Leonard Bernstein

(Lawrence, Massachusetts, 1918 - Nueva York, 1990

A versatile musician, his gifts and undeniable talent not only allowed him to shine in the field of acting, but he also managed to succeed in composition, both in the so-called "serious" and in musical comedy. Two of his forays into the latter genre, On the Town (1944) and West Side Story (1957), both popularized by cinema, earned him wide recognition among the public; In its plot, the second is a splendid update of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet that won ten Oscars in its film version (1961), directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins and starring Richard Beymer and Natalie Wood.

Bernstein's first steps as a conductor were encouraged by Sergei Koussevitzky, his mentor during his student days at Tanglewood. In this facet, his defense of an openly subjective interpretation, within the purest romantic tradition, made him obtain his best fruits in the works of composers with a high expressive component in their music, such as Franz Liszt (his version of the Faust Symphony is a classic of phonography), Gustav Mahler or Dimitri Shostakovich, while in the classical repertoire his achievements, although appreciable, did not reach the same height. In addition, Bernstein was an enthusiastic defender and popularizer of new American music: authors such as Aaron Copland, Charles Ives and George Gershwin were part of his concert programs until his death.

Faithful reflection of his varied hobbies and tastes, which in music ranged from Haydn's classicism to jazz, Bernstein the composer's style is distinguished by its eclecticism. An opera, A Quiet Place (1984), three large symphonies (1942, 1949 and 1963), a Serenade (1954) and several songs constitute the best of his catalogue. However, despite their appreciable value, none of these scores has reached the level of popularity of his musical comedies.

Bernstein married actress Felicia Montealegre on September 9, 1951.^[189] They had three children: Jamie, Alexander, and Nina.^[190] The Bernstein family lived in New York City and Fairfield, Connecticut, and maintained a close-knit atmosphere surrounded by extended family and friends.

Leonard Bernstein led some of the world’s best orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, sometimes from the piano. Picture: Getty images

By Sophia Alexandra Hall

Leonard Bernstein is the subject of musical biopic ‘Maestro’. However, who was the legendary conductor-composer and why did his career change the face of American classical music forever?

American conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein is one of classical music history’s most significant figures.

Born in 1918, Bernstein was an acclaimed conductor, composer and pianist, who earned a remarkable 16 Grammy Awards throughout his career.

From leading one of the world’s greatest orchestras, the New York Philharmonic, to composing the multi-award-winning musical West Side Story alongside Stephen Sondheim, Bernstein’s list of achievements is unrivalled.

But Bradley Cooper was the man behind the music? With the upcoming musical biopic Maestro portraying the musician’s life hitting cinemas .

A acto celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall, changing "Joy" (Freude) to "Freedom" (Freiheit) in the "Ode to Joy" to reflect the historic moment, uniting musicians from East & West Germany and Allied nations for the "Ode to Freedom" concert. This iconic performance at the Konzerthaus symbolized unity and hope, with Bernstein leading international orchestras and choirs in a powerful message of goodwill, solidifying it as a legendary event.

I am experiencing a historical moment, incomparable with others in my long, long life.’ Leonard Bernstein was 71 when he spoke those words; six weeks after elated crowds began tearing down the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989.

For 28 years, the wall had split the city in two, preventing those living in communist-controlled East Berlin crossing to West Berlin, where the democratic values of the Federal Republic of Germany held sway. But communism in Eastern Europe had begun to crumble, and the convulsive shockwaves were causing the long-impregnable barriers between the two parts of a divided Germany, both ideological and physical, to crumble too.

Ever a master of the dramatic moment, Bernstein instinctively grasped that he, an elder statesman of international music, had a unique contribution to make at this historic juncture. So when asked to conduct two concerts celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall, he jumped at the opportunity.

When were Leonard Bernstein's Berlin concerts?

The concerts were scheduled for the 23rd and 25th of December 1989, and would be uniquely symbolic in nature. Three choirs would assemble from different parts of Germany, and the orchestra would be international in character, drawing players from New York, Paris, London, Leningrad, and both East and West Germany. Together they would perform Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, a work whose arduous transition from oppressive darkness into brilliant, joy-filled light seemed perfectly suited to the occasion.

· Beethoven: a guide to his symphonies

When Bernstein arrived in Berlin, however, he was far from being in prime physical condition. While in London to record his operetta Candide earlier in December, he had caught a virulent strain of flu. Though still weak from its side effects, he summoned the energy to conduct not one, but two performances of the Ninth Symphony on December 23 – the first a preliminary run-through for an afternoon audience in East Berlin, the other in the West in the evening.

It was a gruelling day for Bernstein, and he was reportedly ‘dazed, shrunken and ashen-faced’ in the immediate aftermath of the evening performance. In typical fashion, though, he quickly bounced back. While in Berlin he mingled with local residents in the streets, lit Hannukah candles at Berlin’s oldest synagogue and borrowed a hammer to chip a piece of the Berlin Wall off for himself.

At work, did Bernstein perform in Berlin?

By Christmas morning, a Monday, the stage was set for the East Berlin performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in the historic Schauspielhaus, where in 1821 Weber’s opera Der Freischütz had its premiere. Outside, on the Gendarmenmarkt, thousands milled in cold but sunny weather, watching the concert on a big-screen relay.

Millions more saw it by satellite, with viewers in over 20 countries. It was Bernstein’s biographer Humphrey Burton later recorded, ‘the highest point in Leonard Bernstein’s public life as a citizen of the world.’

The 'Ode to Joy' - or 'Freiheit' (freedom)

The Berlin concerts were, however, not without controversy. Moved by the symbolism of the occasion, Bernstein had substituted the word ‘Freiheit’ (’freedom’) for ‘Freude’ (‘joy’) in the Schiller poem used for the symphony’s choral finale, the famous 'Ode to Joy'.

This created minor ructions among the traditionalist faction. How dare an upstart American tinker with Schiller’s sacred text? How dare he alter Beethoven’s original intentions? For a fleeting moment, the sound of cultural feathers being ruffled was the dominant impression.

In the event, the majestic sweep of Bernstein’s performance of the Ninth swept all before it. In addition, his personal response to the mini-furore was characteristically unflappable. ‘If there ever were a historical moment in which one can neglect the theoretical discussions of academics in the name of human freedom, this is it,’ he stated. ‘And I believe that Beethoven would have given us his blessing. Let freedom live!’

Terry Blain

Leonard Bernstein conducted a monumental Beethoven symphony to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall. Picture: Getty

As Germany took its first bold steps towards reunification, Leonard Bernstein conducted a blistering Beethoven symphony in celebration of an extraordinary moment in world, and music, history.

The fourth movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 nicknamed the ‘Choral’, rings out with the immortal words of German poet Friedrich Schiller, in a spine-tingling symphonic finale.

Schiller’s poem an die Freude, better known as ‘Ode to Joy’ in English, forms the triumphant pinnacle of Beethoven’s masterpiece as he brings in the full force of a choir to close his final large-scale work.

However, on Christmas Day 1989, ‘Ode to Joy’ became an ‘Ode to Freedom’ in a subtle but significant lyric change made by Leonard Bernstein, in a performance for the history books.

A large massed choir sang ‘Freiheit’, meaning ‘Freedom’, in place of ‘Freude’, or ‘Joy’, in the Berlin Konzerthaus just a stone’s throw from both the monumental Brandenburg Gate and Checkpoint Charlie.

Bernstein’s concert took place a month and a half after it was announced that the border between East and West Berlin, which had divided the country for 28 years, was now open.

In Berlin’s great Konzerthaus, in the heart of the city, Leonard Bernstein brought together an international roster of Europe’s great orchestral musicians for the occasion.

An epic choir filled the concert house stalls, as Bernstein combined not one, not two, but three German choirs spanning the breadth of the country, to achieve a thunderous and triumphant finale.

From Bavaria to Dresden, St Petersburg, London, New York and Paris, the Berlin Celebration Concert united musicians from all sides of the Cold War to mark the fall of the Iron Curtain.

West German citizens flock to the Brandenburg Gate on Christmas after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Picture: Getty

20,000 people are said to have gathered on the streets of Berlin, as East and West Germans mingled freely for the first time in almost 30 years, to watch the concert broadcast on huge five-by-ten metre screens erected for the occasion.

After the concert, Bernstein headed west to carve his own section of the Berlin wall, which he sent back to his family in New York.

It was a moment remembered fondly by concert pianist Craig Urquhart, who was Bernstein’s personal assistant at the time: “Lenny and I, with a couple of friends drove to the western side of the wall behind the Reichstag: no television, no reporters, just us private citizens of the world.

“Lenny borrowed a hammer from a young boy, and he took his turn at tearing down, at least this wall, among all those he’d so worked so hard to dismantle in the hearts and minds of man.”

After the concert, Bernstein headed west to carve his own section of the Berlin wall, which he sent back to his family in New York.

“Lenny borrowed a hammer from a young boy, and he took his turn at tearing down, at least this wall, among all those he’d so worked so hard to dismantle in the hearts and minds of man.”

How did Leonard Bernstein die?

Bernstein announced that he would retire from conducting in 1990 at the age of 72 years old. He passed away five days after this announcement.

The conductor died of a heart attack in his New York home, which was brought on by Mesothelioma, a relatively rare type of cancer.

His wife had died 12 years prior of lung cancer, and the composer was buried next to her in a plot at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.

According to the conductor’s biographer, Allen Shawn, Bernstein was buried with a pocket score of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, a piece of amber, a lucky penny, a copy of Alice in Wonderland, and a baton.

Leonard Bernstein’s music: 10 best works by the American maestro

21 December 2023, 09:23 | Updated: 21 December 2023, 11:33

From the famous West Side Story and collaborations with Sondheim, to symphonies and serenades, here are the definitive top 10 pieces of music that Leonard Bernstein wrote.

Leonard Bernstein is one of the greatest figures of the American 20th century music scene. A charismatic conductor and brilliant composer, Bernstein wrote many great works from operas and ballets to symphonies, that are still well loved and much performed to this day.

The celebrated musician even became the subject of Netflix hit Maestro in 2023, which sees him portrayed by Bradley Cooper.

Bernstein spent his time away from the podium championing humanitarian issues, from civil rights and the Vietnam War to HIV/AIDS research.

Remembered fondly for his innovative Young People’s Concerts, Bernstein was a brilliant music educator and introduced many to classical music for the first time, sparking lifelong joy in those he inspired.

As a conductor, he was known for his enigmatic podium performances, and was particularly celebrated for his interpretations of Mahler. He is even said to be buried with a manuscript of Mahler’s Symphony No.5 over his heart, open to the heart-rending second movement, the ‘Adagietto’.

As a composer, he blended this Germanic influence with his New York surroundings, capturing the brassy sound of the city’s jazz, big band, and Broadway traditions, mixed with traditional Jewish music and all conveyed through imaginative percussion, raucous brass and lyrical strings.

A one-of-a-kind musician, Bernstein’s creativity spanned musical theatre, film scores, large-scale symphonies and operettas. Here are 10 of his all-time best...

West Side Story

With two film adaptations and many successful stage runs, West Side Story is Bernstein’s best-known work by far. A collaboration with lyricist Stephen Sondheim and director-choreographer Jerome Robbins, it It is considered by many to be one of the greatest musicals of all time.

Based on Romeo and Juliet, it tells of two star-crossed lovers against the backdrop of fierce feuds and rival gangs in 1957 New York City.

Musically, the harmonic and melodic backbone of the entire score is the tritone, otherwise known as the Devil’s interval, which Bernstein uses to create a sense of unease amid the hope of young love. We’d estimate it nearly impossible to find a soul who hasn’t heard at least one of the show’s hit songs: ‘America’, ‘Maria’, ‘Somewhere’, ‘I Feel Pretty’.

2.0 Candide

Originally intended as a play, Candide was transformed into an operetta when an enthusiastic Bernstein convinced librettist Lillian Hellman of his vision. It took a team of lyricists to write, with Richard Wilbur doing the bulk of the work, plus additional contributions from Stephen Sondheim and Bernstein himself, who co-wrote ‘I Am Easily Assimilated’ with his wife, Felicia.

Based on Voltaire’s work of the same name, Candide is a comical love story, as the titular character Candide pursues his great love (and cousin) Cunegonde through all manner of trials and tribulations that try to keep them apart.

Bernstein’s overture is the best known piece from the operetta, and is one of his most performed works to this day. It switches masterfully from lyrical strings to oom-pah brass band sections, to flighty wind motifs, in a brilliantly exciting and inventive five minutes of music.

Originally intended as a play, Candide was transformed into an operetta when an enthusiastic Bernstein convinced librettist Lillian Hellman of his vision. It took a team of lyricists to write, with Richard Wilbur doing the bulk of the work, plus additional contributions from Stephen Sondheim and Bernstein himself, who co-wrote ‘I Am Easily Assimilated’ with his wife, Felicia.

Bernstein’s overture is the best-known piece from the operetta, and is one of his most performed works to this day. It switches masterfully from lyrical strings to oom-pah brass band sections, to flighty wind motifs, in a brilliantly exciting and inventive five minutes of music.

3.0Chichester Psalms

Epic and jovial, serene and pure, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms is a large choral work written for choir and orchestra, and boy treble or countertenor soloist.

The composer’s Jewish identity is front and centre in this work, as Bernstein takes the original Hebrew words from the Book of Psalms as his text.

The Chichester Psalms were commissioned by Walter Hussey, Dean of Chichester Cathedral, for the Southern Cathedrals Festival that was hosted by the city in 1965. It was performed there in July of that year, but not before it premiered at New York City’s Philharmonic Hall two weeks earlier, with Bernstein on the podium.

4.0 MASS: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers

5.0 With his trademark flair for the eclectic, Bernstein takes the traditional Catholic mass and transforms it into a Broadway-infused showpiece, complete with orchestra, dancers, rock band, and a marching band for good measure.

From its toe-tapping rhythms and tongue-tangling choral passages, to stripped-back and heart-felt sermons through song, MASS is a brilliant blend of its composer’s many musical influences.

This remarkable work was commissioned by Jackie Kennedy, for the opening of Washington’s Kennedy Center in September 1971. Today, it remains one of Bernstein’s most striking works.

5. 0 On the town

Bernstein’s first foray into musical theatre, On the Town was born from a ballet called Fancy Free, that the composer scored the same year to accompany Jerome Robbins’ choreography.

It tells of a love affair with New York, the city Bernstein considered home. Three American sailors are set loose in Manhattan for 24 hours during World War II, performing big tunes and ballads like ‘New York, New York’ and ‘Lonely Town’ along the way.

Although Bernstein was a relatively unknown composer at the time, On the Town was an immediate hit on Broadway.

The production made him the first symphonic composer to collaborate on an American musical. It was also the first musical to incorporate black and white characters on stage in equal roles, and the show’s conductor Everett Lee made history by becoming Broadway’s first black conductor and musical director.

6.0 Symphony No.1, ‘Jeremiah’

Bernstein’s named his First Symphony ‘Jeremiah’ after the major Hebrew prophet born in 650 BCE.

In three movements, titled ‘Prophecy’, ‘Profanation’, and ‘Lamentation’, Bernstein’s work follows the prophet’s story.

The final movement borrows its name and text from the third and final book Jeremiah authored, the Book of Lamentations, according to Jewish tradition.

Several elements of the piece make reference to Jewish music. Bernstein noted that the first theme from the second movement was “paraphrased from a traditional Hebrew chant,” and the start of the mezzo-soprano line in the final movement is “based on a liturgical cadence still sung today.”

7.0On the Waterfront

On the Waterfront

Bernstein only wrote one original film score in his career. And that was this, On the Waterfront, a score for Elia Kazan’s 1954 film starring Marlon Brando, for which the composer earned an Oscar nomination.

The composer later reshaped his score, which skilfully captures the corruption and extortion of New Jersey’s waterfronts in the 1950s, into a symphonic suite, which is sometimes performed by orchestras today after enjoying a revival during the Bernstein centennial in 2018.

Bernstein biographer Humphrey Burton sees the score as a “20th-century equivalent of Tchaikovsky’s fantasy overture Romeo and Juliet, with the film’s principal characters, Terry and Edie, as the star-crossed lovers.”

8.0 Symphony No.3, ‘Kaddish’

The ‘Kaddish’ is a Jewish prayer recited in synagogue services, reflecting on death and loss.

Bernstein used this ancient hymn as the basis for his final symphony, and one of his most powerful works. The symphony is scored for full orchestra, choir, boys’ choir, with a soprano soloist and a narrator.

It was dedicated to John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated just a few weeks before the work’s premiere in 1963.

The composer remained deeply connected to this work, revising it in the late 1970s. Bernstein’s wife, Felicia Montealegre, narrated the American premiere of the work – perhaps adding to the layers of personal connection for the composer.

9.0 Divertimento for Orchestra

After the death of his wife, Felicia, in 1978, Bernstein retreated from performance engagements to focus on composing. He worked on various projects, none of which made it to completion, until he received a commission from the Boston Symphony Orchestra in April 1980.

The orchestra were looking for a piece to help them celebrate their centennial, and Bernstein accepted. The composer had a long-term sentimental connection to the city, having grown up and attended university there, made his directorial debut at the Tanglewood Music Center, and conducted more then 130 concerts with the orchestra itself.

It consists of eight movements, with more and less traditional titles from ‘Waltz’ and ‘Mazurka’ to ‘Turkey Trot’ and ‘Sphinxes’. Bernstein based the music around the notes B and C, for ‘Boston’ and ‘Centennial’.

In his own words, the composer described the Divertimento as “a fun piece” that “reflects my youthful experiences here where I heard my first orchestral music.”

10.0 Serenade after Plato’s Symposium

Always a composer who loved bringing together words, literature and music, this work resulted from Bernstein’s reading Plato’s charming dialogue, The Symposium.

Composed in 1954, when he was writing some of his most popular music, the Serenade is one of Bernstein’s most lyrical orchestral works. It’s scored for solo violin, harp, string orchestra, and percussion, and brings to life in music Plato’s famous reflections on the nature and purpose of love.

According to the composer, “The music, like the dialogue, is a series of related statements in praise of love, and generally follows the Platonic form through the succession of speakers at the banquet.”

With affection,

Ruben

Stories and Narrative

Monday, December 29, 2025