Bernstein and the birds

Synopsis

In the biographical film Maestro, Leonard Bernstein’s dramatic 1943 Carnegie Hall debut conducting the New York Philharmonic, filling in at the last moment for Bruno Walter, receives a masterful cinematic treatment.

But the first time Bernstein wielded a baton in public took place on today’s date in 1939, when Lenny was still a student at Harvard and conducted his own incidental music for a student performance of the ancient Greek comedy, The Birds, by Aristophanes.

The play was performed in the original Greek, and since almost no one in the audience would understand what was being said, the production relied on visual, slapstick comedy and Bernstein’s electric music to bring the ancient text to life. Bernstein’s score referenced everything from sitar music to the blues to get the humor across. The student production was a surprise smash hit. Aaron Copland and Walter Piston were in the audience, and photos even appeared in Life magazine.

Bernstein recycled one of his bluesy songs from The Birds into his 1944 musical On the Town, but the rest of the 1939 score was never published, and only revived in 1999 for a performance by the EOS Orchestra in New York, and to date has never been recorded.

Music Played in Today's Program

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990): On the Town: Three Dance Episodes; New York Philharmonic; Leonard Bernstein, conductor; Sony 42263

On This Day

Births

• 1899 - American composer and teacher Randall Thompson, in New York

• 1933 - American composer and pianist Easley Blackwood, in Indianapolis

Premieres

• 1845 - Lortzing: opera Undine, in Magdeburg at the Stadttheater

• 1889 - Puccini: opera Edgar, in Milan at the Teatro alla Scala

• 1917 - Debussy: Sonata No. 2 for flute, viola, and harp, at a concert of the Société Musicale Indépendante in Paris, by the trio of Manouvirier (flute), Jarecki (viola), and Jamet (harp)

• 1918 - Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 (Classical), in Petrograd, by the former Court Orchestra with the composer conducting

• 1922 - Frederick Converse: Symphony No. 2, by the Boston Symphony, Pierre Monteux conducting

• 1924 - Youmans: musical No, No Nanette, in Detroit. After stops in Chicago and London, the musical opened on Broadway on Sept. 16, 1925.

• 1937 - Copland: a play-opera for high school The Second Hurricane, at the Grand Street Playhouse in New York City, with soloists from the Professional Children's School, members of the Henry Street Settlement adult chorus, and the Seward High School student chorus, with Lehman Engle conducting and Orson Welles directing the staged production. One professional adult actor, Joseph Cotton, also participated (he was paid $10).

• 1939 - Leonard Bernstein's first appearance as a conductor, leading his own incidental score to The Birds at Harvard;

• 1942 - Bernstein: Clarinet Sonata, in Boston, with clarinetist David Glazer and the composer at the piano

• 1948 - Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 6, at Royal Albert Hall in London, by the BBC Symphony, Sir Adrian Boult conducting

• 1973 - Bliss: Variations for orchestra, in London, with Leopold Stokowski conducting

• 1985 - Morton Feldman: For Philip Guston," for chamber ensemble, in New York

• 1988 - Bernstein: Missa Brevis, in Atlanta by the Atlanta Symphony Chorus conducted by Robert Shaw

Others

• 1749 - Against Handel's wishes, in advance of its official premiere scheduled for April 27, a public rehearsal of Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks at Vauxhall Gardens takes place. Reports suggest 12,000 attended, causing traffic jams on London Bridge (Gregorian date: May 2).

• 1829 - Mendelssohn, 20, arrives in London for his first visit

• 1863 - American premiere of J.S. Bach's Concerto for Two Claviers and Orchestra No. 2, at Dodworth's Hall in New York during a Mason-Thomas chamber music Soiree, with Henry C. Timm and William Mason performing on two pianos