Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)

Introduction
Leonard Bernstein was born August 25th, 1918 in Lawrence, Massachusetts and was an American conductor, pianist, and composer. He is famous for his accomplishments in classical music and popular music and his best known for his works written for musicals such as On The Town (1944), Wonderful Town (1953), Candide (1956) and West Side Story (1957).

Work Analysis
The work I will Analyze is Symphony No. 2 The Age of Anxiety. This piece was written for an orchestra of 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, tuba, timpani, percussion, 2 harps, celesta, strings and solo piano and was composed from 1948 to 1949 between the United States and Israel Although labeled as a symphony this piece is anything but. Instead of a classic 4 movement, Bernstein divided the piece up into 6 different subsections that are split in half to create to parts that are played one after the other without a pause. Each subsection is named after a section of his friend Auden's poem on anxiety The beginning section of the piece is made up of variations that instead of sharing the same melody or thematic material play off the variation that comes before it. To explain the idea of the characters from the poem searching for a purpose, Bernstein uses frantic material and confusing rhythms. The second part of the symphony starting with "The Dirge," is played by solo piano that is based on a 12-tone row. In the second subsection of the second part, we see repetition by the whole orchestra repeating bars that had been played before. In the last subsection, the beginning prologue is heard again while a new theme is played over it by the pianist. In 1965 Bernstein revised the piece adding a solo piano cadenza at the end.

Comparisons
I find his music, specifically Symphony No. 2 to be extremely similar to composers like Arnold Schoenberg who devised the method of 12-tone composition and serialism which was used by Webern and Babbitt also. Bernstein uses the 12-tone method quite frequently and it is very apparent in The Age of Anxiety. Bernstein is also very similar to composers like Brahms from the romantic era. This piece is emotional and expressive like most pieces from the 18th century. He also uses a large orchestra which is a strong characteristic of the Romantic Period.

Observations
I enjoyed this piece a lot. I felt that the idea and concept behind the piece was genius and was clear and easy to follow along with the poem and characters of the story. The idea of an emotion being represented so literal is something I have found hard to come across in many of the composers we have looked at. I also loved the singled out pianist that played an extremely big part in the idea of confusion and longing within the storyline.