Product Description
Leonard Bernstein was one of the twentieth century’s preeminent American composers. This classic work, perhaps the maestro’s finest collection of conversations on the meaning and wonder of music, is now available in this special reprinting with a foreword from Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and Washington Post music critic Tim Page. Nearly fifteen years after Bernstein’s death, The Joy of Music continues to be a must-have for all music fans—both inside and outside of the classroom—who wish to experience music more fully and deeply through one of the most inspired, and inspiring, music intellects of our time.

Employing the creative device of "Imaginary Conversations" in the first section of his book, Bernstein illuminates the importance of the symphony in America, the greatness of Beethoven, and the art of composing. The book also includes a photo section and a third section with the transcripts from his televised Omnibus music series, including "Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony," "The World of Jazz," "Introduction to Modern Music," and "What Makes Opera Grand." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Still wonderfull !!
I myself am a commentator on Classical Music on Television, and Leonard Bernstein, thanks to this book and to his "The Infinite Variety of Music",
has been always my inspiration, model and idol.-Inspite of the years, these talks have not lost any of their charme and intelligence and continue to be valid.-Highly recommended to every music-lover.-

Brilliant
I've had this book for a couple of decades in the original hardback version.It's a reminder to me of what I watched, live on television back in the fifties, when television had "culture."His Omnibus lectures were thrilling to behold and I wish dearly they were on dvd.His description of how perfect the Fifth was defies description; you had to have seen him use musicians as notes and move them around to show what happened if one note had changed.Or how a little discussion around a table with a man and a woman becomes something else again when sung (La Boheme) or explaining about a piece concerning a little nightengale when introducing Stravinsky.

The man was pure genious and millions of Americans became interested in classical music through this man.This teenaged girl did.

Bernstein at His Best
This is Leonard Bernsteain at his best. It's a fun book, an engaging and fascinating book. All the Bernstein wit and wisdom is here. It's a book for both musicians and those wanting to learn about music in a fun way.

You won't regret spending time or money on this gem.

A true Renaissance man
Leonard Bernstein excelled at everything he tried--he was a fantastic conductor, composer, and writer.From popular music from West Side Story to jazz to "serious art music" like Chichester Psalms and his Mass, Bernstein was never constrained by any seeming limitations.This book is a compilation Bernstein's writings.The first section consists of dialogues between Bernstein and several imaginary characters regarding society's philosophy of music.These discussions are quite intellectual and thought-provoking.The second section contains seven television transcripts about subjects ranging from Musical Theater to J.S. Bach.This half is much more accessible and a breeze to read.If you can't read music, you would enjoy getting CDs of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, Brahms' First Symphony, and Bach's St. Matthew Passion before curling up with this book.It will enhance your enjoyment of Bernstein's exciting descriptions, and will make them come to life.

The Joy of Music---a thorough and inspired work
This is a complete, lucid, approachable and vibrant book.The dialogues at the beginning reveal the many facets of Bernstein's character and of his startling brilliance, and the section on modern music should not be missed.Of course, for the sections taken from his Omnibus television programs, the textual medium can only inform the reader what would be happening on screen, and those descriptions probably lack the power of audio-visual aids.It is, however, a work that any student of music, or any lover of music, would be able to take for granted in a Perfect World. ... Read more

Product Description

One of the most gifted, celebrated, scrutinized, and criticized musicians in the second half of the twentieth century, Leonard Bernstein made his legendary conducting debut at the New York Philharmonic in 1943, at age 25. A year later, he became a sensation on Broadway with the premiere of On the Town. Throughout the 1950s, his Broadway fame only grew with Wonderful Town, Candide, and West Side Story. And in 1958, the Philharmonic appointed him the first American Music Director of a major symphony orchestra—a signal historical event. He was adored as a quintessential celebrity but one who could do it all—embracing both popular and classical music, a natural with the new medium of television, a born teacher, writer, and speaker, as well as a political and social activist. In 1976, having conducted the Philharmonic for more than one thousand concerts, he took his orchestra on tour to Europe for the last time.

Customer Reviews (2)

The ideal coffee table book for music lovers
This incredibly handsome piece, in celebration of the Leonard Bernstein 90th year, concentrates on the conductor/composer's incredible relationship with the New York Philharmonic. Frankly, the price is a real bargain and well worth it for the photos alone, many of which are extremely rare. The forwards from Barbara Haws and Burton Bernstein are incredibly moving and informative and answer the question, "why do we need another book on Bernstein?" He was perhaps the great musician of 20th century America and this book offers us several new looks at the great man.

For Those Who Can't Get Enough of Bernstein....
Although this book was originally scheduled for publication on 8-22, I received mine today, 8-19, a testament to Amazon.com's speedy delivery service.It's difficult to categorize this volume, falling somewhere between a coffee table picture book and a personal photo album.Bernstein's brother apparently came up with the idea, this in his brother's 90th year.There are articles and remembrances from mostly his years with the NYP, written by Alan Rich, Paul Boyer and others with Burton Bernstein commenting on each.There is a good amount of new black and white photos strewn among the 207 pages with lots of newspaper reproductions, sidebars and fancy graphics that I found a bit distracting and, again, make me want to put it on a coffee table rather than store more formally on a book shelf.But for those of us who cannot get enough of Bernstein and continue to re-read Humphrey Burton's masterful biography, this is a nice adjunct.It makes us miss him all over again. ... Read more

Product Description
Burton successfuly brings to the page the exuberant vitality and unresolved obsessions that helped make Leonard Bernstein one of the most beloved and celebrated musical figures of our age. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

A Truly Grand Biography
This is the Bernstein bio that you'll read and re-read with continual pleasure. This book firmly places the great conductor in his time and his world, which is considerably different than the world of today. When Bernstein was alive, classical music was still important and a great deal of classical music was still being recorded. Today our classical music culture seems to have collapsed, at least in a commercial sense. The lunatic screech and drivel of hip-hop has taken over the music scene, and it may indeed be true we are getting what we deserve if we allow 2000 years of Western culture to disintegrate like a house of cards, but some of us can still appreciate the age of Bernstein as a golden age in terms of musical activity.

We can compare this well-balanced book with Peyser's bio, which is excessively simplistic due to Peyser's journalistic outlook. Journalists are forced to oversimplify their work because the average reader or viewer of journalism expects a dumbed-down story with a theme, a standard simple THEME that anyone can understand. In this sense, journalists create candy bars and Big Macs instead of serious literary cuisine. And maybe you prefer Hershey bars and hamburgers, okay? That's your privilege. But I don't like dumbed-down books, so I'll take Burton over Peyser any day.

Gay, gay, GAY! Lenny was GAY, all right? And of course we secretly long to know all the GAY DIRT, correct? So how much GAY DIRT is in the Burton book? Actually Burton is much more explicit than Peyser, but it really helps to know the gay code words. I asked a gay friend about the gay content in this book, and he returned it to me after he had used a red pen to underline lots of seemingly harmless words and phrases. He also gave me a quick lesson in translating these special coded expressions. And wow, yes indeed, the GAY DIRT is all there, but you need to understand the special coded language that Burton uses. If you're gay, you'll get it; and if you're not gay you'll need a translation just like I did. And that's as far as I'm going to go in that particular direction.

I will add that in terms of his personal life, Bernstein's image is still very heavily protected. I think that most of his love letters, for example, will never be published. In this respect Burton tells about as much as anyone can tell. Burton informs us, for example, about Charles Roth (pps. 201 and 245 of the hardbound book) who was a young Black conducting student who had a truly desperate crush on Lenny. Roth pursued Bernstein for years, endlessly sending him letters and packages (Lenny always returned them unopened) and threatening extravagant sexual blackmail based on Lenny's love letters, of which there were apparently a lot.

But today, all memory of the lovesick Charles Roth seems to have vanished from the face of the earth. You can, for example, Google ' leonard bernstein gay charles roth ' and find absolutely nothing at all about their relationship. This is the kind of total protection that most of us can only dream about, to have the trouble spots in our lives totally and completely erased from the omniscient archives of Google. And this didn't happen by accident. In fact, I would imagine that certain people are still working very hard to clean up the story of Lenny's extremely messy life. How many more of Bernstein's love letters will be hunted down and burned? Probably quite a few, but we'll never see them.

And who cares anyway? What really matters to me is the music. Here's just one example. Last week I bought the Deutsche Grammophon CD D100867 of Bernstein conducting the symphonic transcriptions of Beethoven's string quarters opp. 131 and 135. The album notes state that Bernstein dedicated this recording to his wife Felicia. And also that Lenny used some special notations created by Dmitri Mitropoulos to enhance his performance. I'll say just this about that marvelous CD. Every single note talks to me in a very special way. It's a truly astonishing recording, and I can guarantee that anyone who loves Beethoven will love this CD. To me, making music is the truly imporant part of Bernstein's life. All the rest of it is merely flyspecks on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Yeah, right, Michelangelo was gay too, but who the [....] cares? L'homme c'est rien, l'art c'est tout, as Flaubert famously stated, and he should know.

AN INSIGHTFUL BIOGRAPHY INTO A MAJOR AMERICAN MUSICAL FIGURE
Humphrey Burton has written a tremendous biography of Bernstein (1918-1990).It is filled with details and insights into the man, his conducting, and his own compositions.Bernstein was renowned as a composer, as a performer on the piano, as a conductor, and as an educator, and Burton highlights all of these aspects.Bernstein was also gay, or bisexual; Burton indicates early on, "The reference to Bernstein's sexual problems underscored the confusion he felt about his sexuality, a confusion which he would continue to confront in his final year at Harvard."(He married in 1951, and had three children, to whom he was devoted.)

When he met Aaron Copland for the first time (at one of the "salons of the New York intellectual elite"), Bernstein told him he was a great fan, and announced that he could play Copland's Piano Variations from memory; Copland challenged him to do so, and he did.Bernstein later recalled, "So I played it, and they were all---he particularly---drop-jawed."Thus began a lifelong friendship between the two, that Burton chronicles in numerous places in the book.

After the 1944 premiere of On the Town, he accepted the advice of famed conductor Serge Koussevitsky and devoted himself to conducting."Composing became a holiday diversion, fitted in between conducting tours and preseason parties.His activities as a pianist were restricted to playing the same handful of concertos with every new orchestra he conducted."In a speech Bernstein made in 1963, he said, "The composer comes first.In the beginning was the Note, and the Note was with God; and whoever can reach high for that note, reach high, and bring it back to us on earth, to our earthly ears¯he is a composer and to the extent of his reach partakes of the divine."

When his culminating work Mass (1971) was being produced, Bernstein said that "I feel young again, twenty-five years old, as I was when I was doing On the Town."The 1972 production of Carmen, which won a Grammy in 1973, yet so exhausted Bernstein that "apart from his own work, and a revival of Fidelio in Vienna, he never again conducted an opera in an opera house."Burton also clarifies the misreporting of Bernstein's exchange with a Black Panther leader in 1970 (the reporting made it seem as if Bernstein was engaging in "radical chic," erroneously reporting him as having said, "I dig absolutely").

One of Bernstein's major innovations was his work on television.From 1958-1972, Bernstein hosted and conducted "Young People's Concerts."As Burton notes, "They have never been rivaled in popular television education."Burton also opines that Bernstein's 1973 Norton Lectures at Harvard "have proved to be among the most valuable and stimulating contributions ever made to musical education."

All in all, this is a detailed and very perceptive portrait of one of the most influential American musical figures of the 20th century.HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

What A Life!!
Leonard Bernsteinwas always creating something. He worked with and knew many people. Hemay have had problems but those are nothing compared to his achievements. This biography starts with his birth straight through to his death. I readin sequenceup untilhis graduation from Harvard and then I skipped around. I have very little of a music background and
because I became little bored, I found it more interesting to skip to the background of West Side Story, On the Town , the Black Panther party etc. I read everthing but not in sequence.After I finished this biography, I felt I really knew Bernstein and I liked him.I would highly recommend this biography. Bernstein's story is fascinating.

Sorry, doesn't look like it's for me...
I guess this is a really technical look at the composer's life without much backstage drama, because in leafing through the index, there's no mention of Carol Lawrence, Chita Rivera or Larry Kert, the famous cast members of the original production of "West Side Story." A short chapter is devoted to the musical, but without comments either from or on its legendary cast? Bizarre.

Call me shallow, but I don't want to read something that dry.

It was great!
It took me about 2 months to finish reading it, not because it wasn't a page-turner, but because it was a long book and also I'd been busy.It was actually a great page-turner.I could read on and on for 5-7 hours without a break.

Bernstein's personal letters to his friends and colleagues, including Aaron Copland, his thesis at Harvard, etc. were all very inspiring to read.There were quite a bit of poems he wrote also.The positive and negative sides of the great man were also well delivered without getting vulgar.
I really appreciated the author's knowledge about music and the classical music world and system.

The book makes you feel like you're living the life closely with the great man and gets you intellectually, musically, emotionally involved.You experience with him every success and failure Bernstein went through.
His talents were beyond human in some way, yet he was a man just like you and me.Sometimes his talents were greater than he as a man, and as a result the world occasionally saw him fall apart.The book is honest about his failures and misbehaviours without being accusatory.It makes you want to forgive the man for the wrongs he'd done.The burden he was carrying as genius was more than an ordinary man could bear.

The book also covers the Jewish culture, politics, world events, how Bernstein and his genius contributed to the world and American history, etc. in relations to his achievements.
There are enough interviews with his friends and family, reviews on Bernstein's works, letters etc. but the author uses his own narratives to tell us about the man, which is, I think, why this book is more solid and readable.Only, I wish there were more photographs.But oh well, you can't ask for everything.

Great, inspiring book.I might read it again. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (3)

Another masterpiece by Bernstein
Bernstein knew his music and his enthusiasm for its variety and richness is infectious.Everyone who has used iTunes or other online music downloads sites knows that we as humans have insatiable appetites for endless variety.This book channels that nature and passion in an uplifting manner to harness it towards refining one's appetites for more of the classical and folk styles of music and the many variety's of rich music in such genres.Bernstein opens with a dialogue about what it means to truly listen to rather than simply hear music and progresses onto an analysis of what makes music rich, concluded with in depth analysis of several music masterpieces.This book is for both the layman and connoisseur of music.For me it provided numerous references to music both familiar and new that I am excited to download in the future and add to my iTunes playlists!You can preview most of this book on google books, but it's definitely worth it to buy a hardcopy of this work for home reference.

Lenny always inspires...
This book is everything you would want in a detailed discussion of music and then some.

Still excellent!!
Inspite of having been written so many years ago,these talks are still valid and outstanding.-I am a commentator on Music on Television,and Leonard Bernstein has been, and continues to be, my model and idol in this respect.- Very recommended indeed.- ... Read more

Product Description
This brilliant and revealing self-portrait collects Bernstein's private notes, letters, essays, and musical writings to convey, as never before, the incredible energy, talent, and genius of a man who has confirmed the maturity and originality of American music. Over 100 photos. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Interesting excerpts. . .
This book includes excerpts from writings by the great maestro.Some very interesting and revealing of his thought process and others more humorous and random but still enjoyable.Some include "Sonnet: On AcquiringKnowledge"and his Harvard Bachelor's Thesis.Letters are includedtoo.Overall, I recomend it if you're interested in writings from the penof Bernstein. ... Read more

Product Description
Published in nine countries and widely praised for its candid approach, the acclaimed biography of revered and controversial conductor/composer Leonard Bernstein is now revised to include a new chapter focusing on the artist's death and subsequent tributes. 36 illustrations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Should be the last word
Sparing nothing, this bio uncovers the real maestro, excavating what were evidently unknown facts about his sexuality, depressions, relations with his father and sister and wife. This was attacked back in the day, but seems clearly right on target almost 20 years after Bernstein's death. This puts it all together in a comprehensive package that should be a must read for anyone who wants to know the real Lenny.

I'm taking a middle of the road stand on Joan Peyser'sBERNSTEIN: a biography
I'm taking a middle of the road stand on Joan Peyser's BERNSTEIN: a BIOGRAPHY.Some Bernstein fans hate this book, as they feel it villified Lenny, talking too much about his alleged homosexual feelings over the years.But there are many references to Bernstein concerts and recordings which are fascinating, discussion of his wife, Felicia Montealegre (who died in 1976), his 3 children; and Peyser's writing style kept my interest and attention to the point where I'd read several chapters at a time, and found it enjoyable.

I hero worshipped Lenny in the early 1970s (I was a teenager then)when first becoming acquainted with Classical music.I enjoyed many of his LPs, which belonged to our local library: Mendelssohn Symphony 5 + Schubert 5 (New York Philharmonic, Columbia); Berlioz Overtures (Columbia); Handel's MESSIAH (excerpts, Columbia); "The joy of Music", a collection of Rossini, Falla, Bernstein, Mendelssohn, Offenbach movements and overtures (Columbia) and checked them out again and again.I used to think Bernstein was the coolest, most classy musician anyone could imagine, and still do in a way.I was heartbroken on the news of Bernstein's death (October 14, 1990 - I was nearly 32 at that time) although I had read reports that he had been very sick about 2 years before his death.

So, is Joan Peyser's book a good book or a poor one?That's for you to decide.I found alot to enjoy in it, but thought she could have lightened up a bit on Lenny: her reports of his personal life made him sound worse than he was. I like to think of Bernstein's warm, humane qualities, and his artistic contributions over all else:Bernstein had great intelligence and a depth of feeling which made him special, plus the tremendous energy and talent to have so many recordings made over his 45 year career.

So, this is worth a read, but I wouldn't take everything in this book about Bernstein's personal life as Gospel.

Biography as character assassination
[...]At its release, the NY Times accused Ms. Peyser of inaugurating a new genre: biography as pornography. She misses no opportunity to characterize LB's homosexuality as a sordid, dishonest, manipulative affair. Of compassion she hasn't a drop. But Peyser is equally maliciious about admirable episodes like LB's glorious tenure at the NY Philharmonic or his famous Harvard lectures on music in 1971--nothing escape's her bilious outlook.

You would never know from this book that Bernstein was a beloved figure, or why. Peyser doesn't discuss Bernstein's music-making in any detail. She cannot even grant him his stature as a condcutor, and her overall lack of sympathy has given birth to pure character assassination. This is one of the few books, on music or any other subject, that made me want to take the author to court. The sad thing is that Peyser advanced her career substantially by "bringing down Leonard Bernstein." In a better world she would be deeply ashamed.

Some clarity beneath the muck...
While this much maligned biography may indeed dwell a little too much on Bernstein's personal life (how many times do we really need to be told he was gay? this gets tiresome after awhile...) Peyser does include a wealth of competently researched background on the life of this most American of musicians. If you aren't offended by the cheap and trashy (but rarely explicit) parts, it's worth a read. Keep your nose in joint and take this biography for what it is and you'll probably learn a few things!

This book is TRASH
This book is one big gossip column about Bernstein 1) being bi-sexual or 2) Bernsteins apparent motivation to constantly undermind other people and turn the focus of anything to himself. Bernstein certianly had an ego, but this book is simply not accurate. In the introduction the author says, "The crevices of character have to e explored as fully as the peaks of achievements to understand...." She certianly explored the "crevices." Instead of spending $18 on this go buy the National Enquirer. ... Read more

Product Description
A secular work with sacred Hebrew texts and a "hint of Broadway" commissioned by an Anglican cleric for a British choral festival to be held in a medieval cathedral and written by a popular American composer of Jewish heritage in his own eclectic style would certainly attract widespread interest. In fact, since its 1965 premiere, Chichester Psalms by Leonard Bernstein has taken its place in the concert repertory as the most frequently performed piece of twentieth-century American choral music. In his thoughtful study Professor Paul R. Laird traces the unusual genesis of the work from sketches conceived for other projects and describes in detail the musical content of the final form of its three movements. Published for the first time with the author s commentary are the complete correspondence between Dean Walter Hussey and the composer, a survey of published criticism that greeted its first performances on both sides of the Atlantic, and an accounting of emendations to two performance scores in Bernstein's own hand. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An innovative and comprehensive study of the composer at work
Elaborately sourced and researched and flawlessly presented, "The Chichester Psalms of Leonard Bernstein" are the fourth addition to the CMS Sourcebooks in American Music. Premiered in 1954, Bernstein's famous choral work of multi--layered beginnings has been described as "a secular work with sacred Hebrew texts and 'a hint of Broadway.'" The work was commissioned by an Anglican cleric, Walter Hussey, for a British choral festival in a medieval church. Bernstein himself wrote the following lines about his decisive choral masterpiece based on the text of the Second Psalm: (King James version: "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?"): And then I came up with the Chichester Psalms./ These psalms are a simple and modest affair,/ Tonal and tuneful and somewhat square,/ Certain to sicken a stout John Cager/ With its tonics and triads in E-flat major./ But there it stands, the result of my pondering,/ Two long months of avant-garde wandering -/ My youngest child, old-fashioned and sweet. And he stands on his own two-tonal feet." Much further analysis and tracking of evolution of the choral work continues in the body of "The Chichester Psalms," including reprinting much of the correspondence between the composer and the aging Reverend Hussey. It is fascinating to read and to follow the development of Bernstein's final concept. For example, it is exciting to trace the decision-making process that led to the composer's ability to quote the choral text of the psalms in Hebrew, for example. There is much to discuss in the field of musical influences prevalent in the time period during which Bernstein composed "Chichester Psalms." What emerges is a vibrant, mutant masterpiece, with both humble and exotic traces of its initial conception. Definitely "trailing clouds of glory," Bernstein's Chichester Psalms" are a modern tonal choral masterpiece with ancient sacred Judeo-Christian roots and a touch of modern American Broadway jazz inspiration. Paul Laird has given the music history of America great food for thought in his innovative and comprehensive study of the composer at work in "The Chichester Psalms of Leonard Bernstein."
... Read more

Product Description

The varied forms of Leonard Bernstein's musical creativity have been recognized and enjoyed by millions. These lectures, Mr. Bernstein's most recent venture in musical explication, will make fascinating reading as well. Virgil Thomson says of the lectures: "Nobody anywhere presents this material so warmly, so sincerely, so skillfully. As musical mind-openers they are first class; as pedagogy they are matchless".

Mr. Bernstein considers music ranging from Hindu ragas through Mozart and Ravel, to Copland, suggesting a worldwide, innate musical grammar. Folk music, pop songs, symphonies, modal, tonal, atonal, well-tempered and ill-tempered works all find a place in these discussions. Each, Mr. Bernstein suggests, has roots in a universal language central to all artistic creation. Using certain linguistic analogies, he explores the ways in which this language developed and can be understood as an aesthetic surface. Drawing on his insights as a master composer and conductor, Mr. Bernstein also explores what music means below the surface: the symbols and metaphors which exist in every musical piece, of whatever sort. And, finally, Mr. Bernstein analyzes twentieth century crises in the music of Schoenberg and Stravinsky, finding even here a transformation of all that has gone before, as part of the poetry of expression, through its roots in the earth of human experience.

These talks, written and delivered when Leonard Bernstein was Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard University, are the newest of the author's literary achievements. In addition to a distinguished career as conductor, pianist, and composer, Mr. Bernstein is the recipient of many television Emmys for the scripts of his Young People's Concerts, Omnibus programs, and others, and is the author of The Infinite Variety of Music and The Joy of Music, for which he received the Christopher Award.

Customer Reviews (5)

Unanswered Questions
There is little to say that has not already been said. These lectures are classic because of their multi-disciplinary focus. Simiply put, they are an integration of diverse material that fosters an awareness of the larger picture. In the final analysis all intellectual disciplnes are arbitrary in terms of lines drawn in the sand. Ultimately they all come together as a whole. The Norton Lectures underscore this theme as well as any piece written in the 20th century.

Very Enlightening
In response the reviewer who complains that Leonard Bernstein raises more questions than he answers, the composer never purports to be doing anything in these lectures than raise informed points -- hence the title, The Unanswered Question.He gives an extremely cogent hypothesis to explain how and why we perceive music on an emotional level, and from what I've heard, nothing's been shown to disprove his ideas.

Beware that although Bernstein tries to put everything in "layman"'s terms, many of the concepts touched upon will be difficult to understand without a rudimentary knowledge of musical notation.

I found this 'book' to be extremely interesting and a unique, welcome perspective on the nature of music. Those of you interested in Bernstein's compositions will get a nice long look at the inner workings of the mind of one of America's greatest composers; and even if his insights as to the answers of the questions he's asking are erroneous, the manner in which he couches said questions is insightful in and of itself, and more than worth the investment.

Musicology at its best!
I respect Bernstein even more as a scholar of music and languages than I do as a conductor.I thought this was an inspired literary work of his, really.For example, his explanation of musical motive in Beethoven's 5th Symphony where we are shown that Beethoven has taken the common coda form,TA TA TA DUM, that many classical works end with, and turned it to a motivefrom which derives the motion and power of HIS entire symphony.That isBernstein at his most insightful and brilliant.Wonderful! Illuminating! I would never have thought of things that only a conductor and musicologistcan otherwise understand and explain. Thank you Lenny, we loveyou!

genius
This is genius. Only now scientific research is proving his incredible leap of imagination.

Is strongest when considering music
The Unanswered Question, the transcript of six lectures delivered at Hardvard in 1973, outline a new theory of music.Inspired by work of Noam Chomsky and other linguists, Bernstein attempts to find a system of musicalgrammar analagous to that of language.This is the weakest part of thebook.He makes strained generalizations and is attempting to showsomething that quite possibly isn't true.Starting with the third lecture,however, his work becomes stronger.He includes an efficient analysis ofBeethoven's Pastorale Symphony without any extramusical associations.Thenhe proceeds (with musical examples) to trace the "twentieth centurycrisis" in music and how Schoenberg and Stravinsky derived different"solutions."This is the strongest past of the book, andcertianly worth suffereing through the first two weaker lectures. "The Unasnwered Question" is strongest for raising questionsrather than answering them. ... Read more

Product Description
One of the Broadway musicals that can genuinely claim to have transformed the genre, West Side Story has been featured in many books on Broadway, but it has yet to be the focus of a scholarly monograph. Nigel Simeone begins by exploring the long process of creating West Side Story, including a discussion of Bernstein's sketches, early drafts of the score and script, as well as cut songs. The core of the book is the commentary on the music itself. West Side Story is one of the very few Broadway musicals for which there is a complete published orchestral score, as well as two different editions of the piano-vocal score. The survival of the original copied orchestral score, and the reminiscences of Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal, reveal details of the orchestration process, and the extent to which Bernstein was involved in this.Simeone's commentary considers: musical characteristics and compositional techniques used to mirror the drama (for example, the various uses of the tritone), motivic development, the use and reinvention of Broadway and other conventions, the creation of dramatic continuity in the score through the use of motifs and other devices, the unusual degree of dissonance and rhythmic complexity (at least for the time), and the integration of Latin-American dance forms (Mambo, Huapango and so on). Simeone also considers the reception of West Side Story in the contemporary press. The stir the show caused included the response that it was the angular, edgy score that made it a remarkable achievement. Not all reviews were uncritical. Finally, the book looks in detail at the making of the original Broadway cast recording, made in just one day, included on the accompanying CD. ... Read more

Product Description
From his dazzling conducting debut in 1943 until his death in 1990, Leonard Bernstein's star blazed brilliantly. In this fresh and revealing biography of Bernstein's political life, Barry Seldes examines Bernstein's career against the backdrop of cold war America--blacklisting by the State Department in 1950, voluntary exile from the New York Philharmonic in 1951 for fear that he might be blacklisted, signing a humiliating affidavit to regain his passport--and the factors that by the mid-1950s allowed his triumphant return to the New York Philharmonic. Seldes for the first time links Bernstein's great concert-hall and musical-theatrical achievements and his real and perceived artistic setbacks to his involvement with progressive political causes. Making extensive use of previously untapped FBI files as well as overlooked materials in the Library of Congress's Bernstein archive, Seldes illuminates the ways in which Bernstein's career intersected with the twentieth century's most momentous events. This broadly accessible and impressively documented account of the celebrity-maestro's life deepens our understanding of an entire era as it reveals important and often ignored intersections of American culture and political power. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

American culture and the Cold War
Leonard Bernstein was one of the most politically engaged musicians of the twentieth century, with a long history of support for liberal causes dating from the New Deal.Inevitably, this led him into conflict during the postwar period and the McCarthy witch hunts.Even readers who know he was a target of Nixon's "enemies" list and the condescension of Tom Wolfe may not be aware of how close he came to losing his career and livelihood in the early 1950s.It was Bernstein's good fortune that the State Department needed him to serve as a "cultural ambassador" for the US during the Cold War, or he might have been forced to leave the country like many others.This book details the struggles that he and other artists endured to work in their chosen fields and maintain their personal integrity during a dark time in American political life.The end notes are particularly detailed and illuminating, although I would have liked to see the infamous affidavit which Bernstein was forced to sign in 1951 to obtain a passport, a document which was held over his head for years but never made public.

Like so many books published nowadays, unfortunately, this needed a good editing job to weed out obvious errors (FDR did not die in 1944) and some repetitious writing.Nevertheless, it is a valuable addition to our knowledge of this brilliant and conflicted artist.Mr. Seldes is particularly good on the 1973 Norton Lectures which Bernstein delivered at Harvard, in which he attempted to link tonal music with Noam Chomsky's linguistic theory.Not surprisingly, this too reflected the political and spiritual concerns of this self-described "rabbi," teacher.There is nobody like Lenny in our cultural life today, and the more we learn about him, the better.

Leonard Bernstein between politics and art
"Leonard Bernstein" is on the ROROTOKO list of cutting-edge intellectual nonfiction. Professor Seldes's book interview ran here as cover feature on October 7, 2009.

Leonard Bernstein - Politics and Music-making
Professor Barry Seldes has written a book about Leonard Bernstein. Is it a complete biography or an analysis of Bernstein's musical career? No, not at all. But the book succeeds brilliantly at what it sets out to do, which is to review in depth Bernstein's political views and associations. Most of the material discussed in this book has never been presented before. Dr. Seldes has thoroughly reviewed Bernstein's FBI files and he sets the record straight on many issues, including Bernstein's blacklisting in the 1950s. Also discussed are Bernstein's accomplishments as a composer, conductor and performer and how his political views affected what Bernstein composed.

Professor Seldes' narrative is written clearly and concisely and holds one's interest from beginning to end. As a new gloss of Bernstein's career, it is absolutely essential.

politics as musical muse
A fine book as an interdisciplinary tool. It covers a rich and complicated era in America and touches on the lives of not only Lennie Bernstein but some of the biggest names in the creative arts community.

Life as Politics
Bernstein cut a swath across the US arts scene for some forty years.Here was a world class, multi-talented, media friendly figure who although working in the field of classical music at a time when atonalism was the norm amongst composers, wrote works that were largely melodic and accesible.Several of his compositions are still in the general orchestral repertoire.Yet as Seldes points out, within this brilliant, sometimes facile, at times elusive man were a number of less-known interests including his life-long pursuit of liberal political causes which led to his acculumating a large FBI file and having his passport cancelled. To re-launch his career Bernstein made a little known, humiliating mea culpa, a confession of his left wing errors which perhaps says more about the heated atmosphere of 1950s anti-communism that it does of the man.Nevertheless, it is painful to read.Seldes is in command of his political material and writes in an engaging fashion keeping the text itself to less than 200 pages.His socio-political explanation of why Bernstein never wrote his final "great work" is less convincing. It is true that life, times and talent interact in the creation of art but I suspect the real reason the great work did no emerge was as much due to the fact that the production of great works was not Bernstein's primary gift as any other explanation.Bernstein wrote the music he loved for audiences he loved for the times he lived in.I suspect the same could be said of his conducting: he loved to perform and audiences loved to love him on the podium.Perhaps we should embrace the man as he was, rather than what he was not. ... Read more

Product Description
Leonard Bernstein is internationally renowned as one of the most significant composers, musical inspirations, and creative minds of the 20th century. In addition, many consider him to be the greatest American conductor of all time. He is legendary, not only for his brilliant music-making but equally for his extreme passion, raw charisma, powerful convictions, and insatiable appetite for life. This remarkable photographic essay of Leonard Bernstein during the last six years of his life gives us rare insight into the disparate, sometimes vastly conflicting elements that shaped his work and deeply influenced everyone who was drawn into his inner world. It contains approximately 200 black-and-white photographs, most previously unpublished, taken on and off stage during 20 different events or concerts, along with personal comments and remembrances from over 50 of his colleagues, friends, and relatives. The foreword is by Hollywood superstar Lauren Bacall, the preface by Jamie Bernstein (Leonard Bernstein's eldest daughter), and the introduction by James M. Keller, Leonard Bernstein scholar-in-residence at the New York Philharmonic. These vivid images reveal Leonard Bernstein at work in his final years, as mortality encroached upon his unrelenting energy and indefatigable creative genius. ... Read more

Product Description
The most insightful and engrossing work we have had from the widely admired biographer of Frank Lloyd Wright ("Captivating ... The reader comes away with an understanding of Wright as a man as well as an architect" -- Washington Post Book World ... "Spellbinding" -- Boston Globe), of Bernard Berenson ("Authoritative and fascinating" -- Philip Toynbee, The Observer ... "A memorable opus" -- Sir Harold Acton), and of Kenneth Clark ("Splendid, enthralling" -- Wall Street Journal).

Here is Leonard Bernstein, full scale and fully alive -- the child prodigy, the man, the composer, the teacher, the hugely charismatic personality, the lover, the American folk hero.

Everything is here: the child growing up in a Hasidic family in Massachusetts, his father a rabbi's son; his first piano at age nine ("I remember touching it ... It was my contact with life, with God"); his reluctant, brilliant, argumentative years at Harvard; the rocky but exhilarating start of his career (scant jobs, no money, but friendships with Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson, Judy Holliday, Comden and Green, et al.); his spectacular debut (understudy into a star!) as substitute conductor at the New York Philharmonic; the great career over the years as a composer in classical music (the Kaddish Symphony, Chichester Psalms, Songfest), and in musical theater (On the Town, Wonderful Town, Candide, West Side Story, Mass, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue).

We see Bernstein: the good father to his three children, the man who adored his wife, Felicia Montealegre, the man who adored men, the brilliant and generous mentor, the temperamental artist, the hypochondriac, the politician, the businessman, the Pied Piper ...

His life, his music, the great international cultural world in which he traveled, are richly and vividly portrayed in this magnificent biography, alive with music -- and with life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Read This One, Too....
I am a "late" fan of Bernstein, so went looking for a good biography.The place to start, obviously, is "Leonard Bernstein" by Humphrey Burton.That bio is much greater in depth and detail.Mr. Burton was LB's television producer and eventually his good friend.No anecdote is left untouched in his nicely arranged work and if you need all the gory details, that's where you go.However, Secrest's "Leonard Bernstein" A Life" is good for other reasons.He is able to step back a bit and talk about areas not covered in Burton's book.Two examples are the background and politics of the U.S. classical music environment during LB's lifetime and the negative effect of Bernstein's public life on his children's lives.I suspect Burton would have felt these were out of place for the former and out of bounds for the latter.However, both areas give great insight into Bernstein's effect on the world and should be told.Not being so personally close to the family, Secrest is able towrite with a little more jaundiced eye.Also the myriad of photographs in Secrest's book, scattered throughout at appropriate places, puts faces to the names.

I highly recommend this as a sort of companion volume to Burton's authoratative work.Since they are both inexpensive softcover purchases these days, get them both and enjoy Bernstein twice.

Not too much here
If you have been taught that a book provides more information, analysis, and complexity of thought than visual media, this biography is an exception.One learns very little about Leonard Bernstein here, and you'd be better of (given the choice) to see his concerts for Young People series or the documentary of the making of the fairly bad West Side Story operata, featuring Jose Carreras looking like a bumbling goofball and Bernstein acting like a college music director who had to pick the captain of the football team as a lead in a musical--which is too bad since I believe Bernstein cast him).This book is quite lackluster, which is surprising given the subject matter.It does not address, in depth, any of the internal sufferings or external battles Bernstein waged among the musicati or his deep conflict with homosexuality and his orthodox Jewish roots.What the book does, and this is a good thing is show how Bernstein--despite high brow critics' condenscension--widened the audience for classical music far more than even Pavorati, and that his success included talent, P.R., celebrity, gossip--those things that are uniquely American, and how he was determined to keep his American roots intact, which, among other things had him eschew studying extensively in Europe. In addition, you get an understanding of Bernsteins' 'strangeness,' that rare quality that Harold Bloom talks about that is an ingredient of masterful writers. Secrest does not disparage Bernstein's emotionalism as lots of die-hard classical music aficionados do.It's what made Bernstein who he was, and Secrest makes it evident that although Bernstein created some lousy music, classical music snobs who disparage him owe his a big favor for being a public personality.Without him, these same individuals would have a lot less opportunity to even enjoy classical music since Bernstein helped to create a market for it. He did for music what Carter Burden (former National Gallery director) who mastered the marketing concept of the blockbuster art exhibit. Yea, you could say it is a bit gimmicky, but I prefer that than demolishing art museums and building malls and parking lots in their place.

Bernstein chronology
The book is informative, but not well organized.It jumps back and forth in time too much.Also, the author's lack of musical knowledge shows.

Good, but has some downfalls
I've read the book twice over a two year period. The book has some very interesting parts pacificly when talking about Candide, his early years, and threw the 50's. Then, mid-way threw the book it becomes tedios to read,and Secrests' not being able to use the Bernstein family archives becomesapparent and the book is not very interesting to read as well as not beingwell written. Still if you are a Leonard Bernstein fan the book would stillbe worth reading just not buying. Go to the library for this one. ... Read more

Product Description
Bernstein's Candide is an operetta based on Voltaire's satirical novel. The composer later scored the overture for full orchestra and it is now one of his most frequently heard works. Though breezy and uncomplicated, it contains plenty of musical jokes and contrasts with the initial fanfare with a lightening tour of some of the operetta's best-loved numbers. On the Waterfront was the only motion picture for which Bernstein wrote a score. From this he extracted a suite, which skillfully incorporates all the themes and textures of the original score into a compelling musical whole which is entirely independent of the visual impetus of the film.

Premiered by Benny Goodman, Prelude, Fugue and Riffs is a marriage of concert music and jazz, the Baroque form of prelude and fugue being complemented by a series of jazz riffs.

In the Divertimento, Bernstein consciously looked back to the irreverent manner of Candide. The work is full of musical jokes including a brief quote from Stravinsky, a Viennese waltz parody, a mazurka, a samba, and nods to Copland, Mahler, Shostakovich, Gershwin, and Sousa. ... Read more

Product Description
A brief biography of the talented composer, conductor, and musician known for his television series, Young People's Concerts. ... Read more

Product Description
A fantastic resource for Leonard Bernstein's rich theatre songs, from On the Town, Peter Pan, Wonderful Town, Candide, West Side Story, Mass, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and other shows. Includes several songs cut from shows, songs never before published, and also new solo editions of some songs that have never before been available as stand-alone numbers. The songs have been newly engraved and edited, largely presented in authentic vocal score format (rather than piano/vocal sheet music arrangements). The song lists are not the same for High Voice and Low Voice editions; some songs are transposed; others are uniquely in only one volume. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

They never Shipped
I do not recommend buying this book from Amazon, not because this is not a good book, but because I ordered this book on Nov. 29 2006 and I still have not recieved it on March 1 2007. If you want this book, get it at a store. ... Read more

Product Description
When Leonard Bernstein died in 1990 at the age of 72, one of his admirers said he was actually 288 because he led four separate lives: as a conductor, a composer, a pianist and a teacher. No other American musician has ever had such a diverse career.

A sickly boy, Bernstein discovered music when he was about 10 and pursued a musical career despite his father’s objections. He became literally an overnight sensation when he was 25. With only a few hours notice, he conducted a concert that was broadcast across the entire country. He spent the rest of his life—nearly 50 years—in the spotlight, continually impressing people with his seemingly boundless energy and his love for music. Those qualities have influenced countless numbers of people, adding to their own appreciation of music. ... Read more

Product Description
These exciting new collections feature new transcriptions, previously unpublished material, and some selections never before published separately from complete vocal scores. High Voice edition features 29 selections and the Medium/Low Voice edition has 34. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Thank You from MASS
A Simple Song from MASS
Afterthought
Little Smary from ARIAS AND BARCAROLLES
Greeting from ARIAS AND BARCAROLLES
Queues de Boeuf (Ox-Tails) from LA BONNE CUISINE
Tavouk Gueunksis from LA BONNE CUISINE
Civet a Toute Vitesse (Rabbit at Top Speed) from LA BONNE CUISINE
My Name Is Barbara from I HATE MUSIC!
Jupiter Has Seven Moons from I HATE MUSIC!
I Hate Music! from I HATE MUSIC!
A Big Indian And A Little Indian from I HATE MUSIC!
I'm A Person Too from I HATE MUSIC!
My Twelve-Tone Melody
Piccola Serenata
Silhouette (Galilee)
A Julia de Burgos from SONGFEST
Music I Heard With You from SONGFEST
Zizi's Lament from SONGFEST
The Word Of the Lord from MASS
Hurry from MASS
World Without End from MASS
Our Father... I Go On from MASS
Plum Pudding from LA BONNE CUISINE
Extinguish My Eyes from TWO LOVE SONGS
When My Soul Touches Yours from TWO LOVE SONGS
Glitter And Be Gay from CANDIDE
I've Been Afraid from A QUIET PLACE
A Mommyre You Here (Dede's Aria) from A QUIET PLACE

... Read more