JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

He also succeeded Igor Stravinsky as president of the English
Bach Festival. In 1989, on the occasion of the fall of the Berlin
Wall, he conducted Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with an
orchestra drawn from German musicians from both East and
West. In his latter years he had a close association with the
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
Bernstein was closely associated with Israel from 1947,
when he conducted for the first time in the country. After
the establishment of the State of Israel he was instrumental
in creating the Koussevitzky music collection at the JNUL in
Jerusalem. In 1967 after the Six-Day War, he conducted the
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra on Mount Scopus celebrating
the reunification of Jerusalem in a program including symbolic
work such as Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony. In 1978
the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra decided to devote its World
Festival entirely to the works of Bernstein to honor the 30th
anniversary of his first appearance in Israel. The Israel Philharmonic
also bestowed on him the lifetime title of Laureate
Conductor in 1988. Over the years he made periodic guest
appearances with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, both in
Israel and on its tours abroad.
Bernstein was an innovator in using television to educate
the audience. He produced programs for adults and children
where he lectured about composers (such as Beethoven and
*Mahler, whom he identified as the central figure of 20th-century
music) and their music in a fascinating way. His lecture
series started with the Omnibus program in 1954, followed
by the Young People’s Concerts with the N.Y. Philharmonic
in 1958, which extended over 14 seasons (53 concerts). These
programs, which were broadcast live and for which Bernstein
would often feverishly prepare his script all through the
previous night with the help of family and friends, became a
centerpiece of his work, part of what he described as his educational
mission. He also used the programs to introduce
young performers to the musical world, among them the 16year-old
Andre Watts.
Bernstein, one of the dominant musical personalities of
his time, soon became a celebrity. His private life came under
scrutiny and he was known for his liberal political sympathies,
supporting the Black Panthers in the 1960s. As a composerconductor,
Bernstein came closer than anyone since Mahler
to achieving equal eminence in both spheres. His reputation
as a composer began in 1943 with the ballet Fancy Free. His
musical language never abandoned tonality, although in his
later works he used serial devices (in “The Pennycandy Store
beyond the El”). Among his works are the Jeremiah Symphony,
with a vocal solo to the Hebrew text of Lamentations (1944);
The Age of Anxiety, after a poem by W.H. Auden, utilizing jazz
rhythms; Kaddish (in Hebrew), oratorio for narrator, chorus,
and orchestra, which he conducted for the first time in Tel
Aviv in 1963; Chichester Psalms (also in Hebrew), for chorus
and orchestra (1965); the ballet Dybbuk (1974); three symphonies
(1942, 1949, 1963); and the music for the film On the
Waterfront (1954). Bernstein contributed substantially to the
Broadway musical stage. He had his greatest popular triumph
Bernstein, Louis
with West Side Story (1957), an adaptation of the Romeo and
Juliet story using youthful gang rivalry in New York City as
the backdrop, which owed much of its success on both stage
and screen to his dynamic music. Other shows for which he
wrote the music were On the Town (1944), Wonderful Town
(1953), Candide (1956), and 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (1976).
His Missa Solemnis (1971), about the celebration of the Mass,
aroused wide comment. He also published books on music,
The Joy of Music (1959), The Infinite Variety of Music (1971), and
Findings / Fifty Years of Meditations on Music (1982). Among
his many honors were the Kennedy Center Honor for a lifetime
of contributions to American culture, the Academy of
the Arts Gold Medal for music, the Sonning Prize, the Siemens
Prize, the Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award, and
11 Emmy Awards. Festivals of Bernstein’s music have been
produced throughout the world, such as a Bernstein Festival
in 1986 produced by the London Symphony Orchestra
and the Beethoven/Bernstein Festival in 1989 produced by
the city of Bonn.
Bibliography: D. Ewen, Leonard Bernstein (Eng., 1960,
1967), includes bibliography; J. Briggs, Leonard Bernstein, the Man,
his Work and his World (1961); A.L. Holde, Leonard Bernstein (Ger.,
1961); J. Gruen (text) and K. Heyman (phot.), The Private World of
Leonard Bernstein (1968). Add. Bibliography: Grove online;
MGG2; M. Cone, Leonard Bernstein (1970); J.W. Weber, Leonard Bernstein
(1975), discography; J. Gottlieb, Leonard Bernstein: a Complete
Catalogue of his Works (1978); I. Nerius, L. Bernstein: Ausdruck eines
grossen Musikers (1978); P. Robinson, Bernstein (1982); P. Gradenwitz,
Leonard Bernstein (1984; Eng. trans., 1987); J. Peyser, Bernstein, a Biography
(1987); S. Chapin, L. Bernstein: Notes From a Friend (1992);
M. Secrest, L. Bernstein: A Life (1994/95).
[Nicolas Slonimsky / Israela Stein (2nd ed.)]
BERNSTEIN, LOUIS (1927–1995), U.S. Orthodox rabbi and
Zionist leader. Bernstein was born in New York City, received
his B.A. from Yeshiva University in 1947, and was ordained at
the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva
University in 1950. In 1977, he earned his Ph.D. from Yeshiva
University, which also awarded him an honorary D.D. degree
in 1994. Bernstein began his rabbinic career at the Glenwood
Jewish Center in Brooklyn (1947–50) and then served as a
chaplain in the United States Army during the Korean War
(1951–53). In 1953, he became rabbi of Young Israel of Windsor
Park in Bayside, Queens, New York, where he was to remain
until his death. Under his guidance, the congregation grew
from a small minyan meeting in a house to the most prominent
Orthodox synagogue in eastern Queens. Concurrently,
he was professor of Jewish History at Yeshiva University’s College
of Hebraic Studies, specializing in American Jewish history.
After teaching at the high school and college levels for 40
years, he was granted the title professor emeritus in 1994.
Bernstein made his mark writing with a passion that
carried him to the highest levels of leadership in the world of
modern Orthodox Judaism. As a graduate student, he was editor
of the Yeshiva University newspaper The Commentator, on
whose pages he exhorted the Orthodox community to support
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 3 481