Leonard Bernstein: The Unanswered Question

Abstract

Few composers in our modern era bave striven to reach as high, to partake as much of the divine, as Leoard Bernstein. He was a talented performer, a driven educator, an unconventional conductor, and a critically controversial composer. His major compositions encompass both the secular and sacred genres, including: incidemtol music for chorus and orchestra, a film score, two ballets, two operas, three symphonies, four Broadway musicals, and a Mass. Yet despite his rather schizophrenic musical personality, few musicians have formed such a permanent, almost familial connection with the public. It is interesting that in our modem era, in which we are normally so overtly critical and distasteful of 20th century music, we are also so universally accepting regarding Leonard Bernstein. Why is this one 20th century composer an exception to our rule? Now, some of you in the audience may be saying to yourselves, "Why wouldn't we like Bernstein? He might be a 20th century composer, but at least he's tonal! And it's Broadway -- it's popular music!" Well, I'm here to tell you, that if you do indeed think those things -- you're wrong. Bernstein is a true modern composer in every way shape and form. He is innovative, fully utilizing all of the 20th century musical tools at his disposal: dissonance, atonality, 12-tone-rows. etc. It is just that he is more gifted that [sic.] most, and fools you into thinking you're not hearing what you are, in fact, hearing -- 20th century music at its best. Bernstein's music, although popular in the sense that it is universally liked, is not popular regarding rnusical genres. It is, in fact, classical music -- opera . . . symphony . . . expertly molded into the Broadway musical -- Bernstein merely tricks you into listening to intellectual, challenging music by presenting it in a popular form. [From Introduction]