This Week In American History: On August 26, 1918 Leonard Bernstein was born. Considered one of the best conductors in American music history, he is best known for composing the music for the movies “One the Waterfront” and “West Side Story” and the opera “Candide”.
Leonard Bernstein’s Early Life
Leonard Bernstein was born August 26, 1918 in Lawrence, Massachusetts. As a young boy he took piano lessons and attended school at the Garrison and Boston Latin Schools. He attended college at Harvard University. Bernstein graduated from Harvard in 1939. Furthermore, he studied piano at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Later, in 1940, he went on to study at the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s newly created summer institute, Tanglewood. Bernstein studied under conductor Serge Koussevitzky. After that, Bernstein became Koussevitzky’s conducting assistant.
Leonard Bernstein’s First Conducting Position With the NY Philharmonic
1943 saw Bernstein appointed to his first permanent conducting position as Assistant Conductor of the New York Philharmonic. On November 14, 1943 Bernstein substituted for Bruno Walter at a Carnegie Hall concert. Fortunately, radio broadcast the concert nationally. Afterwards, orchestras worldwide began seeking Bernstein as a guest conductor.
Leonard Bernstein’s Other Conducting and Teaching Positions
In 1945, the New York City Symphony Orchestra appointed Bernstein their Music Director. Bernstein held the post for two years. When Koussevitzky passed away in 1951, Bernstein took over as head of the orchestral and conducting department at Tanglewood. He taught at Tanglewood for several years. Bernstein also served as a visiting music professor and head of the Creative Arts Festivals at Brandeis University in the beginning of the 1950s.
Bernstein became Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in 1958. From 1958 to 1969 he led more concerts with the Philharmonic than any conductor before him. In addition, Bernstein held the lifetime title of Laureate Conductor. Over half of his 400+ recordings he recorded with the New York Philharmonic.
Leonard Bernstein As A Composer
A prodigious composer, Bernstein wrote many award-winning musical pieces. His first large-scale work Symphony No. 1: “Jeremiah” (1943) won the New York Music Critics’ Award. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences recognized Bernstein with the Lifetime Achievement Aware in 1985. He won eleven Emmy Awards over his career. However, his best known pieces of music came from the movies “One the Waterfront” and “West Side Story” and the opera “Candide”.
Leonard Bernstein As A Philanthropist
World peace was important to Bernstein. He went on a “Journey of Peace” tour to Athens, Greece and Hiroshima, Japan with the European Community Orchestra in 1985. The tour commemorated the 40th anniversary of the atom bomb. Bernstein also conducted the “Berlin Celebration Concerts” in December 1989. The concerts occurred on both sides of the Berlin Wall as it was being dismantled. The musicians performing in the concerts represented the former East Germany, West Germany, and the four powers that had partitioned Berlin following World War II. Furthermore, Bernstein supported Amnesty International. In order to benefit the group, he established the Felicia Montealegre Fund. Bernstein established the Fund in memory of his late wife who passed in 1978.
Before he passed on October 14, 1990, Bernstein gave one last gift to the world. Earlier in 1990, he received the Praemiem Imperiale. An international prize by the Japan Arts Association, the beneficiary receives it for lifetime achievements in the arts. Ever the philanthropist, Bernstein used the $100,000 prize to establish The Bernstein Education Through the Arts (BETA) Fund, Inc.
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Info Source: LeonardBernstein.com
Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons
