thank you. greatest work of art ever (my opinion) of passionate hope for...whatever is hoped for with the magnificent choral reemphasizing the hope and soaring into the heavens of possibility...whatever the possibility. Written at the end of his life; a concert given at the end of a great life.
Two men who struggled throughout, two men who fought to hope...they both achieved fame...but what they sought was to re-engage the passion of hope of what could be over acceptance of whatever one is limited to hope for.
Two men who hoped for more than fame for themselves, though often arrogant in personality, their arrogance was their fight against the attempt to deny the music of passion that could arouse all men to hope for something more...
I remember the concert, at least the broadcast...and I floated into the skies of possibility perhaps more than any other moment of my life.
Lenny's talent spans an even broader capability than credited here for the Classics plus Broadway Show music. Few are aware that more than 70 years ago, he recorded a tutorial on Jazz Music for Columbia Recordings. The long-playing vinyl disc is CL-919, titled "What Is Jazz?" It is still available on request from them under that catalog number in their Collectors' Series. (May be in CD format by now.) His narrative, includes familiar but seldom connected examples, such as how blues phrasing is one with Shakespeare's iambic pentameter organizing principle. Quite a lecture from the maestro.
Worth listening to by anyone who admires Lenny, and who wants to benefit from his introduction to America's ONLY contribution to world culture: Jazz., which was the offspring of the marriage of African musical structure (halftones & quartertones, plus percussion as a narrative aid) and European musical instruments. All else (opera, light opera, plays starting with Shakespeare,, Yiddish Theater, vaudeville, musicals (on stage or on film) has a European birthmark.
With a nod of appreciation to George & Ira Gershwin for marrying the two ("Porgy & Bess" and Rhapsody in Blue"), encouraging broader acceptance.
So much for the American perspective. A broader view finds that the earliest introduction to jazz for Europeans was the music played in impromptu concerts for the French by black Doughboys, in between WW I battles (1917 -1919).
Gershwin soon took the jazz idiom and made the most of it, becoming the toast of Tin Pan Alley and Broadway until his early, untimely death.
Sad to note that jazz, our only contribution to global culture, receives so little acknowledgment as such nowadays, though snippets of it are sprinkled in plays and on the soundtracks of many movies as a subliminal mood-setting or period-dating device to remind us.
This music is eternal as is the "Hymn to Joy" which has becomne the National Athem of the EU. As I sit here on this beautiful sunny day just north of Bucharest, Romania, There is much to bring joy in the midst of this terrible mix of two wars that threaten. It is also a reminder that no matter the forces that try to impel themselves toward us and the rest of the world that needs no bullies for leaders, it also reminds us that the world needs no part of any government that threatens, lies, and fires rockets toward those who do not want them to dominate. There are those who cannot be reached without danger of one kind or another. Thank you, Dan. I write with fond memories of the time long ago when I could see and hear you on TV.
Thank you, Dan and Elliott. Just before reading today's piece, but before I listened to the lovely music, I learned of the recent death of an old neighbor. Not a lifelong friend, but someone we lived next to for the best part of 30 years, whose kids grew up with our daughter. I wasn't sure how I felt about it at first, since we hadn't been in touch for the last 15 or more years, but a slow feeling of bereavement crept over me, and I sat here for quite a while, thinking of nothing but loss. At my age, loss is inevitable, and you learn to cope. I was never really close with this person, but I could have called them, in the middle of the night with a need, and they would have been glad to help. Until I read the obituary, I didn't even know their middle name. Odd, isn't it, how you can know and not know a person simultaneously.
Anyway, It was after I roused myself from the small funk the news brought me, and started listening to "Eroica" that the funk melted away, the clouds started to lift, along with my spirits. What lovely music! And so at the end, I went straight on into the Ninth, thinking of the miracle of, as your essay stated, a gay Jew conducting a celebration of freedom in Berlin! How wonderful it was, and how soaring my heart was when it was over. A reason to smile, indeed, in the midst of loss, we have hope for the future. At any rate, thank you for showing me the brilliant light of the sun reaching around and past the clouds. It came at just the right time.
Thank you for reminding us that music speaks when words can't and that it is always a positive, uplifting message in the end. Your words are a blessing! Thank you!
Music is the only language in which it is impossible to make a in kind or hurtful remark. Thank you for this poignant reminder that the seemingly impossible is possible. Your words are a welcome balm in these turbulent times.
I'm reminded of this clip from an underrated film that shows the transformative power of Beethoven and his 9th: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b3_-pPzDVk
The joy on his face! How lovely.
thank you. greatest work of art ever (my opinion) of passionate hope for...whatever is hoped for with the magnificent choral reemphasizing the hope and soaring into the heavens of possibility...whatever the possibility. Written at the end of his life; a concert given at the end of a great life.
Two men who struggled throughout, two men who fought to hope...they both achieved fame...but what they sought was to re-engage the passion of hope of what could be over acceptance of whatever one is limited to hope for.
Two men who hoped for more than fame for themselves, though often arrogant in personality, their arrogance was their fight against the attempt to deny the music of passion that could arouse all men to hope for something more...
I remember the concert, at least the broadcast...and I floated into the skies of possibility perhaps more than any other moment of my life.
Beautiful comparison to what’s happening today!!!
This is wonderful...both the music and the 'history lesson.'; Thank you, Mr. Rather.
I would like to remind readers that Bernstein's niece, Allison, a musician herself, was cut diwn way too early in her life.
Lovely stories and the Ninth symphony takes me back to my childhood. My father was German and a music lover so I heard the Ninth many times.
Thank you so much for the background on Bernstein and the music, making me smile.
Lenny's talent spans an even broader capability than credited here for the Classics plus Broadway Show music. Few are aware that more than 70 years ago, he recorded a tutorial on Jazz Music for Columbia Recordings. The long-playing vinyl disc is CL-919, titled "What Is Jazz?" It is still available on request from them under that catalog number in their Collectors' Series. (May be in CD format by now.) His narrative, includes familiar but seldom connected examples, such as how blues phrasing is one with Shakespeare's iambic pentameter organizing principle. Quite a lecture from the maestro.
Worth listening to by anyone who admires Lenny, and who wants to benefit from his introduction to America's ONLY contribution to world culture: Jazz., which was the offspring of the marriage of African musical structure (halftones & quartertones, plus percussion as a narrative aid) and European musical instruments. All else (opera, light opera, plays starting with Shakespeare,, Yiddish Theater, vaudeville, musicals (on stage or on film) has a European birthmark.
With a nod of appreciation to George & Ira Gershwin for marrying the two ("Porgy & Bess" and Rhapsody in Blue"), encouraging broader acceptance.
So much for the American perspective. A broader view finds that the earliest introduction to jazz for Europeans was the music played in impromptu concerts for the French by black Doughboys, in between WW I battles (1917 -1919).
Gershwin soon took the jazz idiom and made the most of it, becoming the toast of Tin Pan Alley and Broadway until his early, untimely death.
Sad to note that jazz, our only contribution to global culture, receives so little acknowledgment as such nowadays, though snippets of it are sprinkled in plays and on the soundtracks of many movies as a subliminal mood-setting or period-dating device to remind us.
Never said it did! I commented that it was superfluous to his music and genius. And charm.
This music is eternal as is the "Hymn to Joy" which has becomne the National Athem of the EU. As I sit here on this beautiful sunny day just north of Bucharest, Romania, There is much to bring joy in the midst of this terrible mix of two wars that threaten. It is also a reminder that no matter the forces that try to impel themselves toward us and the rest of the world that needs no bullies for leaders, it also reminds us that the world needs no part of any government that threatens, lies, and fires rockets toward those who do not want them to dominate. There are those who cannot be reached without danger of one kind or another. Thank you, Dan. I write with fond memories of the time long ago when I could see and hear you on TV.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful music, especially the 9th!
Thank you, Dan and Elliott. Just before reading today's piece, but before I listened to the lovely music, I learned of the recent death of an old neighbor. Not a lifelong friend, but someone we lived next to for the best part of 30 years, whose kids grew up with our daughter. I wasn't sure how I felt about it at first, since we hadn't been in touch for the last 15 or more years, but a slow feeling of bereavement crept over me, and I sat here for quite a while, thinking of nothing but loss. At my age, loss is inevitable, and you learn to cope. I was never really close with this person, but I could have called them, in the middle of the night with a need, and they would have been glad to help. Until I read the obituary, I didn't even know their middle name. Odd, isn't it, how you can know and not know a person simultaneously.
Anyway, It was after I roused myself from the small funk the news brought me, and started listening to "Eroica" that the funk melted away, the clouds started to lift, along with my spirits. What lovely music! And so at the end, I went straight on into the Ninth, thinking of the miracle of, as your essay stated, a gay Jew conducting a celebration of freedom in Berlin! How wonderful it was, and how soaring my heart was when it was over. A reason to smile, indeed, in the midst of loss, we have hope for the future. At any rate, thank you for showing me the brilliant light of the sun reaching around and past the clouds. It came at just the right time.
So good to read this. It is a beacon of light and both are examples of making the impossible possible. Let it be so now again !
Thanks so much for this uplifting piece today, Dan. It is a powerful “reason to smile” and to believe in the best of our humanity.
Thank you for reminding us that music speaks when words can't and that it is always a positive, uplifting message in the end. Your words are a blessing! Thank you!
Music is the only language in which it is impossible to make a in kind or hurtful remark. Thank you for this poignant reminder that the seemingly impossible is possible. Your words are a welcome balm in these turbulent times.