Compact Discoveries^®
a series of one-hour radio programs produced, written, hosted, and edited by Fred Flaxman
©2005 by Compact Discoveries, Inc.

Program 85
"Bernstein for Orchestra"

MUSIC: clip from Bernstein Wrong Note Rag performed by Proteus 7 [Dorian xCD-90278, track 24] [under the following]

Welcome to Compact Discoveries. I’m your guide, Fred Flaxman, and for the next hour we’re going to explore Leonard Bernstein’s best and brightest music for orchestra. We’ll start with his Overture to Candide and we’ll include the Symphonic Dances from West Side Story and excerpts from Fancy Free, On the Town, Mass, On the Waterfront and Chichester Psalms.

MUSIC: fades out

Leonard Bernstein was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1918. He died in 1990. He was multi-talented: an excellent conductor, pianist, lecturer, author, teacher, and composer. As a composer he could and did write everything from great tunes for Broadway musicals...

MUSIC: opening bars from “Tonight” from West Side Story, Boston Pops Orchestra conducted by Arthur Fiedler (RCA Victor 09026-68699-2, track 7)

...to listener-challenging modern symphonies...


MUSIC: a few bars from opening Bernstein Symphony No. 1 (“Jeremiah”), New Zealand Symphony Orchestra conducted by James Judd [Naxos 8.559100, track 1]

Although of Jewish heritage, Bernstein could and did write a Mass...

MUSIC: clip from Bernstein: Mass performed by the Boston Pops Orchestra conducted by John Williams [Philips 416 360-2, track 2]

...as well as music inspired by his Jewish roots...

MUSIC: clip from Bernstein: Hashkiveinu with the BBC Singers [Naxos Milken Archive of American Jewish Music 8.559407, track 19]

His televised Young People’s Concerts from Carnegie Hall with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra introduced a new generation to classical music.

Bernstein’s own work as a composer, particularly his scores for such Broadway musicals as West Side Story and On the Town, helped forge a new bridge between classical and popular music.

I’ll tell you more about the man who was affectionately known as “Lenny” later. But let’s get to some of his wonderful music right now, starting with the Overture to Candide.

Candide was orignally conceived as a musical — almost an operetta, really — with a book by Lilian Hellman and lyrics by Richard Wilbur. It opened on Broadway in December, 1956, but closed after only 73 performances.
Then Bernstein began revising the work -- a process that would last almost three decades. The final version was the near-operatic production he conducted and recorded in London not long before his death.

The Overture was first heard in concert with the New York Philharmonic in January 1957. It is a well orchestrated and put together collection of tunes from the show, as you’ll hear now in this recording by the late Florida Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by James Judd on a Naxos recording.

MUSIC: Bernstin: Candide Overture, Florida Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by James Judd (Naxos 8.559099, track 1) [4:09]

The Florida Philharmonic Orchestra was conducted by James Judd in this recording of the Overture to Candide by Leonard Bernstein.

Bernstein took piano lessons as a boy. Later he studied with Walter Piston and others at Harvard University. After that, at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, he took piano; conducting with the famous conductor, Fritz Reiner; and orchestration with the well-known composer, Randall Thompson. In 1940 he was a student of another famous conductor, Serge Koussevitsky, at the Boston Symphony Orchestra's newly created summer institute at Tanglewood. Bernstein later became Koussevitzky's conducting assistant.

Bernstein was appointed to his first permanent conducting post in 1943, as assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic. On November 14, 1943, when conductor Bruno Walter became ill just before a nationally broadcast concert from Carnegie Hall, Bernstein substituted for him on a few hours notice. Bernstein received rave reviews, and soon orchestras all over the world sought him out as a guest conductor.

I’ll tell you more about Lenny later. But I want to get back to his orchestral music now and the Symphonic Dances from West Side Story. For this purpose, thanks to a Naxos recording, I’m going to magically resurrect the now defunct Florida Philharmonic Orchestra with its then conductor, James Judd.

MUSIC: Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, Florida Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by James Judd (Naxos 8.559099, track 2) [22:37]

Symphonic Dances from West Side Story. The Florida Philharmonic Orchestra was conducted by James Judd on a Naxos compact disc.

In 1945 Bernstein was appointed music director of the New York City Symphony Orchestra, a post he held until 1947. When Serge Koussevitzky died in 1951, Bernstein was asked to head the orchestral and conducting departments at Tanglewood. He taught there for many years. He was also visiting music professor and head of the Creative Arts Festivals at Brandeis University in the early 1950s.

Bernstein became music director of the New York Philharmonic in 1958. From then until 1969 he led more concerts with the orchestra than any previous conductor. More than half of Bernstein's four-hundred-plus recordings were made with the New York Philharmonic.

Immediately after World War II, in 1946, Bernstein conducted in London and at the International Music Festival in Prague. In 1947 he conducted in Tel Aviv, beginning a relationship with Israel that lasted until his death. In 1953 Bernstein was the first American to conduct opera at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. The star was Maria Callas.

Bernstein was a leading advocate of American composers, particularly Aaron Copland. The two remained close friends for life. Bernstein programmed and recorded nearly all of Copland’s orchestral works. He used Copland’s music in several televised Young People's Concerts, and gave the premiere of Copland's Connotations. That piece was commissioned for the opening of the Philharmonic Hall at the Lincoln Center in New York in 1962.

While Bernstein conducted the standard repertoire, he may be best remembered for his performances and recordings which reintroduced the then neglected symphonies of Gustav Mahler.

You are listening to “Bernstein for Orchestra” on Compact Discoveries. I’m your guide, Fred Flaxman

[optional one-minute break not included in total timing]

Bernstein collaborated with choreographer Jerome Robbins on three major ballets, Fancy Free in 1944, Facsimile, two years later, and Dybbuk, in 1975.

Here’s “Danzon” from Fancy Free as performed by the Boston Pops Orchestra under Arthur Fiedler.

MUSIC: Bernstein: “Danzon” from Fancy Free, Boston Pops, Arthur Fiedler [RCA Victor 09026-68699-2, track 11]

“Danzon” from Fancy Free by Leonard Bernstein. Arthur Fiedler led the Boston Pops Orchestra.

In 1954 Bernstein composed the score for the award-winning movie On the Waterfront. The score starts off with fighting on the docks, as I recall. The music reflects this violence. But later on there is a soft, romantic theme which is my favorite part of this music, and that’s what I’ll play for you now.

MUSIC: Bernstein: excerpt from On the Waterfront, Bournemouth Symphony Chorus and Orchestra, Marin Alsop [Naxos 8.559177, track 1]

An excerpt from Leonard Bernstein’s filmscore to On the Waterfront. Marin Alsop conducted the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus and Orchestra in this Naxos release.

Bernstein’s first contribution to the Broadway stage was the music for On the Town in 1944. Here’s “Times Square 1944” from that musical. Once again we hear Marin Alsop conducting the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

MUSIC: Bernstein: “Times Square 1944” from On the Town, Bournemouth Symphony, Marin Alsop [Naxos 8.559177, track 7]

Leonard Bernstein’s “Times Square 1944” from On the Town. The Bournemouth Symphony was conducted by Marin Alsop.

In 1953 Bernstein wrote the music for another Manhattan-based musical comedy: Wonderful Town. One of the songs for that production is called “Wrong Note Rag.” It was one of several for that show that was designed to give the feeling of vintage New York. In this case, the song is supposed to be a vaudeville showpiece that dates from the 1910s. Here it is performed in a delightful arrangement by Rodney S. Miller for the group Proteus 7. This is from their Bernstein Tribute on a Dorian compact disc.

MUSIC: Bernstein: Wrong Note Rag performed by Proteus 7 [Dorian xCD-90278, track 24]

Wrong Note Rag by Leonard Bernstein. This piece was originally included in the musical Wonderful Town. The arrangement you just heard was by Proteus 7 on a Dorian CD.

Bernstein wrote a musically, religiously and linguistically eclectic Mass for the opening of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. , in 1970. Bernstein and Kennedy were a year apart at Harvard. They became friends during Kennedy’s short presidency. One “hit” song emerged from Bernstein’s Mass: It’s called simply “A Simple Song.” Here is an orchestral version with John Williams conducting the Boston Pops on a Philips CD.

MUSIC: Bernstein; “A Simple Song” from Mass, John Williams conducts the Boston Pops [Philips 416-360-2, track 2] [4:10]

“A Simple Song” from Mass by Leonard Bernstein. John Williams conducted the Boston Pops.

We’ll conclude our tribute to the orchestral music of Leonard Bernstein with an excerpt from another one of his choral works. It’s called Chichester Psalms because it was commissioned by the dean of Chichester cathedral in Sussex County, England. Strangely, the first performance was not by the choir for which it was commissioned, but by the New York Philharmonic in a slightly altered version with a mixed, adult choir. The all-male version was first performed later the same month in England. This excerpt features the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus and Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop.
  
MUSIC: Bernstein: excerpt from Chichester Psalms performed by the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus and Orchestra [Naxos 8.559177, track 2] [by itself at first, then under the following]

You have been listening to the orchestral music of Leonard Bernstein on Compact Discoveries. My name is Fred Flaxman. Technical assistance for this program was provided by Timothée Anglade. More information on this series is available at CompactDiscoveries.com. Compact Discoveries is a registered trademark and production of Compact Discoveries, Inc. This program is made possible in part by the members of WXEL-FM, West Palm Beach, Florida.

MUSIC: up and fade out at 57:55

WFMT Announcer: This program is distributed by the WFMT Radio Network. [5 seconds]

Program Ends at 58:00

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