Leonard Bernstein
American conductor and composer (1918–1990) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Leonard Bernstein?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Leonard Bernstein (/ˈbɜːrnstaɪn/ BURN-styne)[1] (born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first American-born conductor to receive international acclaim. Bernstein was "one of the most prodigiously talented and successful musicians in American history" according to music critic Donal Henahan.[2] Bernstein's honors and accolades include seven Emmy Awards,[3] two Tony Awards,[4] and 16 Grammy Awards (including the Lifetime Achievement Award)[5] as well as an Academy Award nomination. He received the Kennedy Center Honor in 1981.[6]
Leonard Bernstein | |
---|---|
Born | Louis Bernstein (1918-08-25)August 25, 1918 Lawrence, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Died | October 14, 1990(1990-10-14) (aged 72) New York City, U.S. |
Burial place | Green-Wood Cemetery |
Education | Harvard University (BA) Curtis Institute of Music (Dip) |
Occupations |
|
Works | List of compositions |
Spouse | |
Children | 3 |
Awards | Full list |
Signature | |
As a composer, Bernstein wrote in many genres, including symphonic and orchestral music, ballet, film and theatre music, choral works, opera, chamber music, and pieces for the piano. Bernstein's works include the Broadway musical West Side Story, which continues to be regularly performed worldwide, and has been adapted into two (1961 and 2021) feature films, three symphonies, Serenade after Plato's "Symposium" (1954), and Chichester Psalms (1965), the original score for the Elia Kazan drama film On the Waterfront (1954), and theater works including On the Town (1944), Wonderful Town (1953), Candide (1956), and his Mass (1971).
Bernstein was the first American-born conductor to lead a major American symphony orchestra.[7] He was music director of the New York Philharmonic and conducted the world's major orchestras, generating a legacy of audio and video recordings.[8] Bernstein was also a critical figure in the modern revival of the music of Gustav Mahler, in whose music he was most interested.[9] A skilled pianist,[10] Bernstein often conducted piano concertos from the keyboard. He shared and explored classical music on television with a mass audience in national and international broadcasts, including Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic.[11]
Bernstein worked in support of civil rights,[12] protested against the Vietnam War,[13] advocated nuclear disarmament, raised money for HIV/AIDS research and awareness, and engaged in multiple international initiatives for human rights and world peace. He conducted Mahler's Resurrection Symphony to mark the death of president John F. Kennedy,[14] and in Israel at a concert, Hatikvah on Mt. Scopus, after the Six-Day War.[15] The sequence of events was recorded for a documentary entitled Journey to Jerusalem.[16] At the end of his life, Bernstein conducted a performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in Berlin to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall.
This section needs additional citations for verification. (August 2022) |
1918–1935: Early life and family
Bernstein was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, to Russian Jewish/Ukrainian Jewish parents, Jennie (née Resnick)[17] and Samuel Joseph Bernstein, both of whom immigrated to the United States[7] from Rivne, Russian Empire (now in Ukraine).[18][19] His grandmother insisted that his first name be Louis, but his parents always called him Leonard. Bernstein legally changed his name from Louis to Leonard when he was 18, shortly after his grandmother's death.[20] To his friends and many others, Bernstein was simply known as "Lenny".[21]
Bernstein's mother had moved to stay with her parents in Lawrence toward the end of her first pregnancy, and since he was sickly as an infant, he stayed there until he was strong enough to join his father in Boston, where he eventually attended the Boston Latin School. When he was 15, the family moved to nearby Newton, Massachusetts.[22]
Bernstein's father was the owner of The Samuel Bernstein Hair and Beauty Supply Company.[23] It held the New England franchise for the Frederick's Permanent Wave Machine, the immense popularity of which helped Sam get his family through the Great Depression.[24]
In Bernstein's early youth, his only exposure to music was the household radio and music on Friday nights at Congregation Mishkan Tefila in Roxbury, Massachusetts. When Bernstein was ten years old, Samuel's sister Clara deposited her upright piano at her brother's house. Bernstein began teaching himself piano and music theory, and was soon clamoring for lessons. He had a variety of piano teachers in his youth, including Helen Coates, who later became his secretary. In the summers, the Bernstein family would go to their vacation home in Sharon, Massachusetts, where young Leonard conscripted all the neighborhood children to put on shows ranging from Bizet's Carmen to Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance. He would often play entire operas or Beethoven symphonies with his younger sister, Shirley. Leonard's youngest sibling, Burton, was born in 1932, 13 years after Leonard.[25] Despite the large age differences, the three siblings remained close their entire lives.
Sam was initially opposed to young Leonard's interest in music and attempted to discourage his son's interest by refusing to pay for his piano lessons. Leonard then took to giving lessons to young people in his neighborhood. One of his students, Sid Ramin, became Bernstein's most frequent orchestrator and lifelong beloved friend.[26]
Sam took his son to orchestral concerts in his teenage years and eventually supported his music education. In May 1932, Leonard attended his first orchestral concert with the Boston Pops Orchestra conducted by Arthur Fiedler. Bernstein recalled, "To me, in those days, the Pops was heaven itself ... I thought ... it was the supreme achievement of the human race."[27] It was at this concert that Bernstein first heard Ravel's Boléro, which made a tremendous impression on him.[28]
Another strong musical influence was George Gershwin. Bernstein was working as a music counselor at a summer camp when news came of Gershwin's death. Bernstein interrupted lunch in the mess hall, and then played Gershwin's second Prelude as a memorial.[29]
On March 30, 1932, Bernstein played Brahms's Rhapsody in G minor at his first public piano performance in Susan Williams's studio recital at the New England Conservatory. Two years later, he made his solo debut with orchestra in Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor with the Boston Public School Orchestra.[30]
Bernstein's first two education environments were both public schools: the William Lloyd Garrison School, followed by the prestigious Boston Latin School,[31] for which Bernstein and classmate Lawrence F. Ebb wrote the Class Song.[32]
1935–1941: College years
Harvard University
In 1935, Bernstein enrolled at Harvard College, where he studied music with, among others, Edward Burlingame Hill and Walter Piston. Bernstein's first extant composition, Psalm 148, set for voice and piano, is dated 1935. He majored in music with a final year thesis titled "The Absorption of Race Elements into American Music" (1939; reproduced in his book Findings). One of Bernstein's intellectual influences at Harvard was the aesthetics Professor David Prall, whose multidisciplinary outlook on the arts inspired Bernstein for the rest of his life. One of Bernstein's friends at Harvard was future philosopher Donald Davidson, with whom Bernstein played piano duets. Bernstein wrote and conducted the musical score for the production Davidson mounted of Aristophanes' play The Birds, performed in the original Greek. Bernstein recycled some of this music in future works. While a student, Bernstein was briefly an accompanist for the Harvard Glee Club as well as an unpaid pianist for Harvard Film Society's silent film presentations.[33]
Bernstein mounted a student production of The Cradle Will Rock, directing its action from the piano as the composer Marc Blitzstein had done at the infamous premiere. Blitzstein, who attended the performance, subsequently became a close friend and mentor to Bernstein.[34] As a sophomore at Harvard, Bernstein met the conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos. Mitropoulos's charisma and power as a musician were major influences on Bernstein's eventual decision to become a conductor.[35] Mitropoulos invited Bernstein to come to Minneapolis for the 1940–41 season to be his assistant, but the plan fell through because of union issues.[36] In 1937, Bernstein sat next to Aaron Copland at a dance recital at Town Hall in New York City. Copland invited Bernstein to his birthday party afterwards, where Bernstein impressed the guests by playing Copland's challenging Piano Variations, a work Bernstein loved. Although he was never a formal student of Copland's, Bernstein regularly sought his advice, often citing him as his "only real composition teacher".[37] Bernstein graduated from Harvard in 1939 with a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude.
Curtis Institute of Music
After graduating from Harvard, Bernstein enrolled at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. At Curtis, Bernstein studied conducting with Fritz Reiner (who is said to have given Bernstein the only "A" grade he ever awarded); piano with Isabelle Vengerova; orchestration with Randall Thompson; counterpoint with Richard Stöhr; and score reading with Renée Longy Miquelle.[38] In 1940, Bernstein attended the inaugural year of the Tanglewood Music Center (then called the Berkshire Music Center) at the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home.[39] Bernstein studied conducting with the BSO's music director, Serge Koussevitzky, who became a profound lifelong inspiration to Bernstein.[40] He became Koussevitzky's conducting assistant at Tanglewood[41] and later dedicated his Symphony No. 2: The Age of Anxiety to his beloved mentor.[42] One of Bernstein's classmates, both at Curtis and at Tanglewood, was Lukas Foss, who remained a lifelong friend and colleague. Bernstein returned to Tanglewood nearly every summer for the rest of his life to teach and conduct the young music students. Bernstein received a diploma in conducting from Curtis in 1941.