Read The Leonard Bernstein Letters Online
Authors: Leonard Bernstein
The Leonard Bernstein Letters (18 page)
91
A quotation from
La Bohème
.
92
John Lessard (1920–2003), American composer.
93
Mitropoulos made his debut with the New York Philharmonic on Thursday, 19 December 1940.
94
Kiki [Jacqueline] Speyer was the daughter of Louis Speyer, who had played under Pierre Monteux in the premiere of Stravinsky's
Sacre du printemps
and was the cor anglais player of the Boston Symphony from 1919 until 1965.
95
Possibly Wolfgang Stresemann, then a young conductor.
96
Koussevitzky conducted Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony with the Boston Symphony in Carnegie Hall in November 1940 and again in January 1941. The November concert also included a Haydn symphony.
97
Possibly a reference to the death of Alfred Eisner.
98
Alfred Eisner died on 4 January 1941.
99
Frederick Schlick's
Bloodstream
ran on Broadway in 1932 for less than a month.
100
Robert Schlick was a gay poet who married the London-born artist and illustrator Pamela Bianco in 1930.
101
Copland's
Piano Variations
.
102
The two-piano duo Arthur Whittemore and Jack Lowe gave a recital at Town Hall, New York. It was reviewed by Howard Taubman (
The New York Times
), who mentions that the concert included an unspecified work by Copland.
103
Probably a reference to Shirley Gabis, who was born in 1924.
104
Oliver Smith (1918–94) was a designer and producer whose brilliant sets were an important part almost all Bernstein's theatrical works, including
Fancy Free, On The Town, Facsimile, Candide, West Side Story
, and
Mass
. This letter appears to be their earliest contact. The house at 7 Middagh Street, where Smith was living at the time, was an old brownstone that was home to a remarkable group of creative artists in 1941. It was owned by George Davis, and among the residents were W. H. Auden, Britten (“Brittle”), Peter Pears, Louis MacNeice, Carson McCullers and – shortly after Smith wrote – Paul and Jane Bowles. Britten and Pears stayed for just a few months, finding the atmosphere too Bohemian.
105
A humorous reference to Benjamin Britten.
106
Small wire nails or prickly spikes. Bernstein is referring to a phrase in William Francis Hooker's
The Prairie Schooner
(1918): “For hours a kindly bullwhacker helped me pluck the sharp and brittle brads from my back.”
107
Benjamin Britten (1913–76), English composer, already established as one of the most brilliant figures in British music by the time he went to the USA in April 1939. It was in America that Britten wrote his first work for the stage, the operetta
Paul Bunyan
. Bernstein conducted several of his works: the American premiere of
Peter Grimes
at Tanglewood in 1946; the
Spring Symphony
(in 1963) and the
Sinfonia da Requiem
(in 1968) with the New York Philharmonic; and in April 1976, the US premiere of Britten's
Suite on English Folk Tunes: A Time there Was
with the New York Philharmonic. Bernstein included the
Four Sea Interludes
in his final concert, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood, on 19 August 1990.
108
Paul Bunyan
, first performed at Columbia University on 5 May 1941.
109
The world premiere of the
Sinfonia da Requiem
took place in Carnegie Hall on 29 March 1941, with John Barbirolli conducting the New York Philharmonic.
110
Shirley Gabis (b. 1924), American pianist. She became Bernstein's closest friend at the Curtis Institute and the two remained friends until his death. She later became Shirley Rhoads, then Shirley Perle when she married the composer and Berg scholar George Perle. The first of Bernstein's
Thirteen Anniversaries
, dated July 1981, is entitled “For Shirley Gabis Rhoads Perle (b. April 7, 1924).”
111
William Saputelli (1916–2001) was a friend of Bernstein's at the Curtis Institute. A cellist, he joined the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1952 and remained with it until 1988.
112
Rae was Shirley Gabis’ mother.
113
“Playgoer” in the
Harvard Crimson
(23 May 1941) reported: “The play is by Aristophanes and three thousand years old, but the production to be offered at Sanders tonight and tomorrow by the Student Union Theatre is as timely as the latest headline, and as diverting as the brightest Broadway revue. Even in dress rehearsal disarray (which is when we caught it)
Peace
gave every indication of being the most stimulating theatrical event around Cambridge this season. Of course, the plot – the attempt of a group of Athenians to bring Peace back to their city – is a natural for Student Union parallel-parable making, but even the most ardent Bundle for Britain will hardly object to swallowing this socially-significant pill, sugar-coated as it is with distinctively modern music by Leonard Bernstein, clever lyrics by William Abrahams, a colorful abstract set by Howard Turner and John Holabird, and a cast that is not merely capable but alive. And all of these elements have been brought together skillfully and with a refreshing lack of pretension by director Robert Nichols. There are, to be sure, flaws; but what this Student Union Theatre group may lack in slickness, it more than makes up for in spontaneity. These people are obviously having a good time, and their enthusiasm communicates itself to the audience. They are immeasurably helped by the Aristophanic tradition which is one of rowdy fun, rather than self-conscious artiness, and within the limits of the tradition this company is almost wholly successful. The production lasts little over an hour, the admission is sensibly low, and anyone should have fun. For those who don't, there is always the advice of the concluding couplet in the conga finale: ‘If you don't like venery, Get thee to a nennery.’” The music for the Conga was reused by Bernstein in
Wonderful Town
. Another section, the “Sacrificial March,” became the chase music in
On the Town
(see Massey 2009, pp. 80 and 81).
2
First Successes:
From Tanglewood to
On the Town
1941–4
After receiving his diploma in conducting from the Curtis Institute in May 1941, Bernstein went to Harvard to conduct his incidental music for
The Peace
before spending the summer at Tanglewood, where his conducting was widely admired, especially a performance of William Schuman's
American Festival Overture
. Bernstein then fled to Key West at the southern tip of Florida, to escape a complicated romantic entanglement (with Kiki Speyer) and to compose. It was a productive stay: he started the Clarinet Sonata and an unfinished ballet called
Conch Town
that was to provide a rich harvest of musical ideas for subsequent works, including
Fancy Free
and
West Side Story
. After Key West, Bernstein returned to Boston in need of a job. He set up a studio to teach piano and musical analysis in December 1941, but attracted depressingly few pupils. The year 1942 saw some early successes: the first performance of the Clarinet Sonata in April (by David Glazer and Bernstein) and, the following month, Bernstein conducted Copland's
Second Hurricane
(subtitled a “play-opera for high schools”) in Boston, repeating it a month later. Throughout this time he received constant encouragement from Copland, from Renée Longy Miquelle, and from Betty Comden. To earn a living, Bernstein took a job at a music publisher (part of Warner Bros.), working as an assistant and occasional arranger, often under the name Lenny Amber.
In the summer of 1942, Bernstein met David Oppenheim at Tanglewood. He was a young clarinetist studying at the Eastman School of Music, and the two quickly became very close. The correspondence between them in 1943 is often absorbing, with letters that are by turns passionate, funny, full of career worries (and, in Oppenheim's case, his military service) and musical questions, above all because of Oppenheim's performances of the Clarinet Sonata. Though David Glazer had given the premiere, it was Oppenheim who introduced the work in New York and who made the first recording (both with Bernstein at the piano), and he appears as its dedicatee on the first edition. Oppenheim and Bernstein also shared a fascination with psychoanalysis and the interpretation of dreams – they went to the same therapist (Marketa Morris, “The Frau”) and had similar obsessions. While the correspondence with Copland is warm, funny, and loving, with some entertaining anecdotes from Copland in Hollywood and musical news
of the East Coast from Bernstein, it is with Oppenheim that Bernstein shared some of his innermost thoughts.
The year 1943 was a crucial one for every aspect of Bernstein's career: in February he played Copland's Piano Sonata in New York, and in March he made his New York conducting debut (Paul Bowles’
The Wind Remains
). Bernstein played his own music too: a performance of the Clarinet Sonata with Oppenheim led quickly to its recording and publication. Adolph Green's long letter to Bernstein in September 1943 paints a funny and richly detailed portrait of Hollywood viewed through the eyes of a native New Yorker who seemingly finds himself in a weird and alien country.
The end of 1943 brought the most spectacular successes: in September he became Assistant Conductor of the New York Philharmonic – his first conducting appointment. Such a junior position usually involves quite menial tasks, but in Bernstein's case good fortune struck two months into the job. On 14 November 1943, Bruno Walter was due to conduct the Sunday Philharmonic concert at Carnegie Hall, but his sudden indisposition meant that Bernstein had to take over. The result (broadcast nationally on the radio) was a triumph – and a major news story: the front page of the next day's
New York Times
was dominated by news of the war in Europe and the Pacific, but it also reported Bernstein's debut under the headline: “Young Aide Leads Philharmonic. Steps In When Bruno Walter Is Ill”. Two months later, on 28 January 1944, Bernstein conducted the world premiere of his
Jeremiah
Symphony No. 1 in Pittsburgh – at the invitation of his old conducting teacher Fritz Reiner.
At the same time Bernstein was hard at work on the ballet
Fancy Free
. Because Jerome Robbins and Bernstein were both away from New York for weeks on end while the ballet was being written, this is one of the very few Bernstein collaborations where musical matters are discussed in considerable detail by letter: those from Robbins to Bernstein have not survived, but the letters from Bernstein to Robbins are a fascinating chronicle of work in progress. On 18 April 1944,
Fancy Free
triumphed at the Metropolitan Opera House. Bernstein's first collaboration with Robbins was instantly acclaimed – the headline of John Martin's review in the
New York Times
(19 April) read: “Ballet by Robbins Called Smash Hit”. Of the score, Martin wrote: “The music by Leonard Bernstein utilizes jazz in about the same proportion that Robbins’ choreography does. It is not in the least self-conscious about it, but takes it as it comes. It is a fine score, humorous, inventive and musically interesting. Indeed the whole ballet, performance included, is just exactly ten degrees north of terrific.” Robbins and Bernstein turned at once to their next collaboration – a Broadway show, with Bernstein's old friends Comden and Green brought in to write the book and lyrics. With the support of the vastly experienced George Abbott as director, the result was another huge success:
On the Town
opened at Broadway's Adelphi Theatre on 28 December 1944 to rave reviews. But Bernstein's brilliant achievement with his
first musical brought conflicts too: Koussevitzky was already uneasy about Bernstein's balancing act between conducting and composing, and he lost no time telling his protégé that writing for Broadway was a waste of his talents. The criticism hit home: Bernstein did not write another musical until after Koussevitzky's death in 1951.
90. Leonard Bernstein to Renée Longy Miquelle
Cranwell School, Lenox, MA
15 July 1941
Chère Renée,
Tanglewood again – and as wonderful as ever. It never fails to impress me – as much each morning as the first time I set foot here. The
esprit de corps
just got going (I conducted my first rehearsal this morning – the Billy Schuman [
American Festival
] Overture!) I was supposed to open the series last Friday night with Billy's piece, but I had to go back to Boston to receive my award
and conduct The Esplanade!
Had you heard? I did the
Meistersinger
prelude – 22,000 people! Très exciting. I would have let you know, but it was all in such an unsettled state & I wasn't sure until very shortly before the concert. So Billy is this weekend (Friday night), & he's coming up for the performance – Kouss liked the rehearsal today, but insisted that I looked like un Moulin qui va avec le vent.
First tragedy of the season – Gundersen
1
(1st fiddle, BSO) died last night. Heart failure. Great sorrow.
If you haven't heard of this tragedy, hold your seat. This is really heartbreaking, I shall simply state it and not say another word. M. [Gaston] Dufresne
2
has an assistant here – Miss Kathryn Wolf. Don't ask me another thing about it, I'm completely nonplussed.
Any hope? Any news from La Bok?
3
How's Claude
4
& regards from Shanelian. Rest, & really summerize.
Bien à toi,
Lenny
91. Leonard Bernstein to Shirley Gabis
Cranwell School, Lenox, MA
[after 15 August 1941]
Dear Gabe, babe,
I'm limp. I've just written Alvin.
5
Quel effort! I just took off a morning, & canceled everything at Tanglewood, & stayed home, & wrote letters. Otherwise impossible. Life here is hectic – but hectic. Tremendous successes in conducting the past two weeks: I did William Schuman's
American Festival Overture
, & it knocked everyone for a bingo.
6
Really brought it down. And last week,
7
I did Lambert's
Rio Grande
, with chorus, &c. Très brilliant, & terrific hit. This week I'm stuck with the Brahms B♭ Concerto,
8
but it's only an interregnum of rest. Ain't you never coming up?
Just heard from the Quashens,
9
& they'll be here Thursday. With Anna Sokolov.
Whatsamatter with you? Are you a step child?
God, I pity you in Philly! I'd perish, personally. You, of course, are of hardier stock!
I got my questionnaire.
Love to Rae – & let's hear.
Love,
Lenny