#ClassicsaDay #Bernsteinat100 Week 5

August 2018 is the centennial of Leonard Bernstein's birth. Many classical radio stations, performance groups, and writers marked the occasion. And so did #ClassicsaDay.

Bernstein was known as a composer, conductor, performer and an educator. Since #ClassicsaDay is primarily a music feed, I concentrated on the first two of those roles (and occasionally the third).

My contributions alternated between Bernstein the composer and Bernstein the conductor. And I tried to steer away from the more obvious choices for Bernstein compositions. His catalog is quite extensive, and I found it interesting to explore some of the lesser-known (and in some cases, less-successful) works.

Here are my posts for the fifth and final week:

Leonard Bernstein - Chichester Psalms (1965)

This work was commisioned for the Southern Cathedrals Festival at Chichester Cathedral (hence the name). Berstein recorded it with the New York Philharmonic in 1965, and again in 1977 with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

Bela Bartok - Concerto for Orchestra

Bernstein programmed this work for the New York Philharmonic's 1959/60 season. He first conducted movements of it in a Young People's Concert on March 28, 1959. He later conducted it November 26-28, as part of the orchestra's subscription series. Bernstein and the NYP recorded the work November 30. Bernstein and the orchestra also performed the concerto in two runout performances in early December 1959.

Leonard Bernstein - Concerto for Orchestra (1986)

This was one of Bernstein's last completed compositions. He reworked a previous composition, "Jubilee Games," adding two new movements. Bernstein dedicated the work to the Israel Philharmonic. The orchestra, conducted by Bernstein, recorded the concerto in 1989 for Deutsches Grammophon.

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Johannes Brahms - Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15

Glenn Gould performed the concerto with the New York Philharmonic in 1982. Bernstein created a minor scandal with a speech before the performance, seemingly distancing himself from Gould's interpretation.

Leonard Berstein - Overture to "Candide" (1956)

Lilliam Hellman suggested to Bernstein that they adapt Voltaire's novella as an operetta. The work underwent continual script and musical revision, with numbers being added, dropped, and reshuffled. At one point Hellman withdrew her adaptation. The Overture, though, has remained virtually unchanged since its debut.

#ClassicsaDay #Bernsteinat100 Week 4

August 2018 is the centennial of Leonard Bernstein's birth. Many classical radio stations, performance groups, and writers marked the occasion. And so did #ClassicsaDay.

Bernstein was known as a composer, conductor, performer and an educator. Since #ClassicsaDay is primarily a music feed, I concentrated on the first two of those roles (and occasionally the third).

My contributions alternated between Bernstein the composer and Bernstein the conductor. And I tried to steer away from the more obvious choices for Bernstein compositions. His catalog is quite extensive, and I found it interesting to explore some of the lesser-known (and in some cases, less-successful) works.

Here are my posts for the fourth week:

Ludwig van Beethoven - Egmont Overture, Op. 84

Berstein and the New York Philharmonic performed this overture in 1959. Bernstein and the NY Philharmonic recorded it for CBS in 1970. Bernstein would do another recording of the work with the Vienna Philharmonic in 1981 for Deutsches Grammophon.

Leonard Bernstein - Trouble in Tahiti (1951)

Bernstein wrote this one-act opera about consumerism during his honeymoon. It was rushed to completion for its premiere. Bernstein was not happy with either the performance nor the finale. He revised the work and it was presented in a TV broadcast later that year. "A Quiet Place" (1983) was conceived as a sequel. It was later revised to incorporate parts of "Trouble" as a flashback.

Franz Joseph Haydn - Symphony No. 88 in G major

Bernstein recorded Haydn's "Paris" and "London" symphonies. He recorded Symphony No. 88 with the New York Philharmonic in 1963, and with the Vienna Philharmonic 20 years later.

Leonard Berstein - Symphonic Suite from "On the Waterfront" 1955

Berstein won an Oscar for his original score to "On the Waterfront." He didn't just string themes together to create his concert version. Bernstein reworked the material to create a single movement tone poem. He wrote, "the main materials.. undergo numerous metamorphoses, following as much as possible the chronological flow of the film."

Larry Austin - Improvisations for Orchestra and Jazz Soloists (1961)

Austin built-in places for free improvisation. Bernstein conducted it in a 1964 New York Philharmonic concerto with Don Ellis, Barre Phillips, Joe Cocuzzo. According to music critic Harold C. Schonberg, "Mr. Austin really had little to say, though he said it most fashionably." He did have high praise for the jazz soloists, noting that Don Ellis "had the whole horn section of the Philharmonic hanging over their stands to see how he achieved his effects."

#ClassicsaDay #Bernsteinat100 Week 3

August 2018 is the centennial of Leonard Bernstein's birth. Many classical radio stations, performance groups, and writers marked the occasion. And so did #ClassicsaDay.

Bernstein was known as a composer, conductor, performer and an educator. Since #ClassicsaDay is primarily a music feed, I concentrated on the first two of those roles (and occasionally the third).

My contributions alternated between Bernstein the composer and Bernstein the conductor. And I tried to steer away from the more obvious choices for Bernstein compositions. His catalog is quite extensive, and I found it interesting to explore some of the lesser-known (and in some cases, less-successful) works.

Here are my posts for the third week:

Leonard Bernstein - Slava! A Political Overture, for Orchestra (1977)

Bernstein wrote "Slava!" for Mstislav Rostropovich's inaugural concert as conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC. In the original version, a tape with snippets of Presidential political speeches is played in the background.

Richard Wagner - Liebestod from "Tristan und Isolde"

Bernstein conducted many of Wagner's big orchestral hits. He recorded "Liebestod" with the New York Philharmonic in 1968. He also recorded it with the Bavarian Radio Symphony for Philips in 1981.

Leonard Bernstein - Piano Trio (1937)

The piano trio is a student piece, written while Bernstein was at Harvard. Ever the recycler, he reused part of the second movement seven years later in his score for "On the Town."

Samuel Barber - Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 14

Bernstein first conducted Barber's concerto with the New York Philharmonic in 1960. Aaron Rosand was the soloist. He recorded it with the orchestra four years later with violinist Isaac Stern.

Leonard Bernstein - Three Meditations from "Mass", for Orchestra (1972)

"Mass" was written for the inauguration of the Kennedy Center, and involved over 200 performers. Two instrumental interludes were arranged for cello and piano for Mstislav Rostropovich. Bernstein later added a third, and the orchestral arrangement was premiered at the Kennedy Center in 1977 - with Berstein conducting and Rostropovich as the soloist.

#ClassicsaDay #Bernsteinat100 Week 2

August 2018 is the centennial of Leonard Bernstein's birth. Many classical radio stations, performance groups, and writers marked the occasion. And so did #ClassicsaDay.

Bernstein was known as a composer, conductor, performer and an educator. Since #ClassicsaDay is primarily a music feed, I concentrated on the first two of those roles (and occasionally the third).

My contributions alternated between Bernstein the composer and Bernstein the conductor. And I tried to steer away from the more obvious choices for Bernstein compositions. His catalog is quite extensive, and I found it interesting to explore some of the lesser-known (and in some cases, less-successful) works.

Here are my posts for the second week:

Franz Schubert - Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D.759 "Unfinished"

Bernstein recorded Schubert's Unfinished Symphony twice. The first was in 1963 with the New York Philharmonic, the second in 1987 with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Leonard Bernstein - I Hate Music: A cycle of Five Kid Songs for Soprano and Piano

Bernstein wrote this cycle in 1943, inspired by -- and dedicated to -- his then apartment mate Edys Merrill. When his music-making in their close quarters became excessive, she would shout "I hate music!"

George Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue

Bernstein was an accomplished pianist. In a 1976 performance at the Royal Albert Hall, he conducted Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" from the keyboard.

Bernstein - Olympic Hymn, for Mixed Chorus and Orchestra

Bernstein was commissioned to write an Olympic Hymn for the 1981 Olympics in Baden-Baden. These were the first games after the disasterous Moscow games.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64

Bernstein conducted all six of Tchaikovsky's symphonies with the New York Philharmonic. He recorded Symphony No. 5 twice with them - for Columbia in 1960 and for Deutsche Grammophon in 1988.

#ClassicsaDay #Bernsteinat100 Week 1

August 2018 is the centennial of Leonard Bernstein's birth. Many classical radio stations, performance groups, and writers marked the occasion. And so did #ClassicsaDay.

Bernstein was known as a composer, conductor, performer and an educator. Since #ClassicsaDay is primarily a music feed, I concentrated on the first two of those roles (and occasionally the third).

My contributions alternated between Bernstein the composer and Bernstein the conductor. And I tried to steer away from the more obvious choices for Bernstein compositions. His catalog is quite extensive, and I found it interesting to explore some of the lesser-known (and in some cases, less-successful) works.

Here are my posts for the first week:

Leonard Berstein - Facsimile - Choreographic Essay for Orchestra

Berstein finished Facsimile in 1944 and recorded it for RCA three years later. He would reuse some of its material in "On the Town" and "West Side Story"

Gustav Mahler - Symphony No. 5

Leonard Bernstein did two complete recording cycles of Mahler symphonies. They brought Mahler's symphonies from the fringe into the core repertoire. Bernstein felt the strongest connection with the 5th symphony. He was buried with a copy of the score. "

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Leonard Bernstein - Psalm 148, for Voice and Piano (1935)

Berstein completed this work the same year he entered Harvard. He studied composition there with Walter Piston and Edward Burlingame Hill, two composers with distinctly American styles.