Only One Leonard Bernstein!

If ever a word was over-used in the musical world then it has to be 'genius'. I've lost count of the number of 'Joe Average' strummers, pluckers, blowers and mike-lickers who have been tagged with this precious word over the years. I'm not going to name and shame anyone...after all, they probably have never crowned themselves with that particular epitaph...and it would probably be very unfair for me to crown anyone myself...wouldn't it?

Well, what a boring blog that would make for you all to read! OK....I could stick to the 'no surprises' genius list: Mozart (was he the greatest natural musician ever?), JS Bach (I wouldn't nominate him 'cos I'm yet to become a fan!), John Lennon (a biased choice, of course!)...in fact the only choice I could make that might possibly be unarguable would be Brian Wilson...if I had a quarter of his musical brain I know I would be a far greater musician today than I am!

In case you're wondering, (ha-ha!) the word has even been applied to me on several occasions. In the words of Victor Meldrew, "I don't believe it!" Not even for a minute! But being a recipient still instils a very nice feeling of self-worth - especially when I have it in writing from no less than John Gowans, retired General of the Salvation Army!

So...who am I going to officially crown with the genius hat tonight?

Someone whose knowledge of music, understanding of it and ability to share his own love with countless millions of others has made him a part of almost all our lives, whether we know it or not: I speak of the great, late Leonard Bernstein!

Bernstein was not only a great composer - if 'West Side Story' was all he'd ever composed it would be enough, I guess, to earn him an place in 'Composer's Heaven'. Without doubt one of the best musicals ever written WSS deserves (even in the opinion of the snobbiest critic) equal footing with any opera of the 20th Century. Tunes like 'Tonight', 'Maria' and 'Somewhere' have earned their place in public consciousness and rightly so. What has always surprised me is that music lovers have not necessarily gone out of their way to discover Bernstein's other work...'Candide', the glorious 'Chichester Psalms' and his most unusual and innovative 'Mass' come straight to mind...it just seems that the public only want to remember WSS in association with Bernstein. So be it...

Even so, composing was, ultimately, a small part of the Bernstein legacy - he was a massively respected conductor - his interpretations of Mahler's Symphonies are the be all and end all for Mahler afficionados. He was never afraid to go against the accepted 'norm' in terms of interpretation of a piece...sometimes deviating so far from that norm that he managed to alienate even his own supporters...remonding us that no-one is infallible! I remember a disastrous interpretation of Elgar's 'Nimrod' (from the Enigma Variations) on live UK TV...it was so slow I swear the next day's scheduling had already begun by the time the piece ended!

But, for me, Bernstein's ultimate genius was his ability to share music with the masses through his wonderful lectures to young people. I've seen far too few of them (so far...I do hope more surface on TV/DVD) but they are an amazing insight into both a great musician's mind and also some wonderful music - opening doors to us lesser mortals in terms of musical understanding and interpretation.

The first one I ever saw concerned his own 'magnum opus', 'West Side Story' and Leonard described how he had built so much of that entire score on just three notes....(alarm!!! Muso alert!) He described them as C, F and B (natural...but sometimes flat!). If you play one after the other you will hear the opening (whistled) motif from the score (go on...make the C short, the F very long and the B short). Next, try C, F, B, C1, B, F, C, F, B, C1, B - getting there? The overture continues with C, C1, A, F, B0....

Maria starts...yes you guessed it: F, B, C (then FBCDBCDBC). Tunes based around C, F and B flat include 'I Feel Pretty', 'America' and 'Somewhere'...but they all do follow the rule!*

And the more you listen to the wonderful music of WSS the more you will acknowledge Bernstein's genius to do all this without making the whole thing sound contrived!

So check out some Bernstein...maybe stick the VHS or DVD in and have a good watch...enjoy his genius - I just checked, you can get it on DVD new for a fiver on Amazon (or £2.03 'as new' from marketplace)...so no excuses!

And I'll be using another of Bernstein's ideas to finally answer that question 'What is Classical Music?' tomorrow...so please come back...and keep the encouraging feedback flowing. I'm enjoying this, I hope you are too!


*allowing, of course, for transposition - it is the intervals that are common rather than the actual notes, of course - a whole musical in one key would be very irksome indeed!