Description
Book SynopsisBold new essays demonstrate how Leonard Bernstein influenced American culture, society, and politics through his conducting, composing, political relationships, and activism. Composer, conductor, activist, and icon of twentieth-century America, Leonard Bernstein (1918-90) had a rich association with Washington, DC. Although he never lived there, the US capital was the site of some of the most important moments in his life and work, as he engaged with the nation's struggles and triumphs. By examining Bernstein through the lens of Washington, DC, this book offers new insights into his life and music from the 1940s through the 1980s, including his role in building the city's artistic landscape, his political-diplomatic aims, his works that received premieres and other early performances in Washington, and his relationships with the nation's liberal and conservative political elites. The collection also contributes new perspectives on twentieth-century American history, government, and culture, helping to elucidate the political function of music in American democracy. The essays in Leonard Bernstein and Washington, DC, all newly written by leading authorities, situate this important American cultural figure in the seat of United States government. The result is a fresh new angle on Leonard Bernstein, American politics, and American culture in the second half of the twentieth century.
Trade ReviewThis collection of essays is cohesive, informative, and well researched, offering a unique scholarly perspective on one of America's best loved musicians. * . *
-Jennifer DeLapp-Birkett, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music * . *
Table of ContentsIntroduction - Alicia Kopfstein-Penk and Andrew H. Weaver Part One. Bernstein, Politics, and the White House Bernstein and Washington, DC: Introductory Reflections - Carol Oja Bernstein and the White House - Alicia Kopfstein-Penk Bernstein and McCarthyism - Barry Seldes The New York Philharmonic European Tour of 1959 and Bernstein as Eisenhower's American Cultural Ambassador - Sarah Elaine Neill Part Two. Bernstein's Works in the Nation's Capital West Side Stories: Washington, DC - Elizabeth A. Wells Bernstein's Politics of Style: Listening for "Radical Chic" in Mass - Katherine Baber "Screaming Gets You Nowhere": Bernstein's Mass and the Politics of Peace - Robert C. Lagueux 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue: Bernstein and Alan Jay Lerner's Musical History of the White House - Elissa Harbert Songfest: Bernstein's Monument to American Diversity - Paul Laird Political Expression and American Identity in Bernstein's 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Songfest, and Slava! A Political Overture - Lars Helgert A Quiet Place in a Not-So-Quiet Nation: Gender, Sexuality, and Family in Bernstein's "American Opera" - Mari Yoshihara Selected Bibliography List of Contributors Index
