Findings

📖 The Scoop

This is an extraordinary book of musical and personal discoveries - the most personal and autobiographical volume Leonard Bernstein ever wrote. Bringing together Bernstein's private notes, essays, and musical writings, the book offers a brilliant and revealing portrait of the man who, more than any other, confirmed the maturity and originality of American music. Among the writings collected in this book are Bernstein's recollections of childhood, his education as a musician and as a man, and his reflections on fifty years of composing such popular successes as Candide, On the Town, and West Side Story, as well as such enduring classical triumphs as his Mass and Kaddish. The book includes Bernstein's thoughts on the art of conducting, his opinions on the role of music in the arts and in society, his perspectives on politics and culture, as well as his analysis of the roots of American music and the influence of Beethoven and Mahler on his own life and work. Richly illustrated with photographs and music scores, this book offers a rare and moving window into the personal life of one of the towering figures of twentieth-century music, a man who was at once a great conductor, a composer of extraordinary range, and deeply involved and passionate citizen of the world.

Genre: Biography & Autobiography / Music (fancy, right?)