Jose Covarrubias

Music 1010

Leonard Bernstein

Music . . . can name the unnamable and communicate the unknowable.

Leonard Bernstein

Louis Bernstein, a name that his grandmother adored, was born August 25,
1918 in Lawrence, Massachusetts to Russian-Jewish immigrants. Louis, later
renamed himself to Leonard at 16, was raised in Boston where he attended William
Lloyd Garrison Elementary School. As if fate had guided the key to Lenny, his
cousin, Lillian Goldman, gave him a used and battered piano. This set off his musical
training at the age of 10.Unfortantely, his middle-class parents did not share the
same zeal for music and tagged it as a highly unrewarding career. His father was so
much opposed to his fondness for music that he even refused to pay for his piano
lessons.
Despite growing up in a challenging era, he was able to sustain his own
musical talent by teaching music to young children. As Bernstein grew, so did his
passion for music. During his teens, he staged operas and played on radio shows. At
the age of fourteen, he approached Heinrich Gebhard, a renowned piano teacher.
She helped hone Bernsteins talents and refined them, which helped him broaden
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http://www.notablebiographies.com/
http://www.leonardbernstein.com/
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his horizons. Through persistence, he was able to attend Harvard where he studied
musical theory and graduated in in 1939.
Although Bernstein graduated from such a prestigious institution, he had
difficulty maintaining jobs. As fate would have it, he was offered the position of
assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic. On November 14, 1943, the
symphonys guest conductor, Bruno Walter, had become ill. Bernstein was asked to
step up and conduct that afternoons concert. This turned Bernsteins life around.
The New York Times published an article about his performance on the front page
and became a respected conductor. Lenny would lead the Philharmonic 11 times
by the end of the season.
Lenny was different from the start. His pursuit of the American dream and
passion for music made him the legendary musician who inspired an entire
generation and became the most influential classical musicians of his time. He was
a teacher, conductor, composer and a successful pianist. In the words of one jaded
veteran: "When he gets up on the podium, he makes me remember why I wanted to
become a musician."
Bernstein is more known for his Broadway musical, than for his symphonies.
Most of his music has strong emotion due to his upbringing. He was a true
crossover musician before the term was coined, and he constantly breached the
divide between sacred and secular. Lenny wrote in pop and Jazz but he mainly

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http://www.music.fas.harvard.edu/
http://www.thefamouspeople.com/
http://www.notablebiographies.com/
http://www.leonardbernstein.com/
http://www.allmusic.com/

specialized in classical music. His genre ranged from opera, to orchestral, to piano
music. Most of his music was piano to mezzo-soprano.
His most popular composition was west side story: Tonight. West side story
was a musical first presented in 1957 at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway
New York City. He was inspired of the very famous play; Romeo and Juliet, written by
William Shakespeare. West side story is a modern day love story about two young
people who fall in love but are unable to pursue their romance due to interracial
warfare; Tony who is polish and Maria, a Puerto Rican. West side Story won two Tony
awards and made an impressive 732 performance run before a film version was
recorded. Tonight was played during a scene where the couple confess their love to
each other.
Listening Guide
Bernstein: West Side Story Tonight.
Date: Published 1965
Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_QffCZs-bg
Genre: Broadway Musical
What to listen for:
Melody: Fast, accented and rhythmic dialogue.
Meter: Duple
Harmony: Weak tonal center
Texture: Homophonic.
Form: 23 bar song from (A-A-B-A)
Text
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MARIA
Only you, you're the only thing I'll see forever
In my eyes in my words and in everything I do
Nothing else but you
Ever

TONY
And there's nothing for me but Maria
Every sight that I see is Maria

MARIA
Tony, Tony

TONY
Always you, every thought I'll ever know
Everywhere I go you'll be

TONY & MARIA

All the world is only you and me

MARIA
Tonight, tonight
It all began tonight
I saw you and the world went away

Tonight, tonight
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There's only you tonight

What you are, what you do, what you say

TONY
Today, all day I had the feeling
A miracle would happen
I know now I was right

TONY
For here you are
And what was just a world is a star
Tonight

TONY & MARIA

Tonight, tonight
The world is full of light
With suns and moons all over the place

Tonight, tonight
The world is wild and bright
Going mad
Shooting sparks into space

Today, the world was just an address

A place for me to live in
No better than all right
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But here you are

And what was just a world is a star
Tonight

Good night, good night

Sleep well and when you dream
Dream of me
Tonight

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http://www.history.com/
http://www.classicalnotes.net/
http://www.biography.com/
http://www.music.fas.harvard.edu/
http://www.thefamouspeople.com/
http://www.notablebiographies.com/
http://www.leonardbernstein.com/
http://www.allmusic.com/

Bibliography for Leonard Bernstein

My Brother Lenny
http://www.leonardbernstein.com/person.htm
Leonard Bernstein, A Total Embrace of Music
http://www.classicalnotes.net/features/bernstein-nopix.html
Leonard Bernstein Biography
http://www.biography.com/people/leonard-bernstein-9210269
Leonard Bernsteins Jewish Boston: Cross-Disciplinary Research in the Classroom
http://www.music.fas.harvard.edu/faculty/Oja-ShelemayBernsteinJSAM.pdf
Leonard Bernstein Biography
http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/leonard-bernstein-337.php
Leonard Bernstein Biography
http://www.notablebiographies.com/Be-Br/Bernstein-Leonard.html
Leonard Bernstein quotes
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/41906.Leonard_Bernstein
Bernsteins West Side Story opens
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/bernsteins-west-side-story-opens
Leonard Bernstein Tonight, song (from "West Side Story")
http://www.allmusic.com/composition/tonight-song-from-west-side-storymc0002514362

www.goodreads.com
http://www.history.com/
http://www.classicalnotes.net/
http://www.biography.com/
http://www.music.fas.harvard.edu/
http://www.thefamouspeople.com/
http://www.notablebiographies.com/
http://www.leonardbernstein.com/
http://www.allmusic.com/