Leonard Bernstein Essay, Research Paper
Leonard Bernstein was born in Lawrenceville, Massachusettes on
August 25, 1918. He was the first born kid of Samuel and Jennie Bernstein,
who lived in Boston, but had gone to Lawrenceville to see some relations.
Bernstein & # 8217 ; s parents had small cognition of, or involvement in
classical music. The lone records Leonard remembers hearing on his household
record player when he was a kid were the popular hit vocals of the twenty-four hours, such as?
Barney Google? and? Oh by Jingo. ?
For the most portion, Leonard Bernstein was an unhappy kid. He said, ?
I was a suffering, panicky small kid? ( Musicians p.64 ) . His household moved
from town to town, during Bernstein & # 8217 ; s school yearss, non giving him a opportunity to
do close friends or feel at place. Sadly, Bernstein & # 8217 ; s equals would do merriment of
and annoyer Bernstein. He was a really sallow kid as he suffered from chronic
asthma, rose febrility, and hay febrility. This hapless kid grew to be a really diffident
Leonard ever had a bosom for music, even as a immature male child. As
an eight twelvemonth old, one forenoon, when he was sitting in the temple, the
spiritual music of the choir and organ overwhelmed him by it & # 8217 ; s beauty and caused
him to split into cryings. When Leonard and his household would see their friends,
Leonard would mouse over to the piano and experiment. When he was eleven, his
aunt sent her piano to his house for his household to maintain for storage. ? I made
love to it right off? he recalled ( Musicians p. 65 ) . He could get away from all
his defeats and unhappiness by playing the piano. His parents didn & # 8217 ; t like the
fact that he was ever at the piano, they wanted him to concentrate on his
school work. They thought of piano playing as a waste of clip because it stood
in the manner of Leonard & # 8217 ; s larning his male parent & # 8217 ; s concern, which they planned for
him to finally take over.
At the age of 10, Leonard found a piano instructor who would give
him lessons for a dollar a lesson. But that teacher shortly moved off and Leonard
found himself paying another piano teacher three dollars a lesson out of his
allowance. After more than a twelvemonth of piano lessons that merely weren & # 8217 ; t learning
him much, Leonard found a new, and this clip first-class piano instructor named Helen
Coates. She was sensitive to Leonard & # 8217 ; s shyness and knew what it took to learn
him. She had him analyze symphonic musics and operas from the printed page and
encouraged him to compose. She besides encouraged him to travel to concerts. After
watching Stravinsky & # 8217 ; s The Rite of Spring and Prokofiev & # 8217 ; s Classical Symphony, he
became cognizant non merely of symphonic music, but specifically of 20th century
music. Until so, he ne’er realized that music had a hereafter. He had ever
idea of it as something that had already been written. Bernsteins desire for
music became greater and greater. He began go toing the public concerts of the
& # 8216 ; He was scarily gifted, & # 8217 ; Miss Coates recalled in ulterior old ages. ? He could
read, sing and memorise anything. He absorbed in one lesson an agreement that
took most of my students five or six lessons to learn. & # 8217 ; 1
As an 11 twelvemonth old, he entered The Boston Latin School and
graduated with awards in 1935. He was an outstanding student- in the top 10
per centum of his category, but didn & # 8217 ; t seem to be without music. It was, by now, a
portion of him.
Soon, after he turned 13, he and his pa went on a sail
through the Panama Canal. He entertained everyone on the sail with his piano
playing. Everyone loved him so much that the ship & # 8217 ; s manager offered him a
lasting occupation with the ships staff.
Music truly changed Leonard & # 8217 ; s diffident personality for the better,
along with his hapless wellness.
From Boston Latin School Bernstein went on to Harvard College.
He wrote for and performed in college productions, played the piano for the hilarity
nine and provided the background music for soundless gesture images.
In 1939 Bernstein graduated from Harvard with the grade of
Bachelor of Humanistic disciplines and a cum laude in music. By this clip Dimitri Mitropoulos,
the manager, had become interested in him. He encouraged Bernstein to fall in
at the Boston Symphony & # 8217 ; s dry runs. He besides encouraged him to see
going a music director. Bernstein felt he must acquire away from his male parents
relentless pecking to fall in his concern, so he left place and found a topographic point for
himself in music in New York City.
Bernstein attended the Curtis Institute for two old ages, where his
chief involvement was in conducting. For the summers of 1940 and 1941 he studied at
Tanglewood with Koussevitzky. It merely took those two summers for Koussevitzky
to go impressed plenty to desire to hold Bernstein as his helper. In 1942
he was invited by Rodzinski to move as adjunct music director of the New York PO.
November 13, 1944 was the twenty-four hours that Bernsteins calling skyrocketed. The Sunday
afternoon concert of the New York Philharmonic, which was broadcast on a
national hookup of the Columbia Broadcasting System, was to be conducted by
Bruno Walter, guest music director. The eventide before that concert Walter became
excessively sick to execute, and Bernstein was chosen for a last minute replacement. He
had no chance to practise the orchestra and merely a few hours to fix
himself for a long and complicated plan that included the universe premiere of
Miklo`s Ro`zsa & # 8217 ; s Variations on a Magyar Peasant Song. Bernstein appeared
have oning a grey concern suit, which was the first clip a music director had worn
mundane apparels at a Philharmonic concert.
Soon after, he appeared with the Pittsburg and Boston orchestras
and became music director of the New York City Orchestra ( 1945-1948 ) . The first
concert he conducted with his new orchestra was the Israel PO in 1947. ? He
served as its music adviser in 1948-1949, and was co-conductor with Koussevitzky
for the orchestra & # 8217 ; s American circuit in 1951? ( Grove p. 631 ) .
On September 9, 1951, he married Felicia Montealegre in Boston.
She was a immature actress, born in Costa Rica, who had come to the United States
seeking to do visual aspects on the phase and on Television. They lived in a nine
room semidetached house on Fifty-seventh Street, diagonally across to Carnegie Hall. There
they raised their first two kids. Their family included Helen Coates,
who had been Bernstein & # 8217 ; s piano instructor from long ago.
In 1957 Dimitri Mitropoulos, music manager of the New York
Philharmonic, appointed Bernstein co-director for the 1957-1958 season. When
that season ended, Mitropoulos withdrew to go forth Bernstein as full music
manager. He was both the youngest adult male and the lone American-born instrumentalist to
be in that place. He held it for 11 old ages, longer than any manager in
the history of the organisation.
Leonard Bernstein became a instructor and a observer on music
with categories at the Berkshire Music Center, Brandeis University, Harvard
University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In October 1976, the Bernsteins announced that they had
decided upon a legal separation. Although their matrimony lasted 25
old ages, Bernstein said that his matrimony was keeping him back from being the best
creative person he could be. When Mrs. Bernstein became earnestly sick, though, they
Bernstein has received such awards as the Albert Einstein
Commemorative Award in the Humanistic disciplines from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine ;
the John H. Finley Medal for service to New York City ; the Aureate European
trophy, an one-year award given to an outstanding figure in popular music ; the
Datsun Award for? outstanding service to American music? ; the Institute of
International Education Award presented by President Nixon ; and the George
Foster Peabody Awards for his telecasting plans.
Bernstein provided the music for four celebrated Broadway musicals
with a superior sum of edification and technique. Often times, he would
green goods music with great temper and sentiment. Bernstein & # 8217 ; s great endowments led
him to author a few books in the 1960 & # 8217 ; s. One of his most recent, celebrated
aggregations of his music is used in the of all time popular movie West Side Story.
Leonard Bernstein was the? Renaissance adult male of 20th century
music. ? Over the decennaries, Bernstein has been called one of the most magnetic
and talented personalities in the music of our times.