Behind the Headlines – World Book Student
  • Search

  • Archived Stories

    • Ancient People
    • Animals
    • Arts & Entertainment
    • Business & Industry
    • Civil rights
    • Conservation
    • Crime
    • Current Events
    • Current Events Game
    • Disasters
    • Economics
    • Education
    • Energy
    • Environment
    • Food
    • Government & Politics
    • Health
    • History
    • Holidays/Celebrations
    • Law
    • Lesson Plans
    • Literature
    • Medicine
    • Military
    • Military Conflict
    • Natural Disasters
    • People
    • Plants
    • Prehistoric Animals & Plants
    • Race Relations
    • Recreation & Sports
    • Religion
    • Science
    • Space
    • Technology
    • Terrorism
    • Weather
    • Women
    • Working Conditions
  • Archives by Date

« The Prague Spring
Language Monday: Scandinavia »

Leonard Bernstein 100

August 24, 2018

Tomorrow, August 25, is the 100th anniversary of the birth of legendary American  conductor, composer, and pianist Leonard Bernstein in 1918. Bernstein ranks among the most famous figures in American music of the 1900′s. Bernstein served as musical director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra from 1958 to 1969, the first American to hold that position. During this period, the orchestra’s prestige increased greatly. Bernstein often performed as solo pianist with the orchestra while conducting at the same time. He was a strong supporter of modern American composers and often programmed their music with the orchestra. Bernstein died at age 72 on Oct. 14, 1990.

Leonard Bernstein making annotations to musical score, 1955. Credit: Library of Congress

Leonard Bernstein works on a musical score in 1955. Credit: Library of Congress

Bernstein was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, on Aug. 25, 1918, and graduated from Harvard in 1939. He studied with the famous conductors Serge Koussevitzky and Fritz Reiner and, in 1943 and 1944, served as assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic. Bernstein became famous in August 1943 when, on short notice, he conducted a Philharmonic concert that was broadcast nationally.

West Side Story is one of the most popular musicals in American theater history. Jerome Robbins was the director and choreographer. Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics and Leonard Bernstein the music for the story based on William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Rita Moreno, center, was one of the stars in the 1961 film version that won 11 Academy Awards. Credit: AP/Wide World

Rita Moreno leads the cast of the 1961 film version of West Side Story. Credit: AP/Wide World

Bernstein became best known for his musicals, including On the Town (1944), Wonderful Town (1953), Candide (1956, revised 1973), and West Side Story (1957). He also wrote the important concert compositions Symphony No. 1, Jeremiah (1944); Symphony No. 2, The Age of Anxiety (1949); and Symphony No. 3, Kaddish (1963). He wrote the music for the ballets Fancy Free (1944), Facsimile (1946), and Dybbuk (1974) as well as the Serenade for violin, strings, harp, and percussion (1954). Bernstein composed two operas, the short Trouble in Tahiti (1952) and its sequel, the full-length A Quiet Place (1983); and the music for the film On the Waterfront (1954).

Among Bernstein’s concert works for voice are Mass, composed for the opening of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., in 1971; Chichester Psalms (1965), for chorus and orchestra; and Songfest (1977), for six vocal soloists and orchestra.

Tags: broadway, composers, leonard bernstein, music, musicals, New York Philharmonic Orchestra


  • Most Popular Tags

    african americans archaeology art australia barack obama baseball bashar al-assad basketball black history month california china climate change conservation earthquake european union football france global warming isis japan language monday literature major league baseball mars mexico monster monday music mythic monday mythology nasa new york city nobel prize presidential election russia soccer space space exploration syria syrian civil war ukraine united kingdom united states vladimir putin women's history month world war ii