Day 120
Bernstein: Symphony no 1 Jeremiah
New York Philharmonic Orchestra
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein was an extraordinary musician. In the right repertoire he was a superb conductor (I greatly enjoy for example his recordings of the Haydn Paris Symphonies) and he was one of the great musical educators. I think that his book The Unanswered Question , based on lectures given at Harvard is full of real insights- though it would certainly not have been wise to admit admiration for this book at University where Schenkerian analysis reigned supreme. But ultimately it will be as a composer that he will be remembered. West Side Story is wonderful but to me his best work for the musical theatre was Candide. I had the original cast recording at school and it was one of the records I played over and over again.
I don't know much of his 'serious' music and this symphony was new to me. It is a rather curious piece in that there is a solo voice in the third movement - I had not studied the work in advance and didn't have a score and so it was a big surprise when the voice came in. I found much to enjoy throughout the work but the highlight was the middle movement - a jazzy scherzo full of cross rhythms and syncopations. I suspect that it must have been quite a challenge for the orchestra in the first performance in 1942, conducted by the young composer aged only 22. Bernstein's later music has a reputation of being self indulgent, I don't know how true that is, but this was anything but. You can see in this early work just what a prodigious talent he had.
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