This is a very special year for Broadway and classical music fans and those of us at the Library of Congress; we’re marking the centennial of Leonard Bernstein’s birth.
For a man who was born in 1918, his music still has fans snapping their fingers (x…x…x is a symbol in print music notation in West Side Story for finger snaps) and hoping that “Somewhere” there’s a place for us. Combining his interest and promotion of jazz as an American contribution to culture and amazing lyricism, Bernstein provided an extraordinary adaptation of the classic star-crossed lovers’ tale, Romeo and Juliet.
Now for the ‘something good’ part. As part of our service to our patrons, we try to provide popular musicals to our collection; sometimes it is a complex process, but I am happy to announce that our patrons can now sing “Tonight, tonight” from a recent addition to BARD. The vocal score with piano accompaniment of West Side Story is available at call number BRM 36377. It is in five volumes, and was a team effort and labor of love from a group of Library of Congress certified braille music transcribers.
Here is a listing of events happening at the Library of Congress to celebrate this remarkable composer and musician. And if you aren’t able to make it in person, you can certainly enjoy his considerable (say 400,000 items) collection donated to the Library.
And I can’t present a post about West Side Story without mentioning the other collaborators of this gem. Stephen Sondheim and Jerome Robbins were part of this astonishing partnership. I can’t imagine any other words sung to the melodies Bernstein wrote, and I am curious to learn how Robbins’ came up with the idea of choreography for tough-guy gang members. A few years ago I saw the revival of West Side Story as it was ‘trying out’ the show before it went to Broadway, and it seemed like a miracle.
Celebrate the genius of Bernstein all year long with this musical and some other titles available from NLS. Ironically, one item we have is his composition “I Hate Music!” available at BRM 18467 for soprano (but from a kid’s view point) and Four Anniversaries, a collection of songs for the piano dedicated to his wife and friends, BRM 23188. Commentary by Alfred Glasser on Candide, an operetta with music by Bernstein, is available at DBM 01559.
And Bernstein was known for his Young People’s Concerts and talks for newcomers of classical music. Covering a wide range of music history, the NLS Music Section has Leonard Bernstein discusses Beethoven’s fifth symphony and Eroica symphony, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, the music of Charles Ives at DBM 00705. What is Jazz? is available on BARD at DBM 00704 and Leonard Bernstein Discusses Humor in Music at DBM 00694.
It’s clear Bernstein is a favorite with the NLS Music Section; Donna Koh blogged in 2016 about him, and Gilbert Busch celebrated his birthday in our series of Amercian Composers and Musicians.
We remember and celebrate Lenny!