer for the
dead, juxtaposed against an English text written by Bernstein himself and read by a
solo speaker. Bernstein manages to retain some of his distinctly American flare
by writing mainly tonal harmonies with frequent use of mixed meters.
One
of Bernstein’s lesser-known works is a “nocturne” for flute and orchestra
titled Halil. This work is
a prominent example from the later part of Bernstein’s career showing his
Jewish heritage. Bernstein dedicated Halil
to the memory of an Israeli flute student named Yadin Tannenbaum who was killed
fighting in the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.
Because
2018 marks the 100th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein’s birth, it is
important to understand how much of an impact his music has had on audiences
today, while never underestimating the importance of religious themes or
overtones.
RECOMMENDED
RECORDINGS
Symphony
No. 1:
Israel
Philharmonic/Leonard Bernstein, conductor; Christa Ludwig, mezzo-soprano
Deutsche Grammophon 00028945775722
Baltimore
Symphony Orchestra/Marin Alsop, conductor; Jennifer Johnson Cano,
mezzo-soprano
Naxos 8.559790
Chichester
Psalms:
Israel
Philharmonic/Leonard Bernstein, conductor; Wiener Jeunesse Chor; Soloist from
Wiener Sängerknaben
Deutsche
Grammophon 00028945775722
Symphony
No. 3:
New
York Philharmonic/Leonard Bernstein, conductor; Jennie Tourel, soprano; Felicia
Montealegre, narrator; Camerata Singers; Columbus Boychoir
Sony
Classical 074646059524
Israel
Philharmonic/Leonard Bernstein, conductor; Montserrat Caballé, soprano; Michael
Wager, narrator; Wiener Jeunesse Chor; Wiener Sängerknaben
Deutsche
Grammophon 00028944795424 or 00028946982921
Baltimore
Symphony Orchestra/Marin Alsop, conductor; Kelly Nassief, soprano; Claire
Bloom, narrator; Washington Chorus; Maryland State Boychoir
Naxos 8.559742
Halil:
Sao
Paolo Symphony Orchestra/John Neschling, conductor; Sharon Bezaly, flute
BIS BIS-CD-1650
Israel
Philharmonic/Leonard Bernstein, conductor; Jean-Pierre Rampal, flute
Deutsche
Grammophon 00028946982921
