Leonard Bernstein

Bernstein, Leonard

(1918–90) conductor, composer; born in Lawrence, Mass. He played piano from childhood and studied at Harvard and the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia. After becoming a protégé of Koussevitsky as a Tanglewood conducting student in 1940–41, he was named assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic and in 1943 made a sensation stepping in at the last minute for the indisposed Bruno Walter. There followed an active career as a guest conductor—and occasional pianist—during the 1940s. In that decade he also composed works including the Jeremiah and Age of Anxiety symphonies and the Broadway musical Fancy Free. In 1952 he premiered his one-act opera Trouble in Tahiti and 1957 saw the debut of his classical musical West Side Story. The next year he began an 11-year tenure as conductor of the New York Philharmonic and a series of televised Young Peoples' Concerts which, combined with his engaging personality and extravagant conducting style, made him the most popular conductor in the country. In later years he guest-conducted worldwide; having spent his early career championing conservative American composers such as Copland, in the 1970s he became the spearhead of the Mahler revival.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Bernstein, Leonard

 

Born Aug. 25,1918, in Lawrence, Mass. American conductor, pianist, and composer. Studied at Harvard University (1939) and at the Curtis Institute of Music (Philadelphia); pursued advanced training as a conductor under the tutelage of S. A. Koussevitsky. From 1943 to 1944 he was assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, and from 1945 to 1948, conductor of the New York Symphony Orchestra.

Bernstein has conducted all the leading orchestras of the world. He participated as a conductor in festivals of contemporary music (Prague and Amsterdam) and performed the works of American composers. From 1958 to 1969 he was the conductor of the New York Philharmonic. He toured the USSR in 1959.

Bernstein presents his own compositions both as a pianist and as a conductor. He has written ballets, symphonies (Jeremiah, 1942; and The Age of Anxiety, 1949), musicals for the Broadway theater (including West Side Story, 1957), song cycles, church music, instrumental pieces, songs, and music for motion pictures.

REFERENCES

Ewen, D. Leonard Bernstein, A Biography For Young People, 2nd edition. New York, 1967.
Briggs, J. Leonard Bernstein, the Man, His Work and His World. Cleveland-New York, 1961.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.