Book contents
- Leonard Bernstein in Context
- Composers in Context
- Leonard Bernstein in Context
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Musical Examples
- Contributors
- Preface
- Part I Bernstein’s World
- Part II Conducting
- Part III Composition, Creation, and Reception
- Chapter 11 The Crisis of Faith
- Chapter 12 Popular Music
- Chapter 13 American Sound
- Chapter 14 Exotic Evocations
- Chapter 15 Opera
- Chapter 16 Women, Gender, and Sexuality
- Chapter 17 Film
- Chapter 18 Early Shows
- Chapter 19 Late Shows
- Part IV Bernstein as Musical and Cultural Ambassador
- Part V Connections
- Part VI The Legacy
- Further Reading
- Index
Chapter 11 - The Crisis of Faith
from Part III - Composition, Creation, and Reception
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 April 2024
- Leonard Bernstein in Context
- Composers in Context
- Leonard Bernstein in Context
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Musical Examples
- Contributors
- Preface
- Part I Bernstein’s World
- Part II Conducting
- Part III Composition, Creation, and Reception
- Chapter 11 The Crisis of Faith
- Chapter 12 Popular Music
- Chapter 13 American Sound
- Chapter 14 Exotic Evocations
- Chapter 15 Opera
- Chapter 16 Women, Gender, and Sexuality
- Chapter 17 Film
- Chapter 18 Early Shows
- Chapter 19 Late Shows
- Part IV Bernstein as Musical and Cultural Ambassador
- Part V Connections
- Part VI The Legacy
- Further Reading
- Index
Summary
Leonard Bernstein stated in 1977, ‘The work I have been writing all my life is about … the crisis of our century, a crisis of faith’. In the decade between 1961 and 1971, he completed just three works, all choral-orchestral: ‘Kaddish’ (Symphony No. 3), Chichester Psalms, and Mass. This chapter views these works through the lens of Bernstein’s intense concern with a crisis of faith, at once societal and personal, philosophical and musical. In its reading of the scores, it seeks a deeper understanding of the music (including for practical performance), and of Bernstein’s propositions in theological as well as musical terms – concluding that his process is not merely one of presenting crises, but also one working to revise and reinvigorate larger faith and musical structures, as we see most spectacularly in Mass’s ritual of crisis and reaffirmation.
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- Leonard Bernstein in Context , pp. 87 - 97Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024