Leonard Bernstein
Bernstein in 1977
Born	Louis Bernstein (1918-08-25)August 25, 1918 Lawrence, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	October 14, 1990(1990-10-14) (aged 72) New York City, U.S.
Burial place	Green-Wood Cemetery
Education	Harvard University (BA) Curtis Institute of Music (Dip)
Occupations	Conductor composer pianist lecturer author
Works	List of compositions
Spouse	Felicia Montealegre (m. 1951; died 1978)
Children	3
Awards	Full list
Signature

Leonard Bernstein (/ˈbɜːrnstaɪn/ BURN-styne;^[1] born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first American-born conductor to receive international acclaim. Bernstein was "one of the most prodigiously talented and successful musicians in American history" according to music critic Donal Henahan.^[2] Bernstein's honors and accolades include seven Emmy Awards,^[3] two Tony Awards,^[4] and 16 Grammy Awards (including the Lifetime Achievement Award)^[5] as well as an Academy Award nomination. He received the Kennedy Center Honor in 1981.^[6]

As a composer, Bernstein wrote in many genres, including symphonic and orchestral music, ballet, film and theatre music, choral works, opera, chamber music, and pieces for the piano. Bernstein's works include the Broadway musical West Side Story, which continues to be regularly performed worldwide, and has been adapted into two (1961 and 2021) feature films, as well as three symphonies, Serenade after Plato's "Symposium" (1954), and Chichester Psalms (1965), the original score for the Elia Kazan drama film On the Waterfront (1954), and theater works including On the Town (1944), Wonderful Town (1953), Candide (1956), and his Mass (1971).

Bernstein was the first American-born conductor to lead a major American symphony orchestra.^[7] He was music director of the New York Philharmonic and conducted the world's major orchestras, generating a legacy of audio and video recordings.^[8] Bernstein was also a critical figure in the modern revival of the music of Gustav Mahler, in whose music he was most interested.^[9] A skilled pianist,^[10] Bernstein often conducted piano concertos from the keyboard. He shared and explored classical music on television with a mass audience in national and international broadcasts, including Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic.^[11]

Bernstein worked in support of civil rights;^[12] protested against the Vietnam War;^[13] advocated nuclear disarmament; raised money for HIV/AIDS research and awareness; championed Janis Ian at age 15 and her song about interracial love, "Society's Child", on his CBS television show; and engaged in multiple international initiatives for human rights and world peace. He conducted Mahler's Resurrection Symphony to mark the death of president John F. Kennedy,^[14] and in Israel at a concert, Hatikvah on Mt. Scopus, after the Six-Day War.^[15] The sequence of events was recorded for a documentary entitled Journey to Jerusalem.^[16] At the end of his life, Bernstein conducted a performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in Berlin to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Early life and education

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1918–1935: Early life and family

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Bernstein was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, to Russian Jewish/Ukrainian Jewish parents, Jennie (née Resnick)^[17] and Samuel Joseph Bernstein, both of whom immigrated to the United States^[7] from Rivne, Russian Empire (now in Ukraine).^[18]^[19] His grandmother insisted that his first name be Louis, but his parents always called him Leonard. Bernstein legally changed his name from Louis to Leonard when he was 16.^[20] To his friends and many others, Bernstein was simply known as "Lenny".^[21]

His mother had moved to stay with her parents in Lawrence toward the end of her first pregnancy and, since he was sickly as an infant, he stayed there until he was strong enough to join his father in Boston, where he attended the William Lloyd Garrison School^[22] and then the Boston Latin School, for which Bernstein and classmate Lawrence F. Ebb wrote the Class Song.^[23] When he was 15, the family moved to nearby Newton, Massachusetts.^[24]

Bernstein's father was the owner of the Samuel J. Bernstein Hair Company. It held the exclusive distribution rights for the Frederick's Permanent Wave Machine in the 1920s and 1930s, which made Samuel wealthy.^[25]

In Bernstein's early youth, his main exposure to music was on Friday nights at Congregation Mishkan Tefila in Roxbury, Boston.^[26] When Bernstein was ten years old, Samuel's sister Clara deposited her upright piano at her brother's house. Bernstein asked for lessons, and subsequently had a variety of piano teachers in his youth, including Helen Coates, who later became his secretary.^[27] In the summers, the Bernstein family would go to their vacation home in Sharon, Massachusetts, where Leonard conscripted all the neighborhood children to put on shows ranging from Bizet's Carmen to Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore.^[28] Bernstein and his two younger siblings, Shirley and Burton, remained close their entire lives.^[29]

Samuel was initially opposed to Leonard's interest in music and attempted to discourage his son's interest by refusing to pay for his piano lessons. Leonard then took to giving lessons to young people in his neighborhood.^[30] One of his students, Sid Ramin, became Bernstein's orchestrator for West Side Story with Irwin Kostal and a lifelong beloved friend.^[31]^[32]

Samuel took his son to orchestral concerts in his teenage years and eventually supported his music education.^[33] In May 1932, Leonard attended his first orchestral concert with the Boston Pops conducted by Arthur Fiedler.^[34] It was at this concert that Bernstein first heard Ravel's Boléro, which made a big impression on him.^[35]

Another strong musical influence for him was George Gershwin. Bernstein was working as a music counselor at a summer camp when news came of Gershwin's death. Bernstein interrupted lunch in the mess hall, and then played Gershwin's second Prelude as a memorial.^[36]

On March 30, 1932, Bernstein played Brahms's Rhapsody in G minor at his first public piano performance in Susan Williams's studio recital at the New England Conservatory of Music. Two years later, he made his solo debut with orchestra playing Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor with the Boston Public School Orchestra.^[37]

1935–1941: College years

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Harvard University

In 1935, Bernstein enrolled at Harvard College, where he studied music with, among others, Edward Burlingame Hill and Walter Piston. Bernstein's first extant composition, Psalm 148, set for voice and piano, is dated 1935.^[38] He majored in music with a final year thesis titled "The Absorption of Race Elements into American Music" (1939; reproduced in his book Findings). One of Bernstein's intellectual influences at Harvard was aesthetics professor David Prall, and one of his friends at the school was future philosopher Donald Davidson. Bernstein wrote and conducted the musical score for the production Davidson mounted of Aristophanes' play The Birds, performed in the original Greek. Bernstein recycled some of this music in future works. While a student, Bernstein composed for the Harvard Glee Club and was briefly its president as well as serving as an unpaid pianist for Harvard Film Society's silent film presentations.^[39]

Bernstein mounted a student production of The Cradle Will Rock, directing its action from the piano as the composer Marc Blitzstein had done at the premiere. Blitzstein, who attended the performance, subsequently became a close friend and mentor to Bernstein.^[40] As a sophomore at Harvard, Bernstein met the conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos, who was an influence on Bernstein's eventual decision to become a conductor.^[41] Mitropoulos invited Bernstein to come to Minneapolis for the 1940–41 season to be his assistant, but the plan fell through because of union issues.^[42] In 1937, Bernstein sat next to Aaron Copland at a dance recital at Town Hall in New York City. Copland invited Bernstein to his birthday party afterwards, where Bernstein impressed the guests by playing Copland's challenging Piano Variations. Although he was never a formal student of Copland's, Bernstein regularly sought his advice, often citing him as "the closest thing to a composition teacher [Bernstein] ever had."^[43]^[44] Bernstein graduated from Harvard in 1939 with a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude.^[45]

Curtis Institute of Music

After graduating from Harvard, Bernstein enrolled at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. At Curtis, Bernstein studied conducting with Fritz Reiner; piano with Isabelle Vengerova; orchestration with Randall Thompson; counterpoint with Richard Stöhr; and score reading with Renée Longy-Miquelle.^[46] In 1940, Bernstein attended the inaugural year of the Berkshire Music Center, the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home.^[47] Bernstein studied conducting with the BSO's music director, Serge Koussevitzky,^[48] who became a profound lifelong inspiration to Bernstein.^[49] He became Koussevitzky's conducting assistant at Tanglewood^[49] and later dedicated his Symphony No. 2: The Age of Anxiety to Koussevitzky.^[50] One of Bernstein's classmates, both at Curtis and at Tanglewood, was Lukas Foss, who remained a lifelong friend and colleague.^[51] Bernstein returned to Tanglewood nearly every summer for the rest of his life to teach and conduct the young music students.^[52] Bernstein received a diploma in conducting from Curtis in 1941.^[53]

Career

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1940s: Rise to prominence

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Soon after he left Curtis, Bernstein moved to New York City where he lived in various apartments in Manhattan. Bernstein supported himself by coaching singers, teaching piano,^[54] and playing the piano for dance classes in Carnegie Hall. He found work with Harms-Witmark, transcribing jazz and pop music and publishing his work under the pseudonym "Lenny Amber". (Bernstein means "amber" in German.)^[55]

Bernstein briefly shared an apartment in Greenwich Village with his friend Adolph Green. Green was then part of a satirical music troupe called The Revuers, featuring Betty Comden and Judy Holliday. With Bernstein sometimes providing piano accompaniment, The Revuers often performed at the legendary jazz club the Village Vanguard.^[56]^[57] On April 21, 1942, Bernstein performed the premiere of his first published work, Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, with clarinetist David Glazer at the Institute of Modern Art in Boston.

Leonard Bernstein and Benny Goodman in rehearsal, ca. 1940–1949
Photo of Bernstein by Carl Van Vechten (1944)

New York Philharmonic conducting debut

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Bernstein would later make his New York Philharmonic conducting debut. On November 14, 1943, having recently been appointed assistant conductor to Artur Rodziński of the New York Philharmonic, Bernstein made his major conducting debut at short notice—and without any rehearsal—after guest conductor Bruno Walter came down with the flu.^[58]^[59] The challenging program included works by Robert Schumann, Miklós Rózsa, Richard Wagner, and Richard Strauss.^[58]^[60]

The next day, The New York Times carried the story on its front page and remarked in an editorial, "It's a good American success story. The warm, friendly triumph of it filled Carnegie Hall and spread far over the air waves."^[61] Many newspapers throughout the country carried the story, which, in combination with the concert's live national CBS Radio Network broadcast, propelled Bernstein to instant fame.^[62] Over the next two years, Bernstein made conducting debuts with ten different orchestras in the United States and Canada, greatly broadening his repertoire and initiating a lifelong frequent practice of conducting concertos from the piano.^[63]

On January 28, 1944, Bernstein conducted the premiere of his Symphony No. 1: Jeremiah with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and soloist Jennie Tourel.^[64] In the fall of 1943, Bernstein and Jerome Robbins began work on their first collaboration, Fancy Free, a ballet about three young sailors on leave in wartime New York City. Fancy Free premiered on April 18, 1944, with the Ballet Theatre (now the American Ballet Theatre) at the old Metropolitan Opera House, with scenery by Oliver Smith and costumes by Kermit Love.^[65]

Bernstein and Robbins decided to expand the ballet into a musical and invited Comden and Green to write the book and lyrics. On the Town opened on Broadway's Adelphi Theatre on December 28, 1944. The show resonated with audiences during World War II, and it broke race barriers on Broadway: Japanese-American dancer Sono Osato in a leading role; a multiracial cast dancing as mixed race couples; and a Black concertmaster, Everett Lee, who eventually took over as music director of the show.^[66] On the Town became an MGM motion picture in 1949, starring Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Jules Munshin as the three sailors. Only part of Bernstein's score was used in the film and additional songs were provided by Roger Edens.^[67]

From 1945 to 1947, Bernstein was the music director of the New York City Symphony, which had been founded the previous year by the conductor Leopold Stokowski. The orchestra (with support from Mayor Fiorello La Guardia) had modern programs and affordable tickets.^[68] In 1946, Bernstein made his overseas debut with the Czech Philharmonic at the inaugural Prague Spring International Music Festival.^[69] He also recorded Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major as soloist and conductor with the Philharmonia Orchestra.^[70] On July 4, 1946, Bernstein conducted the European premiere of Fancy Free with the Ballet Theatre at the Royal Opera House in London.^[71] On August 6 he conducted opera professionally for the first time, with the American premiere of Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes at Tanglewood, commissioned by Koussevitzky.^[72] That same year, Arturo Toscanini invited Bernstein to guest conduct two concerts with the NBC Symphony Orchestra, one of which featured Bernstein as soloist in Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major.^[73]^{[page needed]}

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, television debut and Tanglewood

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In 1947, Bernstein conducted in Tel Aviv for the first time, beginning a lifelong association with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, then known as the Palestine Symphony Orchestra. The next year, he conducted an open-air concert for Israeli troops at Beersheba in the middle of the desert during the Arab-Israeli war.^[74] In 1957, he conducted the inaugural concert of the Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv.^[69] In 1967, he conducted a concert on Mount Scopus to commemorate the Reunification of Jerusalem, featuring Mahler's Symphony No. 2 and Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto with soloist Isaac Stern.^[75] The city of Tel Aviv added his name to the Habima Square (Orchestra Plaza) in the center of the city.^[76] On December 10, 1949, Bernstein made his first television appearance as conductor with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. The concert, which included an address by Eleanor Roosevelt, celebrated the first anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly's ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and included the premiere of Aaron Copland's Preamble for a Solemn Occasion with Sir Laurence Olivier narrating text from the UN Charter. The concert was televised by NBC Television Network.^[77] In April 1949, Bernstein performed as piano soloist in the world premiere of his Symphony No. 2: The Age of Anxiety with Koussevitzy conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra. On December 2, 1949, Bernstein conducted the world premiere of the Messiaen's Turangalîla-Symphonie, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the New York premiere in Carnegie Hall on the afternoon of December 10.^[78] Part of the rehearsal for the concert was recorded and released by the orchestra. When Koussevitzky died in 1951, Bernstein became head of the orchestra and conducting departments at Tanglewood.

1950s: Career expansion and West Side Story

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The 1950s comprised the most active years of Bernstein's career. He created five new works for the Broadway stage, composed several symphonic works and an iconic film score, and was appointed music director of the New York Philharmonic with whom he toured the world, including concerts behind the Iron Curtain. Bernstein also harnessed the power of television to expand his educational reach, and he married and started a family. In 1950, Bernstein composed incidental music for a Broadway production of J. M. Barrie's play Peter Pan.^[79] The production, which opened on Broadway on April 24, 1950, starred Jean Arthur as Peter Pan and Boris Karloff in the dual roles of George Darling and Captain Hook. The show ran for 321 performances.^[80]

In 1951, Bernstein composed Trouble in Tahiti, a one-act opera in seven scenes with an English libretto by the composer. The opera portrays the troubled marriage of a couple whose idyllic suburban post-war environment belies their inner turmoil.^[81] Ironically, Bernstein wrote most of the opera while on his honeymoon in Mexico with his wife, Felicia Montealegre. Bernstein was a visiting music professor at Brandeis University from 1951 to 1956. In 1952, he created the Brandeis Festival of the Creative Arts, where he conducted the premiere of Trouble in Tahiti on June 12 of that year.^[82] The NBC Opera Theatre subsequently presented the opera on television in November 1952. It opened on Broadway at the Playhouse Theatre on April 19, 1955, and ran for six weeks.^[83] Three decades later, Bernstein wrote a second opera, A Quiet Place, which picked up the story and characters of Trouble in Tahiti in a later period.

Wonderful Town (1953)

In 1953, Bernstein wrote the score for the musical Wonderful Town on very short notice, with a book by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Like the 1940 play, directed on Broadway by George S. Kaufman, it is based on the autobiographical short stories, collectively titled My Sister Eileen, that were written by Ruth McKenney and published in the early 1930s by The New Yorker. They tell the story of two sisters from Ohio who move to New York City and seek success from their squalid basement apartment in Greenwich Village. Wonderful Town opened on Broadway on February 25, 1953, at the Winter Garden Theatre, starring Rosalind Russell in the role of Ruth Sherwood, Edie Adams as Eileen Sherwood, and George Gaynes as Robert Baker. It won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Actress.^[84]

Candide (1956)

In the three years leading up to Bernstein's appointment as music director of the New York Philharmonic, Bernstein was simultaneously working on the scores for two Broadway shows. The first of the two was the operetta-style musical Candide. Lillian Hellman originally brought Bernstein her idea of adapting Voltaire's novella.^[85] The original collaborators on the show were book writer John Latouche and lyricist Richard Wilbur. Candide opened on Broadway on December 1, 1956, at the Martin Beck Theatre, in a production directed by Tyrone Guthrie. Anxious about the parallels Hellman had deliberately drawn between Voltaire's story and the ongoing hearings conducted by the House Un-American Activities Committee, Guthrie persuaded the collaborators to cut their most incendiary sections prior to opening night.^[86] While the production was a box office disaster, running for only two months for a total of 73 performances,^[87] the cast album became a cult classic, which kept Bernstein's score alive. There have been several revivals, with modifications to improve the book. The elements of the music that have remained best known and performed over the decades are the Overture, which quickly became one of the most frequently performed orchestral compositions by a 20th century American composer; the coloratura aria "Glitter and Be Gay", which Barbara Cook sang in the original production; and the grand finale "Make Our Garden Grow".

West Side Story (1957)

The other musical Bernstein was writing simultaneously with Candide was West Side Story. Bernstein collaborated with director and choreographer Jerome Robbins, book writer Arthur Laurents, and lyricist Stephen Sondheim.^[88] The story is an updated retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, set in the mid-1950s in the slums of New York City's Upper West Side. The Romeo character, Tony, is affiliated with the Jets gang, who are of white Northern European descent. The Juliet character is Maria, who is connected to the Sharks gang, recently arrived from Puerto Rico.^[89] The original Broadway production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on September 26, 1957, and ran 732 performances. Robbins won the Tony Award for Best Choreographer, and Oliver Smith won the Tony for Best Scenic Designer.^[90]

Bernstein's score for West Side Story blends "jazz, Latin rhythms, symphonic sweep and musical-comedy conventions in groundbreaking ways for Broadway".^[91] It was orchestrated by Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal following detailed instructions from Bernstein. The dark theme, sophisticated music, extended dance scenes, and focus on social problems marked a turning point in musical theatre. In 1960, Bernstein prepared a suite of orchestral music from the show, titled Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, which continues to be popular with orchestras worldwide.^[92] A 1961 United Artists film adaptation, directed by Robert Wise and Robbins, starred Natalie Wood as Maria and Richard Beymer as Tony. The film won ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture and a ground-breaking Best Supporting Actress award for Puerto Rican-born Rita Moreno playing the role of Anita.^[93] A film adaptation directed by Steven Spielberg opened in 2021.^[94]

In addition to Bernstein's compositional activity for the stage, he wrote a symphonic work, Serenade after Plato's "Symposium" (1954); the score On the Waterfront (1954); and Prelude, Fugue and Riffs, composed in 1949, but only premiered in 1955, for jazz big band and solo clarinet. In 1953, Bernstein became the first American conductor to appear at La Scala in Milan, conducting Cherubini's Medea, with Maria Callas in the title role. Callas and Bernstein reunited at La Scala to perform Bellini's La sonnambula in 1955. On November 14, 1954, Bernstein presented the first of his television lectures for the CBS Television Network arts program Omnibus. The live lecture, entitled "Beethoven's Fifth Symphony", involved Bernstein explaining the symphony's first movement with the aid of musicians from the "Symphony of the Air" (formerly NBC Symphony Orchestra). The program featured manuscripts from Beethoven's own hand, as well as a giant painting of the first page of the score covering the studio floor. Six more Omnibus lectures followed from 1955 to 1961 (later on ABC and then NBC) covering a broad range of topics: jazz, conducting, American musical comedy, modern music, J. S. Bach, and grand opera.

Music director of the New York Philharmonic

Bernstein was appointed the music director of the New York Philharmonic in 1957, sharing the post jointly with Dimitri Mitropoulos until he took sole charge in 1958. Bernstein held the music directorship until 1969 when he was appointed "Laureate Conductor". He continued to conduct and make recordings with the orchestra for the rest of his life.^[96] Bernstein's television teaching took a quantum leap when, as the new music director of the New York Philharmonic, he put the orchestra's traditional Saturday afternoon Young People's Concerts on the CBS Television Network. Millions of viewers of all ages and around the world enthusiastically embraced Bernstein and his engaging presentations about classical music. Bernstein often presented talented young performers on the broadcasts. Many of them became celebrated in their own right, including conductors Claudio Abbado and Seiji Ozawa; flutist Paula Robison; and pianist André Watts. From 1958 until 1972, the 53 Young People's Concerts comprised the most influential series of music education programs ever produced on television.^[97] They were highly acclaimed by critics and won numerous Emmy Awards.^[98]

Some of Bernstein's scripts, all of which he wrote himself, were released in book form and on records.^[99] A recording of Humor in Music was awarded a Grammy award for Best Documentary or Spoken Word Recording (other than comedy) in 1961.^[100] The programs were shown in many countries around the world, often with Bernstein dubbed into other languages, and the concerts were later released on home video by Kultur Video.

In 1958, Bernstein and Mitropoulos led the New York Philharmonic on its first tour south of the border, through 12 countries in Central and South America. The United States Department of State sponsored the tour to improve the nation's relations with its southern neighbors.^[42] In 1959, the Department of State also sponsored Bernstein and the Philharmonic on a 50-concert tour through Europe and the Soviet Union, portions of which were filmed by the CBS Television Network. A highlight of the tour was Bernstein's performance of Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony, in the presence of the composer, who came on stage at the end to congratulate Bernstein and the musicians.

1960s: Innovations and Lincoln Center

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New York Philharmonic Innovations

Bernstein's innovative approach to themed programming included introducing audiences to composers less-performed at the time such as Gustav Mahler, Carl Nielsen, Jean Sibelius, and Charles Ives (including the world premiere of his Symphony No. 2). Bernstein actively advocated for the commission and performance of works by contemporary composers, conducting over 40 world premieres by a diverse roster of composers ranging from John Cage to Alberto Ginastera to Luciano Berio.^[101] He also conducted US premieres of 19 major works from around the globe, including works by Dmitri Shostakovich, Pierre Boulez, and György Ligeti.^[102]

Bernstein during a visit to Finland, 1959

Bernstein championed American composers, especially those with whom he had a close friendship, such as Aaron Copland, William Schuman, and David Diamond. This decade saw a significant expansion of Bernstein and the Philharmonic's collaboration with Columbia Records, together they released over 400 compositions, covering a broad swath of the classical music canon. Bernstein welcomed the Philharmonic's additions of its first Black musician, Sanford Allen, and its second woman musician, Orin O'Brien. Bernstein also shared the Philharmonic's commitment to connecting with as many New Yorkers as possible. That vision became a reality with the launch of the Concerts in the Parks in 1965, which Bernstein conducted often. Another milestone was the Philharmonic's first visit to Japan in 1961, when Bernstein led acclaimed Philharmonic concerts and engaged in cultural exchange. Over the years, he led the Orchestra on tours to 144 cities in 38 countries.

Bernstein initiated the Philharmonic's informal Thursday Evening Preview Concerts, which included Bernstein's talks from the stage, a practice that was unheard of at the time.^[103]^[104] In one oft-reported incident, on April 6, 1962,^[105] Bernstein appeared on stage before a performance of the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor to explain that the soloist, Glenn Gould, had chosen an idiosyncratic approach to the work. Bernstein explained that while he did not totally agree with it, he thought Gould's interpretation was an artistically worthy exploration.^[106] Bernstein questioned: "In a concerto, who is the boss: the soloist or the conductor?"^[107] The incident created a stir that reverberated in the press for decades; see New York Philharmonic concert of April 6, 1962 § Legacy.

In 1960, Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic marked the centennial of Gustav Mahler's birth with a series of performances. The composer's widow, Alma, attended some of Bernstein's rehearsals. That same year, Bernstein made his first commercial recording of a Mahler symphony (the Fourth). Over the next seven years, he recorded the entire Mahler symphony cycle with the New York Philharmonic (except for the 8th Symphony, which was recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra). The combination of concert performances, television talks, and recordings led to a renewed interest in Mahler, especially in the United States.^[108] Bernstein claimed that he identified with the works on a personal level, and once wrote of the composer: "I'm so sympathetic to Mahler: I understand his problem. It's like being two different men locked up in the same body; one man is a conductor and the other a composer ... It's like being a double man."^[109]^[110]

Opening Lincoln Center

On May 14, 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower broke ground for Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. On September 23, 1962, the New York Philharmonic moved from Carnegie Hall to its new home, Philharmonic Hall (now David Geffen Hall). Bernstein conducted the gala opening concert featuring works by Mahler, Beethoven, and Vaughan Williams, as well as the premiere of Aaron Copland's Connotations. In 1964, Bernstein conducted at the Metropolitan Opera for the first time in Franco Zeffirelli's production of Verdi's Falstaff. In subsequent years, Bernstein returned to The Met to conduct Cavalleria rusticana (1970) and Carmen (1972), as well as at the Centennial Gala in 1983.^[111]

An Artist's Response to Violence

In 1961, Bernstein composed and conducted a fanfare for President John F. Kennedy's pre-inaugural gala.

On November 23, 1963, the day after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Bernstein conducted the New York Philharmonic and the Schola Cantorum of New York in a nationally televised memorial featuring the Mahler's Symphony No. 2: "Resurrection". Later that week, in a speech to the United Jewish Appeal, Bernstein said: "This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before."^[112] After Senator Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968, Bernstein conducted the "Adagietto" movement from Mahler's Symphony No. 5 at the funeral mass.^[113]

Kaddish and Chichester Psalms

Due to his commitment to the New York Philharmonic and his many other activities, Bernstein had little time for composition during the 1960s, composing just two major works. His Symphony No. 3: Kaddish was written in 1963; Bernstein dedicated the work: "To the Beloved Memory of John F. Kennedy." The work features a large orchestra, a full choir, a boys' choir, a soprano soloist, and a narrator. "Kaddish" refers to the Jewish prayer recited for the dead. Bernstein wrote the text of the narration himself; his wife, Felicia Montealegre, narrated the US premiere of the work.^[114]

In 1965, Bernstein took a sabbatical year from the New York Philharmonic to concentrate on composition, during which he composed Chichester Psalms. Commissioned by the Dean of Chichester Cathedral, Walter Hussey, the work premiered at Philharmonic Hall in New York City on July 15, 1965, conducted by Bernstein himself, and subsequently at Chichester Cathedral, conducted by John Birch. For his text, Bernstein chose excerpts from the Book of Psalms in the original Hebrew.^[115] In 2018, Bernstein's Centennial year, Chichester Psalms was cited as the 5th-most performed concert work worldwide.^[116]

Vienna Philharmonic debut

In 1966, Bernstein began a lifelong rich relationship with the Vienna Philharmonic, conducting concerts as well as making his debut at the Vienna State Opera in Luchino Visconti's production of Falstaff with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in the title role. Bernstein was largely responsible for restoring the works of Mahler to the Vienna Philharmonic's core repertoire. Bernstein recorded Mahler's Symphonies numerous times with the orchestra.^[117] Bernstein returned to the State Opera in 1968 for a production of Der Rosenkavalier and in 1970 for Otto Schenk's production of Beethoven's Fidelio.

1970s: Mass, Dybbuk and international acclaim

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During the 1970s, Bernstein's company, Amberson, in partnership with Unitel, produced and coordinated filmed recordings of his symphonic concerts around the world. For the rest of his life, Bernstein preferred to derive his audio recordings from live performances. Nearly 80% of Bernstein's recordings with his new recording partner, Deutsche Grammophon, were recorded live.^[118]

Bernstein's major compositions during the 1970s were his Mass: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers; his score for the ballet Dybbuk; his orchestral vocal work Songfest; and his U.S. bicentennial musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, with lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, which was his last Broadway show and only theatrical flop.

Mass: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers (1971)

In 1966, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis commissioned Bernstein to compose a work for the inauguration of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., Bernstein began writing Mass in 1969 as a large-scale theatrical work based on the Tridentine Mass of the Catholic Church, and in 1971, Bernstein invited the young composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, who had recently opened the musical Godspell off-Broadway, to collaborate as co-lyricist. The world premiere took place on September 8, 1971, conducted by Maurice Peress, directed by Gordon Davidson, and choreographed by Alvin Ailey.^[119]

Bernstein's score combines elements of musical theater, jazz, gospel, blues, folk, rock, and symphonic music, and the libretto combines Latin and English liturgy, Hebrew prayer, and additional lyrics written by Bernstein and Schwartz.^[120]

Mass received both rapturous and critical reactions, from audiences and music critics alike. While some members of the Catholic Church praised the piece's expression of contemporary crises of faith, others considered it blasphemous. (In 2000, Pope John Paul II requested a performance of Mass at the Vatican itself.)^[121] President Richard Nixon declined to attend the premiere due to its anti-Vietnam War message.^[122]^{[failed verification]} Viewpoints on Mass continue to evolve over time, and Edward Seckerson wrote in 2021, 50 years after its premiere: "Put simply, no other work of Bernstein's encapsulates exactly who he was as a man or as a musician; no other work displays his genius, his intellect, his musical virtuosity and innate theatricality quite like Mass."^[123]^{[failed verification]}

The Unanswered Question: Six Talks at Harvard

In the 1972–73 academic year, Bernstein was appointed to the Charles Eliot Norton Chair as Professor of Poetry at Harvard, where he delivered six lectures, The Unanswered Question, which explored such elements as tonality, harmony, and form through the lens of Noam Chomsky's linguistic theories. Bernstein provided musical examples from the piano, and pre-recorded musical works with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.^[124] Amberson arranged for the lectures to be videotaped at the WGBH studios in Boston. The six lectures were broadcast on PBS in 1976, and subsequently released on home video^[125] and published as a book.^[126]

Leonard Bernstein by Allan Warren, 1973
Leonard Bernstein by Allan Warren, 1973

Dybbuk (1974)

Bernstein collaborated with Jerome Robbins to create Dybbuk, a ballet based on S. Ansky's play of the same name. The ballet depicts Ansky's tale of a young woman possessed by a malicious spirit, known in Jewish folklore as a "dybbuk". Dybbuk was premiered by the New York City Ballet at the New York State Theater on May 16, 1974, with Bernstein conducting. A revision of the choreography and the score was made later the same year, titled Dybbuk Variations. It received its premiere in November 1974.^[127]

Songfest: A Cycle of American Poems for Six Singers and Orchestra

Bernstein's Songfest: A Cycle of American Poems for Six Singers and Orchestra premiered on October 11, 1977, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., with the composer conducting the National Symphony Orchestra. The work was intended as a tribute to the 1976 American Bicentennial, but was not finished in time. The work sets an array of texts by 13 American poets spanning three centuries. Bernstein deliberately selected the widest possible array of literary voices to express the nation's essential diversity; the poets include June Jordan, Julia de Burgos, Walt Whitman, and Langston Hughes.^[128] On July 4, 1985, Bernstein conducted a nationally televised performance of Songfest as part of the National Symphony's annual A Capitol Fourth concert.^[129]

International conducting and recordings

After becoming Conductor Laureate of the New York Philharmonic in 1969, Bernstein took advantage of his freed-up schedule to increase the pace of his world travel, conducting twenty-nine orchestras throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas, and making live recordings with them for both Unitel and Deutsche Grammophon.^[130] Bernstein founded Amberson Productions in 1969. In partnership with Unitel, Amberson created many video productions of concert performances, starting with Verdi's Requiem Mass in St. Paul's Cathedral with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1970, produced and directed by Humphrey Burton. Burton would go on to collaborate with Bernstein on his music video projects for the rest of Bernstein's life.^[131]

In 1972, Bernstein recorded Bizet's Carmen, with Marilyn Horne in the title role and James McCracken as Don Jose, after leading several stage performances of the opera at the Metropolitan Opera.^[132] The recording was one of the first in stereo to use the original spoken dialogue between the sung portions of the opera. The recording was Bernstein's first for Deutsche Grammophon and won a Grammy.^[133] In working with Unitel and Deutsche Grammophon, Bernstein made a host of video and audio recordings with such orchestras as Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma della Rai, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and Orchestre National de France. In the late 1970s, Bernstein conducted a complete Beethoven symphony cycle with the Vienna Philharmonic, and cycles of Brahms and Schumann were to follow in the 1980s.^[134]

Among the many noteworthy Amberson productions with Unitel were Bernstein conducting Mahler's Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection" with the London Symphony Orchestra at Ely Cathedral in 1973 and Fidelio at the Vienna State Opera in 1978.^[135] In 1970, Bernstein wrote and narrated "Bernstein on Beethoven: A Celebration in Vienna," an in-depth exploration of Beethoven on the composer's 200th birthday, filmed on location in and around Vienna.^[136] It features excerpts of Bernstein's rehearsals and performance of Fidelio at the Vienna State Opera, directed by Otto Schenk (which was later revived and filmed in 1978); Bernstein playing the Piano Concerto No. 1 and conducting from the piano; and a performance of Symphony No. 9 with the Vienna Philharmonic, featuring the young Plácido Domingo among the soloists. The show, produced and directed by Humphrey Burton, was broadcast around the world and won an Emmy Award.^[137]

Also recorded by Unitel, in October 1976, was Bernstein's concert in Munich with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and pianist Claudio Arrau to benefit Amnesty International.^[138] To honor his late wife and to continue their joint support for human rights, Bernstein subsequently established the Felicia Montealegre Bernstein Fund of Amnesty International USA to provide aid for human rights activists.^[139]

In 1979, Bernstein conducted the Berlin Philharmonic for the first and only time, in two charity concerts for Amnesty International featuring performances of Mahler's Ninth Symphony, recorded live on Deutsche Grammophon.^[140] The invitation for the concerts had come from the orchestra and not from its principal conductor Herbert von Karajan. There has been speculation about why Karajan never invited Bernstein to conduct his orchestra. The full reasons will probably never be known—they were on friendly terms and respected each other, but sometimes practiced a little mutual one-upmanship such that they were described as fierce rivals.^[141] It was often suggested that Bernstein could not conduct in Berlin while Karajan was alive (the Berlin Philharmonic was regarded as Karajan's own), the truth was that Berlin Philharmonic's managing director Wolfgang Stresemann actually invited Bernstein but as part of a subscription concert series, which Bernstein disliked.^[142]^[143]^[144]

1980s: A Quiet Place, and Tanglewood

[edit]

During the 1980s, Bernstein pursued a packed schedule, continuing to conduct, teach, compose, and produce several television documentaries. Bernstein's most significant compositions of the decade were his opera A Quiet Place; Divertimento for Orchestra; Ḥalil for flute and orchestra; Concerto for Orchestra "Jubilee Games"; and the song cycle Arias and Barcarolles. Bernstein received the Kennedy Center Honors award in 1980, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1985, France's Legion of Honour (Commander) in 1985, and Japan's Praemium Imperiale in 1990, among others.^[145]

In the 1980s, Bernstein cemented his educational legacy by co-founding three music academies: Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Orchestral Academy, and the Pacific Music Festival.^[146] Bernstein continued his longtime relationship with Tanglewood to the end of his life, including a lavish televised gala in 1988 to celebrate his 70th birthday, as well as his final concert performance in August 1990.^[147]

A Quiet Place (1983)

In 1983, Bernstein wrote a new opera, A Quiet Place, with a libretto by Stephen Wadsworth. The opera premiered at the Houston Grand Opera on June 17, 1983, conducted by John DeMain.^[148] The opera was a sequel to Bernstein's 1951 opera Trouble in Tahiti, which preceded the new opera at the premiere. In 1984, Bernstein and Wadsworth reconfigured A Quiet Place to include Trouble in Tahiti in its middle. This version was performed at La Scala and the Kennedy Center, with John Mauceri conducting. In 1986, Bernstein himself conducted and recorded the work at the Vienna State Opera.^[149]

Conducting activities

During the 1980s, in addition to continuing his productive relationship with the New York, Israel, and Vienna Philharmonics, Bernstein was also a regular guest conductor with several other major orchestras around the world.^[150] In Munich with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bernstein recorded works including Wagner's Tristan und Isolde; Haydn's Creation; and Mozart's Requiem and Great Mass in C minor.^[151] In Rome with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Bernstein recorded works by Debussy, as well as Puccini's La bohème, featuring an all-American cast.^[152] In Amsterdam with Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernstein recorded Mahler's Symphonies No. 1, 4, and 9, among other works.^[153]

In May 1986, the London Symphony Orchestra mounted a Bernstein Festival at the Barbican Centre, featuring a concert in which Bernstein conducted his own works. Queen Elizabeth II attended the performance.^[154] In December 1989, Bernstein conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in his operetta Candide and subsequently recorded the work at Abbey Road Studios. The recording starred Jerry Hadley, June Anderson, Christa Ludwig, and Adolph Green in the leading roles.^[155] The live concert from the Barbican Centre in London was captured on video.^[156]

Ode to "Freedom" (1989)

On December 25, 1989, Bernstein conducted Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in East Berlin's Konzerthaus as part of a celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall. He had conducted the same work in West Berlin the previous day. The orchestra consisted of members representing the two German States and the four occupying powers of post-war Berlin. The Christmas Day concert was broadcast live to an estimated audience of 100 million people in more than twenty countries.^[157] For the occasion, Bernstein reworded Friedrich Schiller's text of the Ode to Joy, replacing the word Freude (joy) with the word Freiheit (freedom).^[157] Bernstein added, "I'm sure that Beethoven would have given us his blessing."^[158]^[159]

Final concert at Tanglewood

Bernstein conducted his last concert on August 19, 1990, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood. He led Benjamin Britten's Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes and Beethoven's Symphony No. 7. The program also included Bernstein's own Arias and Barcarolles in a new orchestration by Bright Sheng.^[160] However, poor health prevented Bernstein from preparing it, and Tanglewood Conducting Fellow Carl St. Clair was engaged to conduct the work in his stead.^[161]

Bernstein suffered a coughing fit during the third movement of the Beethoven, but continued to conduct the piece to its conclusion, leaving the stage during the ovation, appearing exhausted and in pain.^[162] The concert was later issued on CD as Leonard Bernstein – The Final Concert by Deutsche Grammophon.^[163]

Amberson Productions

Bernstein's Amberson Productions continued its collaborations with Unitel throughout the 1980s. In 1982, PBS aired an Emmy-nominated series Bernstein/Beethoven featuring all nine Beethoven symphonies and other works using films that Unitel had recorded of Bernstein conducting the Vienna Philharmonic in the late 1970s.^[164] The series includes conversations between Bernstein and actor Maximilian Schell, who also read from Beethoven's letters.^[165]

In 1984, Bernstein conducted a Deutsche Grammophon recording of West Side Story, his only recording of the entire work.^[166] The album, featuring opera singers Kiri Te Kanawa, José Carreras, Marilyn Horne, and Tatiana Troyanos, was an international bestseller.^[167] An Emmy-nominated film The Making of West Side Story documented the recording process.^[168]

Other documentaries that Bernstein made during the 1980s include The Little Drummer Boy,^[169] which delved into the music of Gustav Mahler, and The Love of Three Orchestras,^[170] exploring his work with the New York, Vienna, and Israel Philharmonics.

Educational activities

Bernstein's nurturing experience at the Tanglewood Music Festival inspired him to use his international influence to recreate that environment for young musicians in the final years of his life.^[171] During summer 1987, Bernstein celebrated the 100th anniversary of Nadia Boulanger at the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau. Bernstein gave a master class inside the castle of Fontainebleau.^[172]

Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute

In 1982, Bernstein, with Los Angeles Philharmonic general manager Ernest Fleischmann and University of Southern California professor Daniel Lewis, co-founded the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute, a summer training academy inspired by Tanglewood. Bernstein served as artistic co-director and taught conducting classes for two summers.^[173] During that time, he performed and recorded American works, including some of his own, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for Deutsche Grammophon.^[174]

Orchestra Academy of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival

In May 1986, Bernstein conducted the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus for the inaugural concert of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, in a performance of Haydn's Die Schöpfung (The Creation). He returned the following year when he founded the festival's Orchestra Academy, once again recreating the nurturing atmosphere of Bernstein's Tanglewood experience.^[175] Over three summers, Bernstein took the students on international tours to Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union.^[176]

To commemorate Bernstein's legacy as an educator and founder of the Orchestra Academy, the festival created the Leonard Bernstein Award in 2002, which has honored young musicians including Lang Lang, Jonathan Biss, and Alisa Weilerstein, among many others.^[177]

Founding of the Pacific Music Festival

In 1990, Bernstein's final summer, he founded the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan with Michael Tilson Thomas and the London Symphony Orchestra.^[178] The Festival's goal was to emphasize musical training for young students in the Pacific region.^[179]

In his opening address, Bernstein said: "And my decision has been, without too much thought, to spend most of the remaining energy and time the Lord grants me in education and sharing, as much as possible, with younger people."^[180] As artistic director, Bernstein worked with the students in that first summer, but had to cut his time short due to ill health.^[130]

Bernstein Education Through the Arts (BETA) Fund

In 1990, Bernstein received the Praemium Imperiale, an international prize awarded by the Japan Arts Association for lifetime achievement in the arts. Bernstein used the $100,000 prize to establish The Bernstein Education Through the Arts (BETA) Fund.^[181] He provided this grant to develop an arts-based education program. The Leonard Bernstein Center was posthumously established in April 1992, and initiated extensive school-based research, ultimately leading to the current Leonard Bernstein Artful Learning Program.^[182]

Personal life

[edit]

Bernstein had two younger siblings, Shirley and Burton.^[183] The three children lived with their parents, Samuel and Jennie, in the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts, in a community of mostly Eastern European Jewish immigrants.^[184]

Bernstein had asthma, and the condition kept him from serving in the military during World War II.^[185]

Bernstein married actress Felicia Montealegre Cohn on September 9, 1951.^[186] They had three children: Jamie, Alexander, and Nina.^[187] The Bernstein family lived in New York City and Fairfield, Connecticut, and maintained a close-knit atmosphere surrounded by extended family and friends.^[188] The family owned a house in Redding, Connecticut, which they sold in 1964.^[189] Bernstein had a studio with a piano in each of his dwellings. The contents of his former studio at Fairfield, Connecticut are housed at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.^[190]

Throughout his life, Bernstein had affairs with both men and women. In April 1943, he sought advice from Aaron Copland about living as a gay man in the public eye, a notion he brought up again in a letter to David Oppenheim in July of that year.^[191] In a private letter written after their marriage, Felicia acknowledged her husband's sexual orientation. She wrote him: "You are a homosexual and may never change – you don't admit to the possibility of a double life, but if your peace of mind, your health, your whole nervous system depend on a certain sexual pattern what can you do?"^[192]^[193]

In 1976, Bernstein left Felicia for a period to live in Northern California with Tom Cothran, a music scholar who had assisted him on research for the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures that Bernstein delivered at Harvard.^[194]^[195] The following year, Felicia was diagnosed with lung cancer. Bernstein moved back in with her and cared for her until her death on June 16, 1978.^[196]

Bernstein continued to have relationships with men until his death on October 14, 1990.^[197]

When he was not composing and conducting, Bernstein enjoyed skiing, playing tennis, and engaging in all manner of word games, especially anagrams.^[198]

Death and legacy

[edit]

Bernstein announced his retirement from conducting on October 9, 1990.^[199] He died five days later at the age of 72, in his New York apartment at The Dakota, of a heart attack brought on by mesothelioma.^[200]^[2] A longtime heavy smoker, Bernstein had emphysema from his mid-50s. On the day of his funeral procession through the streets of Manhattan, construction workers removed their hats and waved, calling out "Goodbye, Lenny".^[201] Bernstein is buried near the summit of Battle Hill^[202] at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York,^[203] next to his wife and with a copy of the score of Mahler's Fifth Symphony lying across his heart.^[204]

On August 25, 2018 (the 100th anniversary of his birth), Bernstein was honored with a Google Doodle.^[205] The Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles created an exhibition titled Leonard Bernstein at 100 for his centennial.^[206]^[207]^[208]

Bradley Cooper's drama film Maestro (2023) chronicles the relationship between Bernstein (played by Cooper) and his wife, Felicia Montealegre (played by Carey Mulligan). Produced by Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese,^[209] the film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival. As the Spotlight Gala feature of the 61st New York Film Festival,^[210] it was the first film presentation at the recently renovated David Geffen Hall in Lincoln Center, which was also where Bernstein had conducted as music director of the New York Philharmonic from its opening as Philharmonic Hall in 1962 until 1969.^[211]^[212]

Bernstein sought to make music both intelligible and enjoyable to all. Through his educational efforts, including several books and the creation of two major international music festivals, Bernstein influenced several generations of young musicians.

Bernstein's grave in Green-Wood Cemetery
Place Léonard-Bernstein, a square in the 12th arrondissement of Paris

Social activism and humanitarian efforts

[edit]

Since earliest adulthood, Bernstein was committed to furthering social change and making the world a better place.^[213] Throughout his life, Bernstein fought for a variety of political and humanitarian causes, from the civil rights movement to the Vietnam War protests to nuclear disarmament to advocacy during the AIDS crisis.^[214]

Bernstein's first public efforts for social change became apparent in 1939 when, as a college student at Harvard, he organized and led a performance of Marc Blitzstein's recently banned musical, The Cradle Will Rock, about the struggles of the working class.^[215]

FBI file

[edit]

Bernstein was involved in numerous left-wing causes and organizations since the 1940s, at which time the FBI began its decades-long monitoring of Bernstein's activities "for his ties to communist organizations."^[216] In the 1980s, through the Freedom of Information Act, he was able to view his FBI file, which was over 800 pages long.^[217] In the early 1950s, he was briefly blacklisted by the United States Department of State and CBS, but he was never asked to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee.^[218]

Civil rights

[edit]

Bernstein expressed his support of civil rights in the United States in numerous ways. Some examples include multiracial casting in On the Town in the 1940s, instigating blind auditions at the New York Philharmonic in the 1960s and the robust support of artists of color in classical music.^[219]

On March 24, 1965, at the invitation of Harry Belafonte, Bernstein participated in the Stars for Freedom Rally, a star-studded performance in support of the marchers heading from Selma to Montgomery to demand voting rights. The next day, Martin Luther King Jr., the leader of the march, delivered one of his most famous speeches, "How Long, Not Long".^[12]

"Radical Chic"

[edit]

On January 14, 1970, Bernstein and his wife Felicia held an event at their Manhattan apartment seeking to raise awareness and funds for the defense of members of the Black Panther Party, known as the Panther 21.^[220] The New York Times initially covered the gathering in its society section, but later published an editorial harshly unfavorable to Bernstein.^[221]^[222]

The story became widely publicized, climaxing in June of that year with the appearance of "Radical Chic: That Party at Lenny's", a cover story by journalist Tom Wolfe in New York Magazine.^[223] The article led to the popularization of the pejorative term "radical chic".^[224] Bernstein and his wife Felicia received hate mail, and their building was picketed by Jewish Defense League protesters. Bernstein's FBI file later revealed that the Bureau had generated the letters, and had implanted agents to make the protests look more substantial.^[225]^[226]

Anti-Vietnam war efforts

[edit]

On January 21, 1968, Bernstein and Paul Newman co-hosted "Broadway for Peace" at Lincoln Center's Philharmonic Hall to support the Congressional Peace Campaign Committee, which funded congressional campaigns opposing the Vietnam War. For the occasion, Bernstein composed a song, "So Pretty", sung by Barbra Streisand accompanied by Bernstein on the piano.^[227]

On January 19, 1973, Bernstein conducted members of the National Symphony Orchestra in a "Concert of Peace" at the Washington National Cathedral. The free performance of Haydn's Mass in Time of War, which took place on the eve of the second inauguration of Richard Nixon, was in protest of Nixon's failure to bring an end to the Vietnam War.^[228]

Rostropovich and the Soviet Union

[edit]

Bernstein played a key role in the release of renowned cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich from the USSR in 1974. Rostropovich, a strong believer in free speech and democracy, had been officially held in disgrace; his concerts and tours both at home and abroad cancelled; and in 1972 he was prohibited to travel outside of the Soviet Union. During a trip to the USSR in 1974, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts Ted Kennedy and his wife Joan, urged by Bernstein and others in the cultural sphere, mentioned Rostropovich's situation to Leonid Brezhnev, the Soviet Union Communist Party Leader. Two days later, Rostropovich was granted his exit visa.^[229]^[230]

Nuclear disarmament

[edit]

Bernstein was a committed and outspoken supporter of nuclear disarmament.^[231] In 1980, he gave a commencement speech at Johns Hopkins University warning the graduating class of the dangers of nuclear proliferation.^[232] In 1983, he dedicated the activities surrounding his 65th birthday to the issue of nuclear disarmament.^[233] In 1985, he brought the European Community Youth Orchestra on a "Journey for Peace" tour across Europe and Japan, performing at the Hiroshima Peace Ceremony to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the bombing.^[234]

Advocacy for AIDS research and patient care

[edit]

In the 1980s, Bernstein was frustrated that the Reagan Administration took so long to acknowledge the existence of the AIDS epidemic, let alone provide resources for research and patient care.^[235] Bernstein was galvanized to provide advocacy however he could. In a written statement for a June 1983 benefit for AIDS advocacy in Houston, Bernstein wrote: "AIDS is not, repeat not, the Gay Plague it is so often made out to be; it is part of the human condition, and must be universally researched and annihilated."^[236]

On April 30, 1983, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Bernstein participated in one of the earliest HIV / AIDS fundraisers, which raised over $250,000 for the Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC). Bernstein conducted the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Orchestra with mezzo-soprano Shirley Verrett in "The Star-Spangled Banner".^[237]

On November 8, 1987, Bernstein participated in another event to benefit the Gay Men's Health Crisis. The concert at Carnegie Hall, "Music for Life", was dedicated to Dr. Mathilde Krim and her work at the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amFAR).^[238] Bernstein was joined by Leontyne Price, Marilyn Horne, Luciano Pavarotti, and Yo-Yo Ma, among others.^[239]

On November 15, 1989, Bernstein refused the National Medal of Arts from President George H. W. Bush in protest against the revoked National Endowment for the Arts grant for a New York exhibit of AIDS-related art.^[240]

Philanthropy

[edit]

Bernstein funded a variety of fellowships, funds, and scholarships including ones at the Tanglewood Music Center, Jacobs School of Music,^[241] Brandeis University,^[242] and the ASCAP Foundation.^[243] Several of these funds were named for his late wife Felicia Montealegre, including scholarships at the Juilliard School, Columbia University School of the Arts, New York University Tisch School of the Arts,^[244] and the Felicia Montealegre Bernstein Fund of Amnesty International USA.^[245]

Bernstein had a lifelong interest in integrating the arts into general education. When he won the Japan Art Association's Praemium Imperiale award in 1990,^[246] Bernstein used the $100,000 prize money to initiate a project in Nashville, Tennessee that would eventually lead to the current nationwide teaching model known as Artful Learning.^[247]^[248]^[249]

Influence and characteristics

[edit]

As a conductor

[edit]

Leonard Bernstein was one of the most important conductors of the 20th century.^[250] He was held in high regard by musicians around the world, including the members of the New York Philharmonic, which he led for eleven seasons; the Vienna Philharmonic, where he received an honorary membership; the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which he conducted principally at Tanglewood for over 50 years; the London Symphony Orchestra, of which he was president; and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, where he appeared regularly as their guest conductor.^[251] Audiences worldwide eagerly anticipated Bernstein's performances, from New York to Tokyo to Caracas to Sydney.^[252]

In 1943, Bernstein's last-minute conducting debut in Carnegie Hall with the New York Philharmonic, which was broadcast live nationwide, caused him to become famous overnight. He soon became the first American-born, American-trained conductor to achieve international status, at a time when conductors traditionally came from Europe.^[253]

Bernstein's three major conducting mentors were Serge Koussevitzky, Dimitri Mitropoulos, and Fritz Reiner.^[254] Bernstein's conducting was characterized by his physically expressive podium manner.^[255] Orchestra members often remarked that Bernstein's every gesture conveyed a specific musical communication for them.^[256]

Bernstein performed a wide classical music repertoire from the Baroque era to the music of his time.^[257] Bernstein conducted and recorded definitive interpretations of works by traditional composers such as Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, and Tchaikovsky; championed music by lesser known composers such as Mahler, Sibelius, and Nielsen; and advocated modern composers such as Stravinsky, Hindemith, Shostakovich, and Ligeti.^[258] Bernstein programmed American composers everywhere in the world that he conducted, sharing the music of Gershwin, Copland, and Ives.^[259] He expanded the definitions of the genres that could be included in the concert hall by programming jazz, musical theater, and works from Latin America.^[260]

A skilled pianist, he often conducted piano concertos from the keyboard, including works by Gershwin, Mozart, Beethoven, and Ravel.^[261]

Bernstein was also an influential conducting teacher and mentor. During his many years at Tanglewood, Schleswig-Holstein and elsewhere, Bernstein directly influenced many young conductors, including Seiji Ozawa, Claudio Abbado, Lorin Maazel, Marin Alsop, Michael Tilson Thomas, James DePreist, Edo de Waart, Eiji Oue, JoAnn Falletta, Yutaka Sado, Maurice Peress, Carl St. Clair, John Mauceri, and Jaap van Zweden.^[262]

As an educator

[edit]

Bernstein's impact as an educator stretched far beyond his music students. Through the medium of television, Bernstein introduced millions of viewers worldwide to symphonic music. His Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic brought in younger viewers, while his Omnibus, Ford Presents, and Lincoln Presents brought musical concepts to general audiences.^[263]

In the 1950s, Bernstein taught at Brandeis University for several years, and founded their Festival of the Creative Arts, which the institution later named after him.^[264] Over the course of his career, Bernstein taught at numerous locations worldwide, including at the Tanglewood Institute, and founded three summer festivals of his own: Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute, Orchestral Academy of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, and the Pacific Music Festival.^[265]

As a composer

[edit]

Bernstein's music combined genres and musical styles. He wove together elements of classical, jazz, popular, Broadway, Latin, Jewish music, and more to create a musical fabric uniquely his own.^[266]

Bernstein's Jewish influences are clearly audible in both his symphonic and theatre works. Two of his symphonies, Symphony No. 1: "Jeremiah" and Symphony No. 3: "Kaddish", incorporated Hebrew texts and sources, as did his Chichester Psalms, Hashkiveinu, Four Sabras, Halil, and Dybbuk. In two of his theatre works, Candide and West Side Story, the call of the shofar can clearly be heard in the score.^[267] Bernstein occasionally turned to Christian sources as well, for example in his Missa Brevis and his theatre work MASS.^[268]

Among the 20th century composers who influenced Bernstein were Aaron Copland, Igor Stravinsky, Maurice Ravel, George Gershwin, and Marc Blitzstein.^[254] Bernstein's score for West Side Story incorporated multiple elements from classical, Latin-Caribbean, and bebop jazz.^[269] While his music was rooted in tonality, many of his works incorporated 12-tone elements – from the atonal score of the ballet Dybbuk to his Symphony No. 3: "Kaddish".^[270]

Bernstein's Broadway shows — West Side Story, On the Town, Wonderful Town, and Candide — as well as his theatre piece MASS continue to be produced worldwide. In addition to his works for the stage, all three of his symphonies, his Serenade, and his song cycles, including Songfest and Arias and Barcaroles, are inspired by theatrical and literary sources. Bernstein himself said that virtually all his compositions "could in some sense be thought of as 'theatre' pieces".^[271]

Bernstein's keen sense of rhythm lent his compositions readily to use for ballet and other dance forms. In addition to his own ballets — Fancy Free, Facsimile, and Dybbuk — and musicals, many works were choreographed in his lifetime, as well as afterward, for both stage and film. Choreographers of Bernstein's music include Jerome Robbins, Alvin Ailey, John Neumeier, Alexei Ratmansky, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Larry Keigwin, and Justin Peck.^[272]

The eclectic nature of Bernstein's music often generated criticism, particularly from the academic community of the mid-20th century where the Second Viennese School and its 12-tone approach held sway.^[273] Bernstein received additional criticism for his theatre work MASS, which some members of the Catholic Church considered offensive. The work's thinly veiled antiwar stance was enough to prevent President Richard Nixon from attending the premiere at the 1971 opening of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.^[274] While his eclecticism, as well as his fearlessness in taking on social issues, generated controversy in his lifetime, Bernstein is now considered a hero and role model for the next generation of composers.^[275]

Despite frequent criticism in his lifetime, Bernstein's music has endured into the 21st century and is regularly performed, discussed, and recorded around the world. In 2008–09, his 90th anniversary year, Bernstein was the second-most frequently performed American composer (behind Aaron Copland).^[276] In 2018, his centennial year, Bernstein was the third-most played composer worldwide for the year, alongside Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, and Brahms. That year, four of the five most-played concert works worldwide were Bernstein compositions: Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, Overture to Candide, Serenade (after Plato's Symposium), and Chichester Psalms.^[277]

Audio recordings

[edit]

Between 1945 and 1950, Bernstein recorded a variety of works for RCA Victor, primarily consisting of his own compositions and those of other American composers.^[278] During this time, he also recorded for Decca Records and Hargail Records.^[8] His recordings for Decca Records contains some "musical analysis" recordings in a form similar to his Young People's Concerts.^[279]

On April 2, 1956, Bernstein signed his first long-term contract with Columbia Records regarding services as conductor, piano soloist, and as commentator. Between 1956 and 1979, Bernstein recorded over 500 compositions for Columbia, 455 of which were recorded with the New York Philharmonic.^[280] Bernstein's typical pattern of recording at that time was to record major works in the studio immediately following the orchestra's subscription concerts or on one of the Young People's Concerts. Any spare studio time that remained was used to record short orchestral showpieces and other works.

In 1990, Sony Classical acquired Columbia/CBS Records. Between 1992 and 1993, Sony reissued and digitally remastered Bernstein's complete Columbia catalog as part of a 100-volume, 125-CD "Royal Edition", featuring watercolors by Charles, Prince of Wales on the covers.^[281]^[282]

Between 1997 and 2001, Sony issued the "Bernstein Century" series, which was a combination of new re-releases and items from the "Royal Edition".^[283] The rights to Bernstein's RCA Victor recordings became owned by Sony following its 2008 acquisition of Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG). The complete Bernstein Columbia and RCA Victor catalog was reissued on CD in a three-volume series of box sets (released in 2010, 2014, and 2018, respectively) comprising a total of 198 discs under the mantle "Leonard Bernstein Edition".^[284]

In 1972, Bernstein made his first recording for Deutsche Grammophon: Bizet's Carmen. On October 17, 1976, Bernstein made his first live recording on Deutsche Grammophon, leading to a 14-year collaboration until his death in 1990. The vast majority of the DG recordings were of live performances, which had become Bernstein's preferred approach to recording. From the 1970s onward, Bernstein's audio recordings were supplemented with films produced by Amberson Productions and Unitel, which were subsequently released on LaserDisc and DVD.^[285]

Bernstein recorded for other labels as well. Notable exceptions include recordings of Gustav Mahler's Song of the Earth and Mozart's 15th piano concerto and "Linz" symphony with the Vienna Philharmonic for Decca Records (1966); Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique and Harold en Italie (1976) for EMI; and Wagner's Tristan und Isolde (1981) for Philips Records.^[8] In total, Bernstein received 63 Grammy Award nominations and was awarded 16 Grammys in various categories, including for posthumously released recordings. He was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 1985.^[5]

Musical works

[edit]

Written works

[edit]

Bernstein, Leonard (1993) [1982]. Findings. New York: Anchor Books. ISBN 978-0-385-42437-0.
— (1993) [1966]. The Infinite Variety of Music. New York: Anchor Books. ISBN 978-0-385-42438-7.
— (2004) [1959]. The Joy of Music. Pompton Plains, New Jersey: Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-1-57467-104-9.
— (2006) [1962]. Young People's Concerts. Milwaukee; Cambridge: Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-1-57467-102-5.
— (1976). The Unanswered Question: Six Talks at Harvard. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-92001-5.
— (2013). The Leonard Bernstein Letters (paperback). Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-20544-2. Archived from the original on September 8, 2021. Retrieved September 8, 2021.

Videography

[edit]

The Unanswered Question: Six Talks at Harvard. West Long Branch, New Jersey: Kultur Video. VHS ISBN 1-56127-570-0. DVD ISBN 0-7697-1570-2. (videotape of the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures given at Harvard in 1973.)
Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic. West Long Branch, New Jersey: Kultur Video. DVD ISBN 0-7697-1503-6.
Bernstein on Beethoven: A Celebration in Vienna/Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1. West Long Branch, Kultur Video. DVD
Leonard Bernstein: Omnibus – The Historic TV Broadcasts, 2010, E1 Ent.
Rosen, Peter (1978). Bernstein: Reflections (DVD). Euroarts.
Bernstein/Beethoven (1982), Deutsche Grammophon, DVD
The Metropolitan Opera Centennial Gala (1983), Deutsche Grammophon, DVD 00440-073-4538
Bernstein Conducts "West Side Story" (1985) (retitled The Making of West Side Story in re-releases) Deutsche Grammophon. DVD
"The Rite of Spring" in Rehearsal (1996), Kultur, VHS
Mozart's Great Mass in C minor, Exsultate, jubilate & Ave verum corpus (1990), Deutsche Grammophon. DVD 00440-073-4240
"Leonard Bernstein: Reaching for the Note" (1998) Documentary on his life and music. Originally aired on PBS's American Masters series. DVD

Awards and honors

[edit]

Over the course of his distinguished career, Bernstein has received seven Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, and 16 Grammy Awards as well as a nomination for an Academy Award.^[286] Bernstein is also a member of both the American Theater Hall of Fame^[287] and the Television Hall of Fame.^[288] In 1998, Bernstein was inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame.;^[289] in 2015, he was inducted into the Legacy Walk.^[290]

Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1951^[291]
Fellow at the MacDowell 1962, 1970, 1972^[292]
Sonning Award (Denmark), 1965
Ditson Conductor's Award, 1958
George Peabody Medal – Johns Hopkins University, 1980
Ernst von Siemens Music Prize, 1987
Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal (UK), 1987
Edward MacDowell Medal, 1987^[293]
Knight Grand Cross Order of Merit (Italy), 1989
Grammy Award for Best Album for Children
Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance
Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance
Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording
Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance
Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition
Grammy Award for Best Classical Album
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
Tony Award for Best Musical, 1953
Special Tony Award, 1969
Japan Arts Association Lifetime Achievement Award
Gramophone Hall of Fame entrant^[294]
Commandeur de la Légion d'honneur, 1986

References

[edit]

Citations

[edit]

^ Karlin, Fred (1994). Listening to Movies 8. New York: Schirmer. p. 264. Bernstein's pronunciation of his own name as he introduces his Peter and the Wolf.
^ ^a ^b Henahan, Donal (October 15, 1990). "Leonard Bernstein, 72, Music's Monarch, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
^ "Leonard Bernstein". Television Academy. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
^ "Leonard Bernstein Tony Awards Info". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Leonard Bernstein – Awards". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
^ "Leonard Bernstein". Kennedy Center. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
^ ^a ^b Oliver, Myrna (October 15, 1990). "Leonard Bernstein Dies; Conductor, Composer: Music: Renaissance man of his art was 72. The longtime leader of the N.Y. Philharmonic carved a niche in history with West Side Story". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 15, 2020. Louis Bernstein ... born ... to two Russian Jewish immigrants.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Discography | Leonard Bernstein". leonardbernstein.com. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
^ Schiff, David (November 4, 2001). "The Man Who Mainstreamed Mahler". The New York Times.
^ Laird 2002, p. 10.
^ "Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic". Leonard Bernstein. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "March 24, 1965: 'The Night the 'Stars' Came Out in Alabama'". Classical.org. March 24, 2018. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
^ "How Bernstein Came to MASS". Brandeis University. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
^ Byrd, Craig (April 29, 2020). "Bernstein Conducts Mahler 1963". Cultural Attaché. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
^ "Mt. Scopus (1967) | Historic Concerts | Conductor | About | Leonard Bernstein". leonardbernstein.com. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
^ A Journey to Jerusalem 1967 with Leonard Bernstein & Isaac Stern on YouTube
^ NYT Staff (December 31, 1992). "Bernstein's Mother Dies". The New York Times. p. B6. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
^ Dougary, Ginny (March 13, 2010). "Leonard Bernstein: 'charismatic, pompous – and a great father'". The Times. UK. Retrieved March 17, 2020.; also Dougary, Ginny (March 13, 2010). "Leonard Bernstein: 'charismatic, pompous – and a great father'". The Times. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020 – via ginnydougary.co.uk.
^ Rovner, Adam (November 2006). "So Easily Assimilated: The New Immigrant Chic". AJS Review. 30 (2): 313–324. doi:10.1017/S0364009406000158. S2CID 162547428.
^ Peyser 1987, pp. 22–23.
^ Pitman, Edwina (August 12, 2018). "'Lenny changed my life': why Bernstein still inspires". The Guardian. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
^ Laird, Paul R. (2024). "Education". In Wells, Elizabeth A. (ed.). Leonard Bernstein in Context. Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108891349.002. ISBN 978-1-108-83570-1. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
^ Peyser 1987, pp. 34–35.
^ Rogan, Judith (August 10, 2018). "From Humble Beginnings to Bernstein the Legend". Boston Globe. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
^ Oja, Carol J.; Shelemay, Kay Kaufman (February 7, 2009). "Leonard Bernstein's Jewish Boston: Cross-Disciplinary Research in the Classroom". Journal of the Society for American Music. 3 (1): 3–33. doi:10.1017/S1752196309090026. ISSN 1752-1971.
^ Sarna, Jonathan D. "Leonard Bernstein and the Music of Boston's Congregation Mishkan Tefila". Brandeis University. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
^ Peyser 1987, pp. 24–25, 30.
^ Peyser 1987, pp. 26, 29–30.
^ "By the People Family correspondence (Leonard Bernstein: Writings By, From, and To)". crowd.loc.gov. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
^ "Bernstein on Teaching and Learning". Classical.org. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
^ Asprou, Helena (July 3, 2019). "Composer Sid Ramin dies aged 100 – musical tributes pour in". Classic FM. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
^ Bernstein, Jamie (January 18, 2019). "Happy 100th birthday to American composer, arranger and orchestrator Sid Ramin!". Leonard Bernstein Office. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
^ Peyser 1987, p. 26.
^ Schwartz, Penny (April 26, 2018). "Boston Pops to celebrate the magic of Leonard Bernstein". Jewish Journal.
^ Simeone 2013, p. 8.
^ Swed, Mark (September 3, 1998). "A Joyful Linkage". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 11, 2023. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
^ Shawn 2014, p. 28.
^ Gottlieb, Jack (2008). "Leonard Bernstein: A Jewish Legacy". BERNSTEIN: THE BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
^ Swan, Claudia (1999). Leonard Bernstein : the Harvard years 1935–1939. New York: Eos Orchestra. ISBN 0-9648083-4-X. OCLC 41502300.
^ Burton 1995, pp. 52–55.
^ Burton 1995, pp. 35–36.
^ ^a ^b Laird & Lin 2019, p. ^{[page needed]}.
^ Bernstein, Leonard (1970). "An Intimate Sketch". Library of Congress. Retrieved May 1, 2025.
^ Teachers and Teaching: An Autobiographical Essay by Leonard Bernstein (DVD). 1988.
^ Predota, Georg (August 25, 2023). "On This Day | August 25: Lenny Bernstein Was Born". Interlude. Retrieved May 1, 2025.
^ Wilson, Kristina (2018). "A Deeply Moving Experience" (PDF). Overtones. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
^ Benedett, Barbara (November 29, 2017). "Bernstein at Tanglewood". Curtis Institute of Music. Retrieved May 1, 2025.
^ "Leonard Bernstein". Sony Classical. Retrieved May 1, 2025.
^ ^a ^b "Tanglewood". Leonard Bernstein Office. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
^ "Symphony No. 2: The Age of Anxiety (1949)". Leonard Bernstein. Retrieved May 1, 2025.
^ Rubin, Susan Goldman (2011). Music was it: Young Leonard Bernstein. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge. pp. 142–143. ISBN 978-1-58089-344-2.
^ Johnson, Jenn (June 19, 2018). "A Man for All Seasons | Timeless New England". New England. Retrieved May 1, 2025.
^ "About the Leonard Bernstein Collection". Library of Congress. Retrieved May 1, 2025.
^ Witemeyer, Barbara. "Dentist to the Stars (comment, row 5, box 3)". Leonard Bernstein: Memories. Leonard Bernstein Office. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
^ Burton 1995, p. 108.
^ Sargeant, Winthrop."Judy Holliday"Life Magazine, April 2, 1951.
^ The Revuers (1940). "Night Life in New York (78rpm 12-in Set Musicraft Records #N-2)". Popsike.com. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
^ ^a ^b Program and recording Archived September 17, 2016, at the Wayback Machine (except Wagner's Prelude to Die Meistersinger), New York Philharmonic Digital Archives.
^ Rodríguez, Pablo L. (December 8, 2023). "Seeing and hearing Leonard Bernstein at the premiere of the film 'Maestro'". EL PAÍS English. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
^ Seldes, Barry (2011). "Debut performance with the New York Philharmonic – Leonard Bernstein (November 14, 1943)" (PDF). Library of Congress. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
^ "A Story Old and Ever New". The New York Times. November 16, 1943. p. 22. Retrieved July 18, 2023. (article)
^ "75 Years Ago Today: Bernstein's Famed Philharmonic Debut". nyphil.org. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
^ Burton 1995, p. 142.
^ "Symphony No. 1: Jeremiah (1942)". Leonard Bernstein Office. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
^ "Fancy Free". New York City Ballet.
^ Oja, Carol J. (2014). Bernstein Meets Broadway: Collaborative Art in a Time of War. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-986209-2. OCLC 862780844.
^ On the Town (1949) at IMDb
^ "Leonard Bernstein Conducts the New York City Symphony at City Center | WNYC | New York Public Radio, Podcasts, Live Streaming Radio, News". WNYC. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Timeline". Leonard Bernstein Office. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
^ Anderson, Colin (2015). "Our history". Philharmonia. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
^ Webmaster (July 12, 2016). "Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)". Mahler Foundation. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
^ "An opera debut for Britten and Bernstein". Your Classical. August 6, 2022. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
^ Arturo Toscanini: the NBC years. Amadeus Press. 2002. ISBN 978-1-57467-069-1.
^ Gould, Susan. "Beersheba (1948)". Leonard Bernstein Office. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
^ Gould, Susan. "Mt. Scopus (1967)". Leonard Bernstein Office. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
^ rachelsamoul (July 18, 2016). "KiKar HaBima, l'acropole de Tel Aviv". Kef Israël (in French). Retrieved June 20, 2024.
^ Bradley, Mark Philip (September 12, 2016). The World Reimagined – Americans and Human Rights in the Twentieth Century. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-521-82975-5. OCLC 946031535.
^ Downes, Olin (December 11, 1949). "Bernstein Leads Messiaen's work". The New York Times. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
^ Peter Pan, music and lyrics by Leonard Bernstein, Playbill, April 24, 1950.
^ "Peter Pan – Broadway Revival – Imperial Theatre". Playbill. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
^ "Leonard Bernstein Trouble in Tahiti (original orchestral version) – Opera". boosey.com. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
^ "Leonard Bernstein". leonardbernstein.com.
^ "Trouble in Tahiti (Broadway, Playhouse Theatre, 1955)". Playbill. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
^ "Wonderful Town – Broadway Original – Winter Garden Theatre". Playbill. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
^ Simeone 2013, p. 311.
^ Burton 1995, p. 260.
^ Candide (1956/57) at the Internet Broadway Database
^ "Authors". West Side Story. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
^ "West Side Story". Music Theatre International. September 16, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
^ West Side Story (1957) at the Internet Broadway Database
^ "60-plus years later, West Side Story endures and thrives, including a new production at 5th Avenue Theatre". The Seattle Times. May 24, 2019. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
^ "Classical Music in 2018: The year in statistics" (PDF). Bachtrack. 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 29, 2019. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
^ Rita Moreno winning Best Supporting Actress on YouTube
^ "West Side Story (2021) – About the Movie". Amblin Entertainment. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
^ Dancer and actress Frances Taylor Davis was billed as Elizabeth Taylor
^ "Leonard Bernstein". nyphil.org.
^ "Young People's Concerts". Leonard Bernstein. Retrieved September 20, 2010.
^ "Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic". Television Academy. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
^ Bernstein, Leonard (2005). Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts. Hal Leonard. ISBN 978-1-57467-102-5.
^ "Honors: A Selected List – Grammy Awards". The Leonard Bernstein Office, Inc. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
^ "New York Philharmonic World Premieres". New York Philharmonic. Archived from the original on April 14, 2022. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
^ "New York Philharmonic United States Premieres". New York Philharmonic. Archived from the original on April 14, 2022. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
^ "Thursday Evening Previews, Performing Arts Encyclopedia, Library of Congress". memory.loc.gov. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
^ Robin, William (May 31, 2013). "Looking Back at 'Lenny's Playlist'". The New York Times. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
^ Leonard Bernstein. "The Truth About a Legend". leonardbernstein.com. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
^ "Who is the Boss of a Concerto? Bernstein on Gould's Historic Brahms Performance". Classical.org. September 25, 2018. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
^ Transcription of Bernstein's Glenn Gould Introduction Archived October 31, 2000, at the Wayback Machine (from a Rutgers University webpage).
^ Keller, James. "Bernstein and Mahler: Channeling a Prophet" (PDF). New York Philharmonic. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 10, 2022.
^ Leonard Bernstein (February 7, 1960). "Who is Gustav Mahler?". leonardbernstein.com (episode transcript of Young People's Concert). Retrieved February 24, 2022.
^ Leonard Bernstein. "Mahler: His Time Has Come" (typewritten manuscript for an article in High Fidelity, April 16, 1967) – via Library of Congress.
^ "BiblioTech PRO V3.2b". 69.18.170.204. Archived from the original on April 14, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
^ "An Artist's Response to Violence | Humanitarian | About | Leonard Bernstein". leonardbernstein.com. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
^ "June 6 & 8, 1968: Bernstein, Mahler, and Remembering Robert F. Kennedy". June 5, 2018.
^ "Leonard Bernstein's 'Kaddish' Symphony: A Crisis Of Faith". NPR. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
^ "Chichester Psalms (Leonard Bernstein)". Los Angeles Philharmonic. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
^ "Classical Music in 2018, the year in statistics" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 29, 2019. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
^ "6th Subscription Concert – Vienna Philharmonic". wienerphilharmoniker.at. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
^ Chapin 1992.
^ Harold C. Schonberg (September 9, 1971). "Bernstein's New Work Reflects His Background on Broadway". The New York Times. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
^ "Leonard Bernstein – Mass (full version)". boosey.com. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
^ Kevin McCabe (July 20, 2018). "Review: Leonard Bernstein's liturgy for the world". America. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
^ Stephen Schloesser (September 24, 2021). "Things Get Broken – Leonard Bernstein's MASS at Fifty". Commonweal. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
^ Maggie Stapleton (July 30, 2021). "Aug 27: Sony Classical Releases Leonard Bernstein's MASS at 50 – Celebrating the Anniversary of its Premiere at the Kennedy Center" (press release Jensen Artists). Musical America. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
^ Burton 1995, p. 410.
^ The Unanswered Question: Six Talks at Harvard (Music), January 11, 1976, retrieved August 24, 2022
^ The Unanswered Question – Leonard Bernstein. The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures. Harvard University Press. April 15, 1981. ISBN 9780674920019. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
^ "Dybbuk". New York City Ballet. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
^ Schonberg, Harold C. (December 16, 1977). "Music: A Songfest". The New York Times. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
^ Holland, Bernard (July 9, 1985). "Music: Bernstein at Jones Beach". The New York Times. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
^ ^a ^b Burton 1995, p. ^{[page needed]}.
^ Bernstein in London: Verdi's Requiem (1970) at IMDb
^ Schonberg, Harold C. (September 20, 1972). "Opera: A New Carmen, Daring and Provocative". The New York Times. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
^ "Bizet Carmen / Bernstein". deutschegrammophon.com. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
^ "Catalogue". deutschegrammophon.com. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
^ "Leonard Bernstein: Unitel Catalogue" (PDF). Unitel.de. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
^ Burton, Humphrey (December 24, 1971), Beethoven's Birthday: A Celebration in Vienna with Leonard Bernstein (Documentary, Music), Amberson Productions Inc., retrieved October 20, 2022
^ "Outstanding Musical Program Nominees / Winners 1972". Television Academy. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
^ "Classical Net Review – Beethoven – The Amnesty International Concert". Classical Net. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
^ Barbara, Hendricks (June 1, 2014). Lifting My Voice : A Memoir. Chicago: Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1-61374-852-7. OCLC 879372080.
^ "Mahler Symphony No 9". Gramophone. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
^ Burton 1995, pp. 158–160
^ "Leonard Bernstein and Herbert von Karajan Will Cross Paths in Last Call". January 7, 2025.
^ "A one-time event – Leonard Bernstein with the Berliner Philharmoniker". berliner-philharmoniker.de.
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^ Jack Gottlieb (1998). Leonard Bernstein: Life, Musical Compositions & Writings (3rd ed.). New York: Leonard Bernstein Music Publishing Company. ISBN 0-913932-82-5. OCLC 40803989.
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^ Laird & Lin 2019, p. 27.
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^ "Candide (Barbican Concert)". Filmed Live Musicals. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
^ ^a ^b Kelly, Sharon (November 8, 2019). "Bernstein's Legendary 'Ode To Freedom', Marking Fall of Berlin Wall, Out Now". uDiscover Music. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
^ International, EuroArts Music (October 7, 2019). "DVD + Blu-Ray: Leonard Bernstein – Ode to Freedom". IMZ International Music + Media Centre. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
^ "Upheaval in the East: Berlin; Near the Wall, Bernstein Leads an Ode to Freedom". The New York Times. Associated Press. December 26, 1989. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
^ Garrison Keillor (August 25, 2003). "The Writer's Almanac". American Public Media. Archived from the original on March 11, 2007. Retrieved January 17, 2007.
^ pacificsymphony (February 22, 2018). "Interview: Carl St.Clair remembers Leonard Bernstein (Part 1)". The Pacific Symphony Blog. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
^ Kozinn, Allan (October 10, 1990). "Bernstein Retires From Performing, Citing Poor Health". The New York Times. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
^ Clark, Sedgewick (June 13, 1993). "Recording View: Bernstein: Yet More Surprises?". The New York Times. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
^ Bernstein/Beethoven (TV Mini Series 1982–) at IMDb
^ "Leonard Bernstein and Maximilian Schell discussing Beethoven's 6th and 7th Symphony" on YouTube, video clip, 9 minutes.
^ "Leonard Bernstein, Kiri Te Kanawa, José Carreras, Tatiana Troyanos, Kurt Ollmann, Marilyn Horne – Leonard Bernstein Conducts West Side Story", Discogs, 1989, archived from the original on December 13, 2023, retrieved May 9, 2023
^ Susesch Bayat (1988). "Leonard Bernstein conducting Westside Story". Google Arts & Culture. Archived from the original on December 13, 2023. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
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^ "The Little Drummer Boy". medici.tv. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
^ The Love of Three Orchestras (TV Movie 1993) at IMDb
^ "Educator". leonardbernstein.com. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
^ "Marion Kalter". marionkalter.com. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
^ "A Constructive Force in Practical Music Education". LA Phil. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
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^ "About the Festival Orchestra". Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
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^ "Sparkassen- und Giroverband für Schleswig-Holstein | Leonard Bernstein Award". www.sgvsh.de. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
^ "What is PMF? | PMF Organizing Committee". PMF. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
^ "1990–1999 | Archive". PMF. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
^ "Bernstein Legacy Persists in Music-Education Video". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
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^ "History of the Leonard Bernstein Center for Learning". Archived from the original on January 2, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
^ Bernstein, Shirley (1982). Family matters, Sam, Jennie, and the kids. 1982. ISBN 0671422766.
^ Shawn 2014, pp. 15–20.
^ "Leonard Bernstein, A Total Embrace of Music, Classical Notes, Peter Gutmann". classicalnotes.net.
^ Burton 1995, p. 212.
^ Peyser 1987, pp. 196, 204, 322.
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^ "Leonard Bernstein Sells House". The New York Times. October 1, 1964. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
^ "Bernstein Collection". William and Gayle Cook Music Library. Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University Bloomington. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
^ Simeone 2013, p. 133.
^ "Felicia Bernstein to Leonard Bernstein, n.d." Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
^ Simeone 2013, p. 294.
^ Swed, Mark (November 1, 1999). "Invoking Spirit of Bernstein". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
^ "Leonard Bernstein a gay man who dabbled in the straight world". July 12, 2011. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
^ Burton 1995, pp. 441–442, 445–446.
^ Bernstein, Jamie (2018). Famous father girl: a memoir of growing up Bernstein (First ed.). New York, NY: Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers. ISBN 978-0-06-264135-9.
^ Burton 1995, passim.
^ "Died On This Date (October 14, 1990) Leonard Bernstein / World Renowned Composer The Music's Over". October 14, 2009. Retrieved May 3, 2012.
^ Stanton, Scott (September 1, 2003). The Tombstone Tourist: Musicians. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7434-6330-0 – via Google Books.
^ See the TV Documentary, Leonard Bernstein: Reaching for the Note, originally shown in the series American Masters on PBS in the U.S., now on DVD.
^ Jeff Richman (September 16, 2009). "Alec Baldwin on Leonard Bernstein". Retrieved December 24, 2023.
^ Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3rd ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 3707–3708). McFarland & Company. Kindle Edition.
^ Davis, Peter G. (May 17, 2011). "When Mahler Took Manhattan". The New York Times. Retrieved August 28, 2018. Small wonder that Bernstein is buried with the score of Mahler's Fifth Symphony placed over his heart.
^ "Google Doodle Celebrates Leonard Bernstein's 100th Birthday with West Side Story Video" by Annabel Gutterman, Time, August 25, 2018; "Leonard Bernstein's 100th Birthday", Google, August 25, 2018.
^ "Leonard Bernstein at 100". August 17, 2017. Archived from the original on February 1, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
^ "'Leonard Bernstein at 100' Exhibition Comes to Skirball Cultural Center". April 26, 2018.
^ "Skirball Cultural Center Celebrates 'Leonard Bernstein at 100'". The Hollywood Reporter. April 27, 2018.
^ Maddy Shaw Roberts (August 15, 2023). "First Maestro movie trailer starring Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein finally released". Classic FM (UK). Retrieved August 19, 2023.
^ "Maestro". Film at Lincoln Center. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
^ "Bradley Cooper 'Desperately' Wanted Maestro to Premiere at Venice, Says Festival Director". IndieWire. August 28, 2023. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
^ "Bradley Cooper's Maestro Announced as Spotlight Gala of the 61st New York Film Festival". Film at Lincoln Center. August 16, 2023. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
^ "Humanitarian | About | Leonard Bernstein". leonardbernstein.com. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
^ Bernstein:The Best of All Possible Worlds. "Causes and Effecting Change". Archived from the original on December 24, 2010.
^ "The Cradle Will Rock". usopera.com. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
^ "Leonard Bernstein". FBI. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
^ Ross, Alex (April 13, 2009). "Bernstein and the F.B.I." The New Yorker. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
^ Seldes 2009, p. 50.
^ "Leonard Bernstein's Black America | WQXR Features". WQXR. February 19, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
^ "Radical Chic". Hope for America: Performers, Politics and Pop Culture. Library of Congress. Archived from the original on July 25, 2012. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
^ "False Note on Black Panthers". The New York Times. January 16, 1970. p. 38.
^ Wolfe, Tom (April 15, 2008). "Radical Chic: That Party at Lenny's". New York. "Tom Wolfe on Radical Chic and Leonard Bernstein's Party for the Black Panthers". Retrieved December 11, 2010.
^ Wolfe, Tom (June 8, 1970). "Radical Chic: that Party at Lenny's" (PDF). New York. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 10, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2010.
^ "Leonard Bernstein: A political life". The Economist. May 28, 2009. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
^ Bernstein, Felicia M. (January 21, 1970). "Letters to the Editor of The Times: Panthers' Legal Aid". The New York Times. p. 46.
^ "The Social Activist". Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds. Carnegie Hall Corporation. Archived from the original on December 23, 2010. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
^ "Barbra Archives | Broadway For Peace 1968 Concert". www.barbra-archives.info. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
^ "Episode 10: A Plea for Peace: Leonard Bernstein, Richard Nixon, and the Music of the 1973 Inauguration". The Echo Chamber. Archived from the original on December 5, 2023. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
^ Kennedy, Joan (September 1, 1994). The Joy of Classical Music: A Guide for You and Your Family (Reissue ed.). New York: Main Street Books. ISBN 978-0-385-41263-6.
^ Kennedy, Edward M. (2009). True Compass : A Memoir (1st ed.). New York: Twelve. ISBN 978-0-446-53925-8. OCLC 434905205.
^ "Hope in the Nuclear Age | Speeches | Lectures/Scripts/Writings | Leonard Bernstein". leonardbernstein.com. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
^ "Disarmament Activist | Humanitarian | About | Leonard Bernstein". leonardbernstein.com. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
^ Burton 1995, pp. 471–472.
^ Burton 1995, p. 480.
^ Seldes 2009, p. 158.
^ "Image 1 of [statement for an AIDS benefit], 1983 June". Library of Congress. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
^ Ross, Alex (May 30, 2019). "Revisiting a Symphonic AIDS Memorial". The New Yorker. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
^ "AIDS Awareness & Funding for Research". leonardbernstein.com. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
^ "Music for Life – Benefit Concert for Gay Men's Health Crisis" (performance details). Carnegie Hall. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
^ "Bernstein Rejects Medal in Arts Controversy". The Washington Post. January 1, 2024. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
^ "Endowments & Scholarships: Leonard Bernstein Scholarship Fund". Jacobs School of Music. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
^ "Leonard Bernstein Fellowship". brandeis.edu. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
^ "The ASCAP Foundation Leonard Bernstein Award". Retrieved September 29, 2023.
^ Urquhart, Craig. "The Quiet Legacy" (PDF). Prelude, Fugue & Riffs. pp. 1, 5. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
^ John G. Healey (1992). "Leonard Bernstein and Amnesty International". leonardbernstein.com. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
^ "Temple Emanuel". Archived from the original on November 25, 2018. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
^ Harrison, Eric (August 9, 1993). "The maestro's legacy reverberates in Nashville : Leonard Bernstein's dream of creating a center that integrates the arts and the classroom is in full swing". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
^ "Leonard Bernstein's Arts-Based Education Revolution". HuffPost. June 12, 2013. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
^ "Artful Learning Model". The Leonard Bernstein Center. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
^ "The 20 Greatest Conductors of All Time". BBC Music Magazine. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
^ "Orchestras Conducted | Conductor | About | Leonard Bernstein". leonardbernstein.com. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
^ Richard Halloran (September 6, 1974). "Bernstein Captivates Tokyo Audience". The New York Times. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
^ "Leonard Bernstein's Carnegie Hall Debut". Carnegie Hall. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Revisit: Leonard Bernstein at 100". Grammy Museum. May 22, 2020. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
^ Tommasini, Anthony (August 23, 2018). "In Praise of Bernstein as Conductor: Movement That Mesmerized". The New York Times. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
^ "Newton Mansfield | Interview". American Masters. PBS. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
^ "Discography | Leonard Bernstein". www.leonardbernstein.com. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
^ Holmes, John L. (1982). Conductors on Record. UK: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-22990-9.
^ Peithman, Stephen. "Composing or Conducting, Bernstein Created Music". CapRadio. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
^ "The American Musical Comedy | Omnibus | Television Scripts | Lectures/Scripts/Writings | Leonard Bernstein". leonardbernstein.com. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
^ Bernstein in Paris – Ravel Piano Concerto No. 1 in G major, I. Allegramente (excerpt) on YouTube Retrieved November 10, 2023.
^ Laird & Lin 2019.
^ Chapin, Schuyler (Spring 1992). "The Television Journey" (PDF). Prelude, Fugue & Riffs: 1.
^ "Bernstein at Brandeis". brandeis.edu. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
^ Burton 1995.
^ Kristine Forney; Joseph Machlis (2007). "Leonard Bernstein". The Enjoyment of Music (10th StudySpace ed.). W. W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-92888-4. Retrieved February 28, 2024 – via W. W. Norton & Company Study Space.
^ Lessner, Joanne Sydney (March 5, 2018). "A Shofar Sounds in Leonard Bernstein's Work". Hadassah Magazine. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
^ "Bernstein: Missa Brevis". London Concert Choir. June 17, 2018. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
^ Baber, Katherine. Leonard Bernstein and the Language of Jazz (2019)^{[page needed]}
^ Gottlieb 2010, p. 146.
^ Rosen 1978.
^ "Bernstein and Dance | Composer | About | Leonard Bernstein". leonardbernstein.com. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
^ Tommasini, Anthony (July 22, 1998). "Critic's Notebook; When Bernstein Saw the Future". The New York Times. pp. E1 – E2. Retrieved May 3, 2024. Facsimile
^ Burton (Doubleday) 1994, pp. 406–407.
^ Hagen, Daron (2015). "Bernstein's Seemingly Simple Song" (PDF). Prelude, Fugue & Riffs: 4.
^ "2008–2009 Season, Orchestra Repertoire Report" (PDF). League of American Orchestras. Retrieved January 21, 2011.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "Classical Music Statistics for 2018". bachtrack.com. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
^ "RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra (Symphony Orchestra) – Short History". bach-cantatas.com. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
^ "BERNSTEIN The 1953 American Decca Recordings". Deutsche Grammophon.
^ "Leonard Bernstein". sonyclassical.com. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
^ "Lenny's Back (Slight Return) The Bernstein Century Edition, Classical Notes, Peter Gutmann". classicalnotes.net. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
^ "The Royal Edition". Discogs. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
^ "Classical Net Review – Bernstein Century". Classical Net. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
^ Fazin, Leslie. "Sony Classical Releases Limited Edition 60-CD Set to Honor Leonard Bernstein". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
^ Hans Weber. "About | | Conductor | Deutsche Grammophon". leonardbernstein.com. Retrieved July 17, 2023. (as printed in the 1993 Spring issue of Prelude, Fugue & Riffs)
^ "The 27th Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. October 4, 2014. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
^ "Members". Theater Hall of Fame.
^ "Honorees". Television Academy.
^ "Bernstein, Leonard". American Classical Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
^ Melissa Wasserman (October 14, 2015). "Legacy Walk unveils five new bronze memorial plaques". Windy City Times. Archived from the original on April 21, 2020. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
^ "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter B" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 18, 2006. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
^ Leonard Bernstein, MacDowell Colony
^ "MacDowell Medal winners 1960-2011". The Daily Telegraph. April 13, 2011. Archived from the original on January 11, 2022.
^ "Leonard Bernstein (composer, conductor and pianist)". Gramophone.

Sources

[edit]

Burton, Humphrey (1995). Leonard Bernstein. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-17368-6. OCLC 32510075. (Doubleday edition (1994))
Chapin, Schuyler (1992). Leonard Bernstein: Notes from a Friend. New York: Walker. ISBN 978-0-8027-1216-5. OCLC 25787112 – via Internet Archive.
Gottlieb, Jack (2010). Working With Bernstein. Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-1-57467-186-5.
Laird, Paul R. (2002). Leonard Bernstein: A Guide to Research. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-8153-3517-7.
Laird, Paul R.; Lin, Hsun (2019). Historical Dictionary of Leonard Bernstein. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5381-1344-8. OCLC 1084631326.
Peyser, Joan (1987). Bernstein, a Biography. New York: Beech Tree Books/William Morrow. ISBN 978-0-688-04918-8.
Seldes, Barry (2009). Leonard Bernstein: The Political Life of an American Musician. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-25764-1.
Shawn, Allen (2014). Leonard Bernstein: An American Musician. Jewish Lives. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-14428-4.
Simeone, Nigel, ed. (2013). The Leonard Bernstein Letters. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-17909-5. OCLC 861692638.

Further reading

[edit]

Bernstein, Burton (1982). Family Matters: Sam, Jennie, and the Kids. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-595-13342-0.
Bernstein, Burton; Haws, Barbara, eds. (2008). Leonard Bernstein: American Original. Contains chapters by Alan Rich, Paul Boyer, Carol J. Oja, Tim Page, Burton Bernstein, Jonathan Rosenberg, Joseph Horowitz, Bill McGlaughlin, James M. Keller, and John Adams. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-153786-8.
Bernstein, Jamie (2018). Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein. HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 978-0-06-264135-9.
Bernstein, Shirley (1963). Making Music: Leonard Bernstein. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Press. ASIN B0007E073Y.
Briggs, John (1961). Leonard Bernstein: The Man, His Works and His World. World Publishing Co. ISBN 978-1-163-81079-8.
Burton, William W. (1995). Conversations about Bernstein. New York: Oxford University Press, New York. ISBN 978-0-19-507947-0.
Cone, Molly and Robert Galster (1970). Leonard Bernstein. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co. ISBN 978-0-690-48786-2
Ewen, David (1960). Leonard Bernstein, A Biography for Young People. Philadelphia: Chilton Co. ISBN 978-1-376-19065-6
Fluegel, Jane (ed.) (1991). Bernstein: Remembered: a life in pictures. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers. ISBN 978-0-88184-722-2.
Freedland, Michael (1987). Leonard Bernstein. London, England: Harrap. Ltd. ISBN 978-0-245-54499-6.
Gottlieb, Jack, ed. (1992). Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts (revised ed.). New York: Anchor Books. ISBN 978-0-385-42435-6.
Green, Diane Huss (1963). Lenny's Surprise Piano. San Carlos, California: Golden Gate Junior Books. ASIN B0006AYE10.
Gruen, John (1968). The Private World of Leonard Bernstein. Photographs by Ken Heyman. New York: Viking Press. ISBN 978-0-670-57855-9.
Hurwitz, Johanna (1963). Leonard Bernstein: A Passion of Music. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society. ISBN 978-0-8276-0501-5.
Ledbetter, Steven (1988). Sennets & Tuckets, A Bernstein Celebration. Boston: Boston Symphony Orchestra in association with David Godine Publisher. ISBN 978-0-87923-775-2.
Reidy, John P. & Norman Richards (1967). People of Destiny: Leonard Bernstein. Chicago: Children's Press. ASIN B0092UTPIW.
Robinson, Paul (1982). Bernstein (The Art of Conducting Series). New York: Vanguard Press. ASIN B01K92K1OI.
Rozen, Brian D. (1997). The Contributions of Leonard Bernstein to Music Education: An Analysis of his 53 Young People's Concerts (PhD thesis). Rochester, New York: University of Rochester. OCLC 48156751.
Secrest, Meryle (1994). Leonard Bernstein – A Life. Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-679-40731-6.
Wolfe, Tom (1987). Radical Chic and Mau Mauing the Flak Catchers. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux. ASIN B01NAOARU3.

External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leonard Bernstein.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Leonard Bernstein.

Official website
Leonard Bernstein at Sony Classical
Leonard Bernstein discography at Discogs
Leonard Bernstein at IMDb
Leonard Bernstein at the Internet Broadway Database
Leonard Bernstein at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
Leonard Bernstein at Playbill Vault
Talking About Leonard Bernstein at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television
Leonard Bernstein composer's entry on IRCAM's database

Archival records

[edit]

Finding aid to the Leonard Bernstein collection, circa 1900–1995, Library of Congress
Leonard Bernstein Collection, Library of Congress (All available online)
By the people: Writings By, From, and To Leonard Bernstein — Completed transcription campaign of his papers launched by Library of Congress
Mildred Spiegel Zucker collection of Leonard Bernstein correspondence and related materials, 1936–1991, Library of Congress
New York Philharmonic Digital Archives has original program pamphlets, program recordings, scores, images, and business documents (Available online)

v t e Leonard Bernstein
List of compositions Awards
Opera and operetta	Trouble in Tahiti (1951) Candide (1956) A Quiet Place (1983)
Musicals	On the Town (1944) "New York, New York" "Lonely Town" Peter Pan (1950) Wonderful Town (1953) "Ohio" West Side Story (1957) "A Boy Like That" "America" "Cool" "Gee, Officer Krupke" "I Feel Pretty" "Maria" "One Hand, One Heart" "Something's Coming" "Somewhere" Tonight" "Tonight Quintet" A Party with Betty Comden and Adolph Green (1958, collaboration) The Race to Urga (1968) 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (1976) The Madwoman of Central Park West (1979, contribution)
Ballet	Fancy Free (1944) Dybbuk (1974)
Orchestral music	Symphony No. 1 (Jeremiah) (1942) Symphony No. 2 (The Age of Anxiety) (1948–49, revised 1965) Symphony No. 3 (Kaddish) (1963) Fanfare for the Inauguration of John F. Kennedy (1961) CBS Music (1976) Slava! A Political Overture (1977) Divertimento (1980) Concerto for Orchestra (1986, 1988, 1989, originally Jubilee Games)
Concertante	Prelude, Fugue and Riffs (1948) Serenade after Plato's "Symposium" (1954) Ḥalil (1981)
Chamber music	Piano Trio (1937) Clarinet Sonata (1942) Dance Suite (1989)
Choral	Hashkiveinu (1945) Chichester Psalms (1965) "Olympic Hymn" (1981) Missa Brevis (1988)
Vocal	Psalm 148 (art song, 1935) I Hate Music (song cycle, 1943) La Bonne Cuisine (song cycle, 1947) "So Pretty" (1968) Songfest: A Cycle of American Poems for Six Singers and Orchestra (1977) "My Twelve Tone Melody" (1988)
Piano music	Non troppo presto (Music for the Dance No. 1) (1937) Music for the Dance No. 2 (1938) Sonata for the Piano (1938) Anniversaries (1942—1988) Seven Ann. (1942–43) Four Ann. (1948) Five Ann. (1949–51) Thirteen Ann. (1988) Four Sabras (ca. 1950) Bridal Suite (1960) Touches (1980)
Other compositions	The Lark (incidental music) (1955) Mass (1971) Opening Prayer (1986)
Film adaptations	On the Town (1949 film) West Side Story (1961 film) West Side Story (2021 film)
Books	The Joy of Music
Related articles	Academy for the Love of Learning Artful Learning Bernstein–Mahler cycle Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts New York Philharmonic concert of April 6, 1962 Pacific Music Festival These Radical Chic Evenings (1970 essay) The Unanswered Question (lecture series) Young People's Concerts Maestro (2023 film) soundtrack
Category

Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's West Side Story (1957)

Inspiration

William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Adaptations

Symphonic Dances from West Side Story (1961)
West Side Story (1961 film)
West Side Story Suite (1995 ballet)
West Side Story (2021 film)
- accolades

Variations

Swango (2002 musical)
West Bank Story (2005 parody film)

Songs

Act 1	"Something's Coming" "Maria" "Tonight" "America" "Cool" "One Hand, One Heart" "Tonight (Quintet & Chorus)"
Act 2	"I Feel Pretty" "Somewhere" "Gee, Officer Krupke" "A Boy like That"

Albums

West Side Story (1957 original cast)
West Side Story (1959 Previn)
West Side Story (1961 soundtrack)
West Side Story (1961 Tjader)
Bernstein Plays Brubeck Plays Bernstein (1961 Brubeck Quartet)
West Side Story (1962 Peterson Trio)
Kenton's West Side Story (1962 Kenton)
Toshiko–Mariano Quartet (in West Side) (1963 Akiyoshi)
West Side Story (1974 Earl Hines)
West Side Story (2021 soundtrack)

Related

New York Philharmonic Music Directors

Awards for Leonard Bernstein

Ernst von Siemens Music Prize

v t e Grammy Award for Best Children's Music Album
1958−1974	"The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" – Ross Bagdasarian Sr. (1958) Peter and the Wolf – Peter Ustinov (1959) Let's All Sing with The Chipmunks – Ross Bagdasarian Sr. (1960) Prokofiev: Peter and The Wolf – Leonard Bernstein (1961) Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals/Britten: Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra – Leonard Bernstein (1962) Bernstein Conducts for Young People – Leonard Bernstein (1963) Mary Poppins: Original Cast Soundtrack – Dick Van Dyke & Julie Andrews (1964) Dr. Seuss Presents: "Fox in Sox" and "Green Eggs and Ham" – Marvin Miller (1965) Dr. Seuss Presents - "If I Ran the Zoo" and "Sleep Book" – Marvin Miller (1966) Dr. Seuss: How The Grinch Stole Christmas – Boris Karloff (1967) No Award (1968) Peter, Paul and Mommy – Peter, Paul and Mary (1969) Sesame Street – Joan Cooney & Thomas Z. Shepard (producers) (1970) Bill Cosby Talks to Kids About Drugs – Bill Cosby (1971) The Electric Company – Bill Cosby & Rita Moreno (1972) Sesame Street Live! – Joe Raposo (producer) (1973) Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too – Paul Winchell, Sebastian Cabot & Sterling Holloway (1974)
1975−1992	The Little Prince – Richard Burton (1975) Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf / Saint-Saëns: "Carnival of the Animals" – Hermione Gingold & Karl Böhm (1976) Aren't You Glad You're You – Christopher Cerf & Jim Timmens (producers) (1977) The Muppet Show – Jim Henson (producer) (1978) The Muppet Movie – Jim Henson & Paul Williams (producers) (1979) In Harmony: A Sesame Street Record – David Levine & Lucy Simon (producers) (1980) Sesame Country – Jim Henson & Dennis Scott (producers) (1981) In Harmony 2 – David Levine & Lucy Simon (producers) (1982) E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial – Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones (producer) (1983) Where the Sidewalk Ends – Shel Silverstein and Ron Haffkine (producer) (1984) Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird – Jim Henson & Steve Buckingham (producers) (1985) The Alphabet – Jim Henson, Geri Van Rees & Kathryn King (producers) (1986) The Elephant's Child – Bobby McFerrin & Jack Nicholson (1987) Pecos Bill – Robin Williams and Ry Cooder (1988) The Rock-A-Bye Collection, Volume 1 – Tanya Goodman (1989) The Little Mermaid: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack – Alan Menken & Howard Ashman (songwriters) (1990) A Cappella Kids – Clifford "Barney" Robertson (producer) (1991) Beauty and the Beast: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack – Alan Menken & Howard Ashman (songwriters) (1992)
2011−present	All About Bullies... Big and Small – Gloria Domina, James Cravero, Kevin Mackie, Patrick Robinson & Steve Pullara (producers) (2011) Can You Canoe? – The Okee Dokee Brothers (2012) Throw a Penny in the Wishing Well – Jennifer Gasoi (2013) I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World – Neela Vaswani (2014) Home – Tim Kubart (2015) Infinity Plus One – Secret Agent 23 Skidoo (2016) Feel What U Feel – Lisa Loeb (2017) All the Sounds – Lucy Kalantari & The Jazz Cats (2018) Ageless Songs for the Child Archetype – Jon Samson (2019) All the Ladies – Joanie Leeds (2020) A Colorful World − Falu (2021) The Movement – Alphabet Rockers (2022) We Grow Together Preschool Songs – 123 Andrés (2023) Brillo, Brillo! – Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band (2024)
From 1993–2010, the category was split into Best Musical Album for Children and Best Spoken Word Album for Children.

v t e Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording
1950s	The Best of the Stan Freberg Shows – Stan Freberg (1958) Lincoln Portrait – Carl Sandburg (1959)
1960s	FDR Speaks – Robert Bialek (producer) (1960) Humor in Music – Leonard Bernstein (1961) The Story-Teller: A Session with Charles Laughton – Charles Laughton (1962) Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – Edward Albee (playwright) (1963) BBC Tribute to John F. Kennedy – That Was the Week That Was (1964) John F. Kennedy: As We Remember Him – Goddard Lieberson (producer) (1965) Edward R. Murrow - A Reporter Remembers, Vol. I: The War Years – Edward R. Murrow (1966) Gallant Men – Everett Dirksen (1967) Lonesome Cities – Rod McKuen (1968) We Love You Call Collect – Art Linkletter & Diane Linkletter (1969)
1970s	Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam – Martin Luther King Jr. (1970) Desiderata – Les Crane (1971) Lenny – Bruce Botnick (producer) & the Original Broadway Cast (1972) Jonathan Livingston Seagull – Richard Harris (1973) Good Evening – Peter Cook and Dudley Moore (1974) Give 'em Hell, Harry! – James Whitmore (1975) Great American Documents – Henry Fonda, Helen Hayes, James Earl Jones, and Orson Welles (1976) The Belle of Amherst – Julie Harris (1977) Citizen Kane (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) – Orson Welles (1978) Ages of Man: Readings from Shakespeare – John Gielgud (1979)
1980s	Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein – Pat Carroll (1980) Donovan's Brain – Orson Welles (1981) Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Movie on Record – Tom Voegeli (producer) and Various Artists (1982) Lincoln Portrait – William Warfield (1983) The Words of Gandhi – Ben Kingsley (1984) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom – Mike Berniker (producer) & the Original Broadway Cast (1985) Interviews from the Class of '55 Recording Sessions – Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chips Moman, Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, and Sam Phillips (1986) Lake Wobegon Days – Garrison Keillor (1987) Speech by Rev. Jesse Jackson – Jesse Jackson (1988) It's Always Something – Gilda Radner (1989)
1990s	Gracie: A Love Story – George Burns (1990) The Civil War – Ken Burns (1991) What You Can Do to Avoid AIDS – Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Robert O'Keefe (1992) On the Pulse of Morning – Maya Angelou (1993) Get in the Van – Henry Rollins (1994) Phenomenal Woman – Maya Angelou (1995) It Takes a Village – Hillary Clinton (1996) Charles Kuralt's Spring – Charles Kuralt (1997) Still Me – Christopher Reeve (1998) The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. – LeVar Burton (1999)
2000s	The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography – Sidney Poitier, Rick Harris, and John Runnette (producers) (2000) Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones – Quincy Jones, Jeffrey S. Thomas, Steven Strassman (engineers), and Elisa Shokoff (producer) (2001) A Song Flung Up to Heaven – Maya Angelou and Charles B. Potter (producer) (2002) Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them – Al Franken and Paul Ruben (producer) (2003) My Life – Bill Clinton (2004) Dreams from My Father – Barack Obama (2005) Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis – Jimmy Carter / With Ossie and Ruby – Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee (2006) The Audacity of Hope – Barack Obama and Jacob Bronstein (producer) (2007) An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore – Beau Bridges, Cynthia Nixon, and Blair Underwood (2008) Always Looking Up – Michael J. Fox (2009)
2010s	The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents Earth (The Audiobook) – Jon Stewart (2010) If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won't) – Betty White (2011) Society's Child – Janis Ian (2012) America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't – Stephen Colbert (2013) Diary of a Mad Diva – Joan Rivers (2014) A Full Life: Reflections at 90 – Jimmy Carter (2015) In Such Good Company: Eleven Years of Laughter, Mayhem, and Fun in the Sandbox – Carol Burnett (2016) The Princess Diarist – Carrie Fisher (2017) Faith: A Journey for All – Jimmy Carter (2018) Becoming – Michelle Obama (2019)
2020s	Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth – Rachel Maddow (2020) Carry On: Reflections for a New Generation from John Lewis − Don Cheadle (2021) Finding Me – Viola Davis (2022) The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times – Michelle Obama (2023) Last Sunday in Plains: A Centennial Celebration – Jimmy Carter (2024)

v t e Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
1963–1990	1963 Bing Crosby 1965 Frank Sinatra 1966 Duke Ellington 1967 Ella Fitzgerald 1968 Irving Berlin 1971 Elvis Presley 1972 Louis Armstrong Mahalia Jackson 1984 Chuck Berry Charlie Parker 1985 Leonard Bernstein 1986 Benny Goodman The Rolling Stones Andrés Segovia 1987 Roy Acuff Benny Carter Enrico Caruso Ray Charles Fats Domino Woody Herman Billie Holiday B. B. King Isaac Stern Igor Stravinsky Arturo Toscanini Hank Williams 1989 Fred Astaire Pablo Casals Dizzy Gillespie Jascha Heifetz Lena Horne Leontyne Price Bessie Smith Art Tatum Sarah Vaughan 1990 Nat King Cole Miles Davis Vladimir Horowitz Paul McCartney
1991–2000	1991 Marian Anderson Bob Dylan John Lennon Kitty Wells 1992 James Brown John Coltrane Jimi Hendrix Muddy Waters 1993 Chet Atkins Little Richard Thelonious Monk Bill Monroe Pete Seeger Fats Waller 1994 Bill Evans Aretha Franklin Arthur Rubinstein 1995 Patsy Cline Peggy Lee Henry Mancini Curtis Mayfield Barbra Streisand 1996 Dave Brubeck Marvin Gaye Georg Solti Stevie Wonder 1997 Bobby "Blue" Bland The Everly Brothers Judy Garland Stéphane Grappelli Buddy Holly Charles Mingus Oscar Peterson Frank Zappa 1998 Bo Diddley The Mills Brothers Roy Orbison Paul Robeson 1999 Johnny Cash Sam Cooke Otis Redding Smokey Robinson Mel Tormé 2000 Harry Belafonte Woody Guthrie John Lee Hooker Mitch Miller Willie Nelson
2001–2010	2001 The Beach Boys Tony Bennett Sammy Davis Jr. Bob Marley The Who 2002 Count Basie Rosemary Clooney Perry Como Al Green Joni Mitchell 2003 Etta James Johnny Mathis Glenn Miller Tito Puente Simon & Garfunkel 2004 Van Cliburn The Funk Brothers Ella Jenkins Sonny Rollins Artie Shaw Doc Watson 2005 Eddy Arnold Art Blakey The Carter Family Morton Gould Janis Joplin Led Zeppelin Jerry Lee Lewis Jelly Roll Morton Pinetop Perkins The Staple Singers 2006 David Bowie Cream Merle Haggard Robert Johnson Jessye Norman Richard Pryor The Weavers 2007 Joan Baez Booker T. & the M.G.'s Maria Callas Ornette Coleman The Doors The Grateful Dead Bob Wills 2008 Burt Bacharach The Band Cab Calloway Doris Day Itzhak Perlman Max Roach Earl Scruggs 2009 Gene Autry The Blind Boys of Alabama The Four Tops Hank Jones Brenda Lee Dean Martin Tom Paxton 2010 Leonard Cohen Bobby Darin David "Honeyboy" Edwards Michael Jackson Loretta Lynn André Previn Clark Terry
2011–2020	2011 Julie Andrews Roy Haynes Juilliard String Quartet The Kingston Trio Dolly Parton Ramones George Beverly Shea 2012 The Allman Brothers Band Glen Campbell Antônio Carlos Jobim George Jones The Memphis Horns Diana Ross Gil Scott-Heron 2013 Glenn Gould Charlie Haden Lightnin' Hopkins Carole King Patti Page Ravi Shankar The Temptations 2014 The Beatles Clifton Chenier The Isley Brothers Kraftwerk Kris Kristofferson Armando Manzanero Maud Powell 2015 Bee Gees Pierre Boulez Buddy Guy George Harrison Flaco Jiménez The Louvin Brothers Wayne Shorter 2016 Ruth Brown Celia Cruz Earth, Wind & Fire Herbie Hancock Jefferson Airplane Linda Ronstadt Run-DMC 2017 Shirley Caesar Ahmad Jamal Charley Pride Jimmie Rodgers Nina Simone Sly Stone The Velvet Underground 2018 Hal Blaine Neil Diamond Emmylou Harris Louis Jordan The Meters Queen Tina Turner 2019 Black Sabbath George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic Billy Eckstine Donny Hathaway Julio Iglesias Sam & Dave Dionne Warwick 2020 Chicago Roberta Flack Isaac Hayes Iggy Pop John Prine Public Enemy Sister Rosetta Tharpe
2021–present	2021 Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five Lionel Hampton Marilyn Horne Salt-N-Pepa Selena Talking Heads 2022 Bonnie Raitt 2023 Bobby McFerrin Nirvana Ma Rainey Slick Rick Nile Rodgers The Supremes Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson 2024 Laurie Anderson The Clark Sisters Gladys Knight N.W.A Donna Summer Tammy Wynette 2025 Frankie Beverly The Clash Bobby Jones Taj Mahal Prince Roxanne Shante Frankie Valli

v t e Gramophone Hall of Fame
Conductors	Claudio Abbado John Barbirolli Daniel Barenboim Thomas Beecham Leonard Bernstein Karl Böhm Pierre Boulez Adrian Boult Benjamin Britten Sergiu Celibidache Riccardo Chailly Colin Davis Gustavo Dudamel Wilhelm Furtwängler John Eliot Gardiner Carlo Maria Giulini Bernard Haitink Nikolaus Harnoncourt Christopher Hogwood Mariss Jansons Herbert von Karajan Carlos Kleiber Otto Klemperer Rafael Kubelík James Levine Charles Mackerras Neville Marriner Zubin Mehta Yevgeny Mravinsky Riccardo Muti Eugene Ormandy Antonio Pappano Trevor Pinnock Simon Rattle Fritz Reiner Georg Solti Leopold Stokowski George Szell Michael Tilson Thomas Arturo Toscanini Bruno Walter
Singers	Thomas Allen Victoria de los Ángeles Janet Baker Cecilia Bartoli Jussi Björling Montserrat Caballé Maria Callas José Carreras Enrico Caruso Feodor Chaliapin Joyce DiDonato Plácido Domingo Kathleen Ferrier Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Kirsten Flagstad Renée Fleming Angela Gheorghiu Nicolai Ghiaurov Tito Gobbi Thomas Hampson Marilyn Horne Hans Hotter Dmitri Hvorostovsky Gundula Janowitz Jonas Kaufmann Simon Keenlyside Emma Kirkby Anna Netrebko Birgit Nilsson Jessye Norman Anne Sofie von Otter Luciano Pavarotti Leontyne Price Elisabeth Schwarzkopf Joan Sutherland Renata Tebaldi Kiri Te Kanawa Bryn Terfel Fritz Wunderlich
Keyboardists	Leif Ove Andsnes Martha Argerich Claudio Arrau Vladimir Ashkenazy Alfred Brendel Emil Gilels Glenn Gould Friedrich Gulda Marc-André Hamelin Angela Hewitt Vladimir Horowitz Stephen Hough Wilhelm Kempff Evgeny Kissin Gustav Leonhardt Lang Lang Dinu Lipatti Radu Lupu Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Murray Perahia Maurizio Pollini Sergei Rachmaninoff Sviatoslav Richter Arthur Rubinstein András Schiff Artur Schnabel Grigory Sokolov Mitsuko Uchida
String/brass/ woodwind players	Maurice André Dennis Brain Julian Bream Pablo Casals Kyung Wha Chung Jacqueline du Pré James Galway Arthur Grumiaux Jascha Heifetz Heinz Holliger Steven Isserlis Fritz Kreisler Gidon Kremer Yo-Yo Ma Wynton Marsalis Albrecht Mayer Yehudi Menuhin Nathan Milstein Anne-Sophie Mutter David Oistrakh Emmanuel Pahud Itzhak Perlman Jean-Pierre Rampal Mstislav Rostropovich Jordi Savall Andrés Segovia John Williams
Ensembles	Alban Berg Quartett Amadeus Quartet Beaux Arts Trio The King's Singers Takács Quartet The Tallis Scholars
Producers/engineers/ record label executives	Emile Berliner Bernard Coutaz John Culshaw C. Robert Fine Fred Gaisberg Klaus Heymann Alain Lanceron Walter Legge Edward Lewis Goddard Lieberson Richard Mohr Ted Perry Kenneth Wilkinson

v t e Kennedy Center Honorees (1980s)
1980	Leonard Bernstein James Cagney Agnes de Mille Lynn Fontanne Leontyne Price
1981	Count Basie Cary Grant Helen Hayes Jerome Robbins Rudolf Serkin
1982	George Abbott Lillian Gish Benny Goodman Gene Kelly Eugene Ormandy
1983	Katherine Dunham Elia Kazan Frank Sinatra James Stewart Virgil Thomson
1984	Lena Horne Danny Kaye Gian Carlo Menotti Arthur Miller Isaac Stern
1985	Merce Cunningham Irene Dunne Bob Hope Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe Beverly Sills
1986	Lucille Ball Ray Charles Hume Cronyn & Jessica Tandy Yehudi Menuhin Antony Tudor
1987	Perry Como Bette Davis Sammy Davis Jr. Nathan Milstein Alwin Nikolais
1988	Alvin Ailey George Burns Myrna Loy Alexander Schneider Roger L. Stevens
1989	Harry Belafonte Claudette Colbert Alexandra Danilova Mary Martin William Schuman
Complete list 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s

v t e Léonie Sonning Music Prize Laureates
1950s	Igor Stravinsky (1959)
1960s	Leonard Bernstein (1965) Birgit Nilsson (1966) Witold Lutosławski (1967) Benjamin Britten (1968) Boris Christoff (1969)
1970s	Sergiu Celibidache (1970) Arthur Rubinstein (1971) Yehudi Menuhin (1972) Dmitri Shostakovich (1973) Andrés Segovia (1974) Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (1975) Mogens Wöldike (1976) Olivier Messiaen (1977) Jean-Pierre Rampal (1978) Janet Baker (1979)
1980s	Marie-Claire Alain (1980) Mstislav Rostropovich (1981) Isaac Stern (1982) Rafael Kubelík (1983) Miles Davis (1984) Pierre Boulez (1985) Sviatoslav Richter (1986) Heinz Holliger (1987) Peter Schreier (1988) Gidon Kremer (1989)
1990s	György Ligeti (1990) Eric Ericson (1991) Georg Solti (1992) Nikolaus Harnoncourt (1993) Krystian Zimerman (1994) Yuri Bashmet (1995) Per Nørgård (1996) András Schiff (1997) Hildegard Behrens (1998) Sofia Gubaidulina (1999)
2000s	Michala Petri (2000) Anne-Sophie Mutter (2001) Alfred Brendel (2002) György Kurtág (2003) Keith Jarrett (2004) John Eliot Gardiner (2005) Yo-Yo Ma (2006) Lars Ulrik Mortensen (2007) Arvo Pärt (2008) Daniel Barenboim (2009)
2010s	Cecilia Bartoli (2010) Kaija Saariaho (2011) Jordi Savall (2012) Simon Rattle (2013) Martin Fröst (2014) Thomas Adès (2015) Herbert Blomstedt (2016) Leonidas Kavakos (2017) Mariss Jansons (2018) Hans Abrahamsen (2019)
2020s	Barbara Hannigan (2020) Unsuk Chin (2021) Pierre-Laurent Aimard (2022) Evelyn Glennie (2023) Emmanuel Pahud (2024) Danish String Quartet (2025)

v t e Special Tony Award
1947–1975	Dora Chamberlain / Ira and Rita Katzenberg / Jules Leventhal / Burns Mantle / P. A. MacDonald / Vincent Sardi Sr. (1947) Vera Allen / Paul Beisman / Joe E. Brown / Cast of The Importance of Being Earnest / Robert W. Dowling / Experimental Theatre Inc. / Rosalind Gilder / June Lockhart / Mary Martin / George Pierce / James Whitmore (1948) No award (1949) Maurice Evans / Philip Faversham / Brock Pemberton (1950) Ruth Green (1951) Charles Boyer / Judy Garland / Edward Kook (1952) Danny Kaye / Beatrice Lillie (1953) No award (1954) Proscenium Productions (1955) Fourth Street Chekov Theatre / City Center / The New York Public Library Theatre Collection / The Shakespearewrights / The Threepenny Opera (1956) American Shakespeare Festival / Jean-Louis Barrault / Robert Russell Bennett / William Hammerstein / Joseph Harbuck / Paul Shyre (1957) Mrs. Martin Beck / New York Shakespeare Festival (1958) Russel Crouse and Howard Lindsay / John Gielgud / Cast of La Plume de Ma Tante (1959) Burgess Meredith and James Thurber / John D. Rockefeller III (1960) David Merrick / The Theatre Guild (1961) Brooks Atkinson / Richard Rodgers / Franco Zeffirelli (1962) Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller and Dudley Moore / Irving Berlin / W. McNeil Lowry (1963) Eva Le Gallienne (1964) Gilbert Miller / Oliver Smith (1965) Helen Menken (1966) No award (1967) APA-Phoenix Theatre / Pearl Bailey / Carol Channing / Maurice Chevalier / Marlene Dietrich / Audrey Hepburn / David Merrick (1968) Leonard Bernstein / Carol Burnett / Rex Harrison / The National Theatre Company of Great Britain / The Negro Ensemble Company (1969) Noël Coward / Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt / New York Shakespeare Festival / Barbra Streisand (1970) Ingram Ash / Elliot Norton / Playbill / Roger L. Stevens (1971) Fiddler on the Roof / Ethel Merman / Richard Rodgers / The Theatre Guild-American Theatre Society (1972) The Actors Fund of America / John Lindsay / Shubert Organization (1973) Actors' Equity Association / A Moon for the Misbegotten / Candide / Peter Cook and Dudley Moore / Harold Friedlander / Bette Midler / Liza Minnelli / Theatre Development Fund / John F. Wharton (1974) Al Hirschfeld (1975)
1976–2000	George Abbott / Richard Burton / Circle in the Square Theatre / Thomas H. Fitzgerald / Mathilde Pincus (1976) Cheryl Crawford / Equity Liberty Theatre / Barry Manilow / National Theatre of the Deaf / Diana Ross / Lily Tomlin (1977) Irving Berlin / Stan Dragoti and Charles Moss (1978) Walter F. Diehl / Eugene O'Neill Memorial Theater Center / Henry Fonda / Richard Rodgers (1979) Richard Fitzgerald / Helen Hayes / Mary Tyler Moore / Hobe Morrison (1980) Lena Horne (1981) Radio City Music Hall / The Actors Fund of America / Warner Communications (1982) No award (1983) A Chorus Line / Peter Feller / La Tragedie de Carmen (1984) Yul Brynner / New York State Council on the Arts (1985) No award (1986) George Abbott / Jackie Mason (1987) Brooklyn Academy of Music (1988) No award (1989) No award (1990–1992) Oklahoma! (1993) Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy (1994) Carol Channing / National Endowment for the Arts / Harvey Sabinson (1995) No award (1996) Bernard B. Jacobs (1997) Edward E. Colton / Ben Edwards (1998) Uta Hagen / Arthur Miller / Isabelle Stevenson (1999) Dame Edna: The Royal Tour / T. Edward Hambleton (2000)
2001–present	Paul Gemignani (2001) Julie Harris / Robert Whitehead (2002) Cy Feuer / Russell Simmons' Def Poetry Jam on Broadway (2003) James M. Nederlander (2004) Edward Albee (2005) Sarah Jones / Harold Prince (2006) No award (2007) Robert Russell Bennett / Stephen Sondheim (2008) Jerry Herman (2009) Alan Ayckbourn / Marian Seldes (2010) Athol Fugard / Philip J. Smith (2011) Actors' Equity Association / Hugh Jackman (2012) Bernard Gersten / Ming Cho Lee / Paul Libin (2013) Jane Greenwood (2014) John Cameron Mitchell / Tommy Tune (2015) Sheldon Harnick / Marshall W. Mason / National Endowment for the Arts / Miles Wilkin (2016) James Earl Jones (2017) John Leguizamo / Andrew Lloyd Webber / Chita Rivera / Bruce Springsteen (2018) Rosemary Harris / Marin Mazzie / Terrence McNally / Sonny Tilders and Creature Technology Company / Jason Michael Webb / Harold Wheeler (2019) The Broadway Advocacy Coalition / David Byrne's American Utopia / Freestyle Love Supreme / Graciela Daniele (2020/21) Angela Lansbury / James C. Nicola (2022) Joel Grey / John Kander (2023) Alex Edelman / Abe Jacob / Nikiya Mathis / Jack O'Brien / George C. Wolfe (2024)

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