Leonard Bernstein, famous as both a conductor and a composer, was only twenty-six years old when his First Symphony premiered, shortly after he made national news substituting for an ailing Bruno Walter.
Performer Biography
The Arctic Philharmonic, featured on this recording, is the world's northernmost professional orchestra, based in the arctic cities of Bodø and Tromsø.
Compositional Technique
The 'Profanation' movement of Bernstein's First Symphony uses Latin-American rhythmic language, similar to Aaron Copland's El Salón México, which Bernstein greatly admired.
Compositional Technique
In 'The Age of Anxiety', Bernstein chose the piano as the single instrument to portray all four characters from Auden's poem, making it an 'autobiographical protagonist'.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Bernstein's Second Symphony, 'The Age of Anxiety', was inspired by W. H. Auden's 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning poem of the same name, and Bernstein felt a close 'personal identification' with it.
Critical Reception
Igor Stravinsky, a famous composer, disliked Bernstein's symphonies, once walking out of a 'Jeremiah' performance and asking for a recording of 'The Age of Anxiety' to be turned off.
Compositional Technique
The main theme of Bernstein's First Symphony, 'Jeremiah', is based on seven successive notes of the Amidah, a central standing prayer in Jewish services.
