Leonard Bernstein
1918 - 1990
Snapshot
Leonard Bernstein is one of the most widely performed composers of the 20th-century * Works successfully bridge divide between classical and popular idioms * Music combines jazz-inspired energy, theatrical panache and active stylistic eclecticism * Acclaimed stage works include West Side Story, On the Town and Candide * Dance collaborations with Jerome Robbins including Fancy Free, Facsimile and The Dybbuk * One of the most admired conductors of the post-war era, particularly associated with the New York, Israel and Vienna Philharmonics, Boston and London Symphony Orchestras and Tanglewood Festival * Important role as an educator, including pioneering work on television * Output recorded extensively on Sony and Deutsche Grammophon
Works by Leonard Bernstein include:
Symphony No.2 'The Age of Anxiety' (1949) for piano and orchestra
Candide (1956/88) Comic operetta in two acts
Symphonic Dances from 'West Side Story' (1960) for orchestra
Mass (1971) A theatre piece for singers, players and dancers
"Bernstein's music is cross-over without compromise, a corpus of work that simply had to be." — Independent
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