Leonard Bernstein: A Jewish Legacy (Milken Archive of American Jewish Music)
Posted: July 30, 2010 at 11:35 pm | Tags: american, archive, Bernstein, Jewish, Legacy, leonard, Milken, music
“What are the Jewish roots I long for?” wrote Leonard Bernstein as he pondered one of his many Jewish-inspired compositions. This unique collection of rarely heard works—including several world-premiere recordings—reveals many possible answers to Bernstein’s question. Triumphal processions, mysterious invocations, intimate Jewish character portraits, rousing dances; all of these musical offerings present the great eclectic imagination of one of America’s foremost 20th century composers.Leonard Bernstein occupies a unique position in the music world for his protean, multi-faceted talents. His ability to draw on and absorb every cultural influence made him the ultimate eclectic, yet he eventually forged a style that was unmistakably his own. This record, which includes vocal, choral and instrumental pieces, some never recorded, performed or published, demonstrates that his Jewish heritage played a formative, lasting, decisive role in this process. The earliest, Psalm 148 (sung in English), written when he was 17, is steeped in an ultra-romantics style, especially Wagner’s; it hardly contains a hint of the later Bernstein, but its innocent sweetness is infinitely touching. The longest, Halil, is a virtuoso piece for flute with piano and percussion, written 1981 in memory of a 19-year-old Israeli flutist killed 1973 in the Yom Kippur War. Also written for specific occasions and friends are Silhouette for Jennie Tourel’s birthday and Three Wedding Dances for the marriage of Adolph Greene and Phyllis Newman. Excerpts from longer works include At My Wedding from Arias and Barcarolles, a description of a young fiddler playing for a wedding that is both funny and affecting, sung in Yiddish, a chorus from the ballet The Dybbuk, a section of Concerto for Orchestra. These, like several sacred selections–prayers, invocations, hymns of thanks and praise for various parts of the Service–are sung in Hebrew. The most substantial is Hashkiveinu, a prayer for peace, commissioned by the Cantor of a New York synagogue, for tenor solo, chorus and organ, featuring call and response, cantorial chanting and very daring harmonies and tonal juxtapositions. Bernstein later recycled some of this material for other, very different compositions, like films and musicals, perhaps indicating that he considered this style the connecting thread of his creative life. The performances are uniformly excellent; Réaux, Blochwitz and the pianists stand out. –Edith Eisler
Rating: 
(out of 2 reviews)
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Review by Randy C. Baer
Rating:
These miniatures are a true find, at once familiar (one selection is a virtual piano restatement of “This World” from “Candide”) and surprising, as it takes the composer’s connection to his faith to a high level. Not every moment is top rank Bernstein, and yet there is much that is beautiful and revelatory here. The performances are variable, but I doubt you’ll find much of this collection elsewhere. I might have deducted a single star, but felt obliged to compensate for the sole other reviewer, who notes that while the music was beautiful, she was awarding a meager two stars because much was unfamiliar. This disc was, after all, intended to present Bernstein’s less familiar works. Apparently, a single misguided reviewer can exercise undue influence on Amazon.
Review by Lynne M. Marshall
Rating:
The music sounded beautiful, the songs were not ones that I really knew and so I was not impressed with the entire album. Songs and Prayers that I knew, I enjoyed