| Contents |
Part one. Juvenilia: 1935-1939. Father's books ; The feeb ; New music in Boston ; True story with a moral ; The occult ; Sonnet: on acquiring knowledge ; Harvard bachelor's thesis -- Part two. Postwar meditations: 1946-1957. Statement: conducting versus composing ; "Fun" in art ; Life is juicy (poem) ; Music U.S.A., 1947 ; Dialogue and ; Encore ; Letter to myself (poem) ; Everybody's soup ; Me composer - you Jane ; Two letters to Helen Coates ; Sound effects: a tiny Chinese opera ; For Stephen Sondheim ; This I believe ; Letter to Martha Gellhorn ; Excerpts from a West Side Story log -- Part three. The New York Philharmonic years: 1959-1967. Letter to Olga Koussevitzky ; Speech to the national press club ; The whole Megillah ; Insomniad (poem) ; An old-fashioned artist ; Tribute to S.J.B. ; A tribute to teachers ; Varese, Koussevitzky, and new music ; Tribute to John F. Kennedy ; Image of Chile ; Tribute to Marc Blitzstein ; On motivation ; What I thought ; And what I did ; On program-making ; Carl Nielsen ; Roosevelt award acceptance speech ; "Charge to the seniors" ; Mahler: his time has come ; Jerusalem ; A total embrace -- Part four. The last decade till now: 1969-1980. A Bernstein premiere ; Of Tanglewood, Koussevitzky, and hope ; Aaron Copland at 70: an intimate sketch ; A letter to Franz Endler: Beethoven's Ninth ; Homage to Stravinsky ; The Israel Philharmonic blues ; On Gershwin ; Jennie Tourel: 1910-1973 ; For S.A.K. ; Aaron and Moses: Copland at 75 ; Memories of the Curtis Institute ; The declaration of independence ; On stillness ; Memoreis of Maestro de Sabata ; On education ; Copland at 79 ; The future of the symphony orchestra ; "Ni commencement ni fin" ; Commencement speech at Johns Hopkins University. |
| Abstract |
This is an extraordinary book of musical and personal discoveries - the most personal and autobiographical volume Leonard Bernstein ever wrote. Bringing together Bernstein's private notes, essays, and musical writings, the book offers a brilliant and revealing portrait of the man who, more than any other, confirmed the maturity and originality of American music. Among the writings collected in this book are Bernstein's recollections of childhood, his education as a musician and as a man, and his reflections on fifty years of composing such popular successes as Candide, On the Town, and West Side Story, as well as such enduring classical triumphs as his Mass and Kaddish. The book includes Bernstein's thoughts on the art of conducting, his opinions on the role of music in the arts and in society, his perspectives on politics and culture, as well as his analysis of the roots of American music and the influence of Beethoven and Mahler on his own life and work. Richly illustrated with photographs and music scores, this book offers a rare and moving window into the personal life of one of the towering figures of twentieth-century music, a man who was at once a great conductor, a composer of extraordinary range, and deeply involved and passionate citizen of the world. |
