Professional Documents
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Bernstein Young People's Concerts
Bernstein Young People's Concerts
A CRITICAL OVERVIEW
\
By
SHARON A. GELLENV
A Thesis
Master of Arts
McMaster University
ii
ABSTRACT
music.
Iii
content. Chapter Two assesses the popular and professional
iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
second l"eader.
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter
1. INTRODUCTION . 1
Live Response
Response of the Television Audience
Professional Response
i ) Critical Concerns
ii) Harsh er Criticisms
iii) Visuals and Format
3. 8ERNSTEIN AS AN EDUCATOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
8ernstein's Predecessors
The Influence of Bernstein's Own Teachers
8ernstein's Approach to Music Appreciation
8ernstein's Liberal Ideology and Music Education
Meaning in Music
Music as a Language
Authenticity in Music
8ernstein's Tastes in 20th-Century Music
vi
Table of Contents (conto)
APPENDIX:
vii
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
more and more the glamourous figure on the New York music
Classical music.
unlikely that one would find the 160000 films still being used
Curiously, the black and white copies from the earlier years
while a later 2:30 p.m. concert was the actual one used in
but due to the fact that maestro Bernstein was a hard act to
follow.
some time afterwards into the Buketoff and Pelletier eras . "
11Shanet, 497-610.
9
and general tone had remained basically the same over the
13Shanet, 321.
10
children. 14
that for the previous year, the Public School Concerts had
students to attend.
16Downes, 7.
12
:26"Talent Sh,~w,"
.......-.
"='·L.
17
27Taubman, 9.
18
ahead as scheduled.
audience did not care for his sometimes very informai chats
very weIl attended l.IIi th 99% clf the seats being sold in the
f 1· rst y.:.c:l-
- 1~ .30 L I·e
. k hIls
. t e 1 eVlslon
. . D · b us an d Young
worKL onmn1
seasons.
31Peyser, 235 .
21
e x ample, he remarked
iAlork. 39
between what. one saw and heard."40 There were also pitfalls
music. This was the major criticism that Howard Taubman was
section II, 9.
42Tawa, 230-231.
26
4&Rose, 107.
27
l ate 195üs was shifting more and more toward the centralized
approach.
Orchestra, one can see that most of the music was drawn from
e >~ amples . These music examples were usually drawn from the
popular music (see Chapter Two) . Despite the fact that his
series, and t.hat. several of t.hese were adapt.ed int.o t.he 1962
publicat.ion.
type were when Bernstein was able to relate some of his own
Mahler and his music, and then related this to his own
he made the content of the programs seem fresh for both the
Reunion" program.
ta 30%.62
62Shanet, 347.
35
c,:.p1 an,j 's 8i rU-.day Pal~tyU (1961) and liA Copland Celebl~ation"
teacher [he hadJ ever had. "66 There were other comrÎlon ties
57Peyser, ....J_.
C-":· _
38
charm. "S9 This had resul ted froln the fact that the two had
1937), and that Bernstein had later received his big break
programs were able to draw. and the type of viewer that was
41
42
Liye Response
listeners.
a football cheer."
the tiny listeners, parents and big sisters who packed the
Bernst.ein was able t.o incorporat.e t.hem int.o his lecture and,
oc cur red eal-·1 yin the sel~ i es, in epi sodes 1 ike "Wha t ls
present study, this probably was due to the fact that the
C'Jncert: How Musi cal Are Y'Ju?" Here, a large l'ole f or the
Bepl"lst.e in' s .
47
the series.
or two. "e However, during the first few years, many fan
cultural ghetto."
sponsor. The Shell Oil Company was the first to give the
14Bailey, 259-305.
52
stat.ed:
not only able ta attract four million viewers, but also keep
youngest listeners.
audience.
was confirmed when a C8S survey found that 83% of the Young
democ racy . " Simi lar 1 y, "Thus Spake Ri char,j Strauss" (1971)
Prnfessinnal Reaction
children than any other man since Walter Damrosch used radio
music appreciation .
remarked:
i ) Critical Cnncerns
the recess bell because the professor talked too much . "2&
cr-iticisms.
out of hand.
hand.
inspired.
rf.ovement. t.a t.he session . "39 Murry Hc,rowi tz also noted the
liked how Englander and his camera crew were able to capture
42
Art Woodstc,ne. "N_Y_ Philharr.-.onic Young People's
Concert." Variety. 28 March 1962. :34_
76
everyone.
not only for the audience members but also for the
performers.
number of adults.
from the live audience members, who felt that the emphasis
80
81
the masses.
Bernstein's Predece~snr~
Ganz and Wilfred Pel l etier had led the New York Philharmonie
4S nowden, 28-29.
7Damrosch , 328.
85
pa~ron Sir Rober~ Mayer and his wife, when ~hey were
pei ter·ated, " goodness kn.:.ws how many potential musi c lovers
l 2S now den ,
13Snowden, 24.
87
education.
to teaching music .
lIJanted."
depth.
\/Jas made clear in his first known interview about the Young
level .
audiences.
apparent that Berns t ein was trying very hard to avoid the
disappoint you but i1.'5 really not about the Lone Ranger
added interest .
t.he symphc1ny:
presen~ing.
avoidable.
of a piece of music .
Ballet. Biras'; ( i9E.S ) , for example, after e ::< pressing hol,tJ the
sorl.e very bi rd-l ike "f lapping." Simi lar 1 y, in "Fidel io: A
parody .
musical excerpts.
of Classical music:
an era when the pol i cies and politics of major networks were
with civil rights might have been even stronger during ihe
series .
of ---~-,
~UL~d~ class. Above aIl, however, it i5 apparent that he
wa5 a teacher with a great passion for his subject: one who
himself .
CHAPTER FOUR
Meanin~ ln Music
107
108
musical meaning.
i t-5el f _
c,f dawn" were bui 1 t to a climax where the brass chords are
the tradit-ional st.ory (of Don Quixote) was perhaps the most.
"What. Does Music Mean?" (1958). Part of the way through the
Music as a Langyage
"big-city vernacular, " while his 8illy the Kiu was "just as
his use of such terms outside this one area of dispute was
was always clear trom the context of the lesson that he was
innateness.
realm of expertise . e
of things to come.
def i ned Classi cal (ar 1.) musi c: as bei ng an "e::-::ac t" k i nd of
music where t.he c,:,mposer "put.s 'jo ....'n the exact notes and as
reiterated that
Marcus nc,ted:
should DQ.i. be played the way the composer wrote them. the
S ame way aIl the time."lZ Since no real reasons were given
trom the fact that it was (and still is) a commonly accepted
practice.
lIJere al ive today, "he wc,uld have Most certai nI y gi ven his
authenticit.y.
electronic or aleatoric.
it. is possible tha t this bias had developed out. of the fact
musical expression.
1968, 49.
heard .
biases against. the music, could have ever pulled off such
accessible.
125
126
well-prepared scripts.
tradition.
( 1 958- 1 972 ) 1
129
130
1q58/59 Season
Humor in Music
(28 February 1959)
What 15 a Concerto?
(28 March 1959)
Young Performers
(6 March 1960)
Students from the New York City High School of Music and Art
perform Aaron Copland's opera The Second Hyrricane.
Bernstein conducts and provides narration for the opera,
which concerns the fictional plight of students who became
stranded during a relief mission to the site of a natural
disaster.
)y60/61 Season
Young Performers
(19 March 1961)
lq61/h2 Seasnn
What Is Impressionism?
(1 December 1961)3
Young Performers
( 1 3 Ap r i 1 1 962 ) ..
What Is a Melody?
(21 December 1962)
Young Performers
(15 January 1963)
J q6:"=:/64 Seasnn
A Tribute to Teachers
(29 November 1963)
Young Performers
(23 December 1963)
1q64/65 SeasQn
Farewell to Nationalism
(30 November 1964)
Young Performers
(28 January 1965)
A Tribute to Sibelius
(19 Febrary 1965)
]-=t65/66 Season
Young Performers
( 22 February 1966)
]q66/67 Season
What 1s a Mode?
( 23 November 1966)
Young Performers
(27 January 1967)
Alumni Reunion
( 19 APl' i 1 1967 )
1967/68 Seasnn
Forever Beethoven!
(28 January 1968)
Young Performers
(31 March 1968)
Fantastic Variations
(25 December 1968)
Bach Transmogrified
(27 Apl~il 1969)
A Copland Celebration
(27 Oecember 1970)
1971/72 Season
The Planet c
(26 March ï972)
151
152
8riggs, John. Leonard Bernstein: The Man, his Work and hjs
World. Cleveland and New York: World Publishers,
1961 .
-------- "New .Job for the Protean Mr. 8erns~ein." New York
Times Magazine, 22 Oecember 1967, 14-15.
Tho ..... pson, Thomas. ''l've done what 1 was supposed to do."
LiLa, 21 February 1969, 53-54, 56.
MUSIC EDUCATION
MUSIC PHILOSOPHY/THEORY
--- ----- "Leonal~d Bernstei n." Var ie1.y, 13 March 1963, ;;:7 .
--------. "Musi c For Yc,ung At Carnegie Hall: Pt-.t lhar ..... ':oni c
Gives First of Series of Concerts - U.S. Composers
Are Stresse,j . " New Yod: Tieues, 22 November 1959,
85.
MI SCELLANEOU:::;
liA Gi ant & a F'l~ i nce ." I..illle.. 8 February 1963. 60.
Sadie, Stanley, ed. The New Groye Pictionary Cof Music and
Mysicians. London: Macmillan, 1980.