美国人物简介Leonard Bernstein

Cathy1986

Leonard Bernstein

 

   Born on August 25,1918, Leonard Bernstein was a pioneer in the field of music. He was the first internationally acclaimed American-born orchestra conductor. Before Bernstein, all the great orchestras in Europe, as well as America, were led by someone from Europe or Asia. Bernstein traveled the world as a conductor and encouraged appreciation of the music of American composers, especially Aaron Copland. Bernstein not only composed classical works but also wrote music for Broadway, including West Side Story(1957) and On the Town(1944). For much of his life, he worked closelywith the New York Philharmonic, with which he made several international tours and recordings. Leonard Bernstein died on October 14, 1990.

 

1)      Leonard Bernstein’s Debut

Many people’s careers begin after they get a “break”. On November 14, 1943, Leonard Bernstein made his debut as a conductor for the New York Phiharmonic at Carnegie Hall in New York City. This was Bernstein’s “big break”, and a major turning point in his career. He got this break because he was substituting for another conductor, Bruno Walter, who had fallen ill.

  Bernstein had been appointed Assistant Conductor for the New York Philharmonic only a few months before that night. Just 25 years old, he was relatively inexperienced. At the last minute, Bernstein was told he was to take Walters place, so he did not have any time to reherse. The music he was going to conduct was very difficult. Plus, the concert was going to be broadcast nationally on the radio. Despite all these pressures, Bernstein rose to the occasion and received a standing ovation at the end of the concert. The event made national headlines, and Bernstein became famous overnight.

  Some people feel they do their best under the most stressful of circumstances. What was it about Leonard Bernstein that made him do so well in such a difficult situation?

  Perhaps Leonard Bernstein did so well because music was his passion, The son of a man who supplied hairdressing products, Bernstein became interested in music at the age of 10. By the time he was a teenager, he was performing in public. He became a soloist with the Boston Public School Orchestra, and for 13 weeks in 1934, played classics on the radio.

 

2、Leonard Bernstein’s  West Side Story

Leonard Bernstein’s was a composer who was able to write music in many different styles, including classical, pop and jazz. In many of his works you can hear all these styles combined into one piece. Think about some of the music you listen to today. Many songs borrow from different styles of music. For example, a country western song might have some blues influence. When something has an effect on something else that is considered on influence. Bernstein’s music was influenced by many of the things he had heard-and even read-before.

Perhaps Leonard Bernstein’s most famous work is West Side Story, a musical first presented in 1957 on Broadway in New York City and later made into a film in 1961. The works he composed for the musical were influenced by classical, jazz and popular styles, including music composed by Hispanics. West Side Story was also influenced by a very famous play written in the late 16^th century by William Shakespeare.

West Side Story is a modern-day version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The story is about two young people who fall in love but are prevented from being together because their families are feuding. In West Side Story two people in New York City fall in love but are kept apart because they are from different groups who are fighting for no good reason. What lessons can be learned from this situation? Why do you think this story is so popular that it is repeated over the years in different plays and movies?

3、Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts

  People of all ages enjoy music. The New York Philharmonic had already established a tradition of presenting concerts for young people when Leonard Bernstein took advantage of the power of television to introduce music to children. Between 1958 and 1972 he showed young people how to be good listeners of the music through his Young People’s Concerts.

  The Young People’s Concerts revealed Bernstein’s mastery of both music education and the medium of television. Combination lecture-concerts were recorded before a concert-hall audience, primarily children, and broadcast in the United States and Canada. Over the course of the broadcasts, Bernstein discussed a wide selection of subjects relating to music history and featured composers and compositions. As part of this series, there were also annual concerts featuring young performers.

  Being an educator was very important to Leonard Bernstein. He was eager to share his knowledge with young people. In fact, he once said that the Young People’s Concerts were “among my favorite, most highly prized activities of my life.” Bernstein led 53 of these special concerts, conforming the fact that he was not only a musical genius, but also a natural born teacher. His students adored him and he taught many musicians and conductors who went on to become well known artists in their own right.