Biography of Leonard Bernstein
American Conductor and Composer, also Pianist, Teacher, Author
Feb 1, 2008
American Leonard Bernstein, (1918-1990), was a renowned conductor, composer and pianist, famous for the musical West Side Story and opera Candide. His most popular stage works are ballets and musicals.
Energetic and versatile, perhaps, Bernstein was more influential as a conductor than as a composer as he drew tremendous audiences around the world. He was an eclectic composer with his inspired influences coming from many different sources - from his fellow American composers Gershwin and Copland, from Mahler and Stravinsky, exciting idea of concert jazz, and just about anything.
Early Life: Musical Training
Leonard Bernstein was born on 25 August 1918, in Lawrence Massachusetts, USA. He studied at Harvard University with Walter Piston and at Curtis Institute.
The Conductor: Philharmonic and Symphony Orchestras
In 1944, aged 26, he made his reputation as a conductor as a replacement when Bruno Walter became ill, after which he was associated with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra as musical director, soon achieving an international reputation. He conducted in Vienna and La Scala, Milan, the first American to conduct there.
The Composer: American Stage and Screen Musicals
Among other compositions, Bernstein wrote two of the greatest of all American stage and screen musicals, On the Town and West Side Story, which is Shakespeare's classic story Romeo and Juliet transferred to the contemporary New York life.
In more personal level, Bernstein was also an author (e.g., The Joy of Music), teacher, spellbinding broadcaster on radio and television, simply, a talented communicator.
Bernstein's Works
His works, which established a more realistic, contemporary themes, include symphonies such as The Age of Anxiety, ballets such as Fancy Free, and scores for musicals, including Wonderful Town, West Side Story, and Mass in memory of President John F Kennedy. Other works are symphony Jeremiah, the ballet Facsimile, and the musicals Candide and the Chichester Psalms.
Symphonies
- Jeremiah (1944)
- Symphony No.2, 'The Age of Anxiety' (1949)
- Symphony No.3, 'Kaddish'
Opera
- Trouble in Tahiti (1951)
Ballets
- Fancy Free (1944)
- Facsimile (1946)
Scores for musicals
- Wonderful Town (1953)
- Candide (1956)
- West Side Story (1957), in which he arranged an exciting set of “symphonic dances” from the score, also includes the song "America")
- Chichester Psalms (1965)
- Mass (1971), in memory of President John F Kennedy
Film Music
- On the Waterfront (1954)
The Musical Director
From 1958 to 1970, he was musical director of the New York Philharmonic.
Leonard Bernstein was one of the most attractive, entertaining, and creative minds of the 20th century.
Sources:
The Encyclopedia of Music by Max Wade-Matthews & Wendy Thompson, Hermes House (2002)
The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music, Edited by Stanley Sadie, Macmillan (1994)
The Oxford Companion to Music, Edited by Alison Latham, OUP (2002)
The Oxford Dictionary of Music, Edited by Michael Kennedy, OUP (1994)
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