Renowned as a composer, conductor, pianist and academic, Bernstein was one of the century's greatest musical all-rounders. Born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, he learnt the piano from the age of ten. He studied theory at Harvard University and conducting with Fritz
Reiner at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. After three summers under Serge Koussevitzky at
Tangle wood, from 1940 to 1942, Bernstein became assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. His career was launched in 1943 with a sensational debut as an eleventh-hour replacement for Bruno
Walter.
Bernstein was principal conductor of the New York Philharmonic from 1958 until 1969, when he was appointed
conductor laureate for life. During his career he conducted the major orchestras of the world, enjoying particularly close
relationships with the Israel Philharmonic, and the Vienna Philharmonic, which
collaborated in his series of live releases of the 19805, issued as part of his protest against over-engineered recordings.
Bernstein the composer developed an eclectic style that drew on anything from
big-band jazz in the Prelude, Fugue and Riffs (1949) to 12-note techniques in the later
Symphony No. 3 (Kaddish) of 1963. His Symphony No. 1 (Jeremiah) of 1944 was named 'Best New American Orchestral Work' by the New York Music Critics Circle. However, he soon made an even greater impact on the music-theatre world with his musicals. His first,
On the Town (1944), was based on the exploits of three sailors with a day's shore leave in New York, and ran for 463 performances.
In the 1950s he composed mainly for stage and screen, including West Side Story (1 957), regarded by many as the best
musical ever. It was typical of Bernstein's consistent defiance of musical categories that this extrovertly popular work, with its Latin American dances, 'cool jive', and melting ballads, should also include music of the highest quality and compositional skill, just as his more 'serious' works
frequently used 'popular' idioms.
Compositional activity slackened in the 1960s as he toured the world with the New York Philharmonic, but resumed with the theatre piece
Mass in 1971. Two years later he delivered the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures at Harvard, published in 1976 as
The Unanswered Question, which confirmed his position as an outstanding communicator and ambassador for the cause of music. He also received a number of Emmy awards for his educational broadcasts for children.
But 'Lenny' the consummate popularist was also a complicated and controversial figure. He admitted homosexual
promiscuity, while remaining devoted to his wife, Felicia, until her death in 1978. His candour in later life, and campaigns on behalf of those suffering from HIV and AIDS, may have been his own kind of penance for concealing his libertarian impulses and bisexuality during the McCarthy era.
Bernstein continued to conduct and compose throughout the 1980s, until his lifetime of chain-smoking caught up with him. After suffering for years with
emphysema and eventually lung cancer, he died from cardiac arrest following lung failure, just five days after announcing his
retirement. He was mourned the world over.
West Side Story
Symphony No. 2, 'The Age of Anxiety'
On the Waterfront - Symphonic Suite
Songfest
On the Town
Candide