Leonard Bernstein discusses great works of the 20th Century

[billdakelski]

Let me translate what Bernie the intellectual is trying to say in plain English:

Jean-Paul Sartre, La Nausée: Existentialism i.e. There is no god. and Money is evil (unless it is mine of course).

Albert Camus - Absurdism: the efforts of humanity to find inherent meaning will ultimately fail; there is no god again;

Stoicism: “god” is merely the physical universe there is no spirit.

Nihilism: life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value.

Thomas Mann ditto ditto etc etc

[redhedbedhed]

i smiled ear to ear when he mentioned she's leaving home. i think it's one of the best-ever beatles songs that is often overlooked.

[HappyHumanism]

Reminiscent of Carl Sagan...

[MusicaRicercata]

Bernstein could have honestly made his point with significantly less pointless name-dropping. But hey, how would that remind us what a "culturally-informed genius" Bernstein is? Don't actually bother with any actual analysis or commentary on the works each other; just a few glib, vapid characterizations is fine.

[ttucker23]

@MusicaRicercata To put this in context, this clip is a tiny extract from a lecture series that lasted over 5 hours, during which he puts forward a lot of deep analysis and commentary on many great works of music, from Mozart through to Schoenberg. I liked this clip for the points he makes about the character of art in the 20th century (ie the predominance of despair) and the interesting list of works that he includes in that list.

[grizzlytomahawk]

@MusicaRicercata And who are you, exactly?

[jifiPOP101]

This is the man who had everything about art figured out, I wish I could still meet him.

[darrencjc]

wow, even bernstein listens to the beatles

[Dally3232]

ALL born of despair or protest? What about the impressionist works of Ravel and Debussy?

[KlurckColombus]

@Dally3232 the way i see it is that those works were created as an escape from a world of despair and protest and in that sense were created as a result of said world

[MusicaRicercata]

@Dally3232 You now realize "impressionism" does not exist.

[Dally3232]

@MusicaRicercata

Explicate.

[MusicaRicercata]

@Dally3232 "Impressionism" is for the most part a term of convenience (applied retroactively) used to label various early 20th century French composers, and the label implies that these composers hared similar harmonic palettes and a disregard for traditional Western musical forms; a large problem with this label is that it's actually a misnomer given that most composers who are typically grouped under this name are fairly different among each other that the term is practically unwarranted.

[MusicaRicercata]

@MusicaRicercata The two "great Impressionists", Debussy and Ravel, are so different from one another that it basically makes no sense to group the two under a similar, specific label, much less to place the two on similar levels. And with regard to the similarity in harmonic idiom, it is for the most part a continuation of change that French music had undergone since the late 19th century.

Also, there was no actual "impressionist" movement and the term as initially used was a pejorative.

[Dally3232]

@MusicaRicercata

I thought you meant that on a metaphysical level.

When I talk about impressionism, I mean the period in which Débussy and Ravel composed. Despite the objections, I find that "impressionism" is a fitting umbrella term for Débussy's works.

Apart from that, if you look for actual analysis by Bernstein, listen to his speech on the first movement of Brahms' 4th. I think I remember it even being here on Youtube if I'm not mistaken.

[MusicaRicercata]

@Dally3232 Why not just use "early 20th century France"? It's (for the most part) accurate and doesn't come with the baggage of assumptions that comes with the term "impressionism."

[luigiperso]

brilliant composer and mind.....who's the dumbass who gave thumbs down?

[billtruz]

Dear Friend, he is not saying life is an ultimate despair. He is saying that ultimate despair is the "backdrop" for great art: like Job and Ecclesiastes are the backdrop for the good news. Appropriate for yourself the ultimate backdrop for Christianity: the crucifixion and death of Christ to show forth the power that overcomes death, and you will have access to that power. Not I but Christ in me. Death that brings life. Great art mirrors this if it can rise from those depths to that height.

[billtruz]

Dear Friend continued: Every effort is good and adds to our ability to make increase. Oswald Chambers, that great Christian apologist who wrote, My Utmost For His Highest says "the foundation of life is tragic." Read Revelations 13:8 "the lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world." This means that our existence, and the world's existence depends on a sacrifice by God. Any Christianity worth its salt is based on sacrifice and the same is true of great art.

[billtruz]

Dear Friend, he is not saying there is an ultimate despair. He is saying that ultimate despair is the "backdrop" for great art: like Job and Ecclesiastes are the backdrop for the good news. Appropriate for yourself what the ultimate backdrop is for Christianity: the crucifixion and death of Christ to show forth the power that overcomes death, and you will have access to that power. Not I but Christ in me. Death that brings life. Great art mirrors this if it can rise to those heights.

[9nesteg]

I have re-listened to LB's remarks and re-read my own. LB is not rejecting secular humanism. He is simply going along with it even lthough "despair" and "anguish" are not joyful feelings. FS (Francis Schaeffer) is rejecting it. Except for maybe Ecclesiastes, there is no ultimate despair in the Bible. The men who created the stuff LB mentions were not Christians or orthodox Jews. If your faith is in your fellow man, you are going to be disappointed.

[soaringvulture]

Bernstein's intellect is overpowering. The shocking thing is that he could boogie, he could play the blues, he could write show tunes and he could knock you out with Rhapsody in Blue. Must have been from another planet.

[9nesteg]

I never understood twentieth century culture until I read Francis Schaeffer's "How Should We Then Live?" and his "The God Who Is There." Since FS was a Christian and the books are Christian, they cannot be assigned reading in most colleges. He says basically what LB is saying but from a Christian perspective. Secular humanism is not able to give the answers to life's questions.

[chickensesame]

@9nesteg Sorry, I don't follow how Bernstein is rejecting secular humanism at all?

[smondello]

He was brilliant!

[wmlfan9]

At 0:45 he mentions Auden's Age of Anxiety. He composed a symphony on that work.

[GanoMaganza]

Thanks so so so so so so so so so much for this pearl!

[oscarlevinsky]

thanks for posting, do you have his lecture on mahler's 9th symphony?

[kenpeters52]

Do you have more of the Harvard Lecture series? I would love to see more. The book "The Unanswered Question" made a huge influence on me.