A Concert Review about Leonard Bernstein's Jazz

Leonard Bernstein was born in 1918 and spent the best part of his life as a composer and conductor of concert music, particularly jazz music. The spirit and ethos of jazz music were infused in all his work. His love for jazz was due to its ability to facilitate the expression of various aspects or issues in life (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2018. Through jazz music, Leonard Bernstein felt that he could express multiple elements in life such as love, hate, the power of God and matters relating to his country among other aspects. Subsequently, Leonardo believed that jazz, unlike other genres, it was uninhibited in its expression and had a sense of humour. Leonard, in his music career, had much input in the immersion of young musicians into creating music content in the jazz genre and also transcribing solos for publication purposes. Among his renown work is Almighty Father, Big stuff, and Happy Blues.

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At the age of ten years, Leonard Bernstein had already begun playing the piano after which he joined music schools to study music, conducting, and orchestrating. Subsequently, he made his debut in conducting career at the age of twenty-five years after conducting New York Philharmonic. Also, Leonard Bernstein rose to become a famous music writer, pianist, and conductor born, raised, and educated in the United States. Some critics state that Leonard Bernstein was famous worldwide and among the most talented and successful first composers and conductors in American history. At the age of thirty-six years, Leonard began offering television lectures about music composition and performance (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2018). Throughout his life, until he died in the year 1990, Leonard achieved much success as an American musician.

Leonard's Almighty Father suffices to be one of his best works in his career which represented his diversity and talent as a composer in utilizing a wide range of themes. In writing the Almighty Father, Leonard portrayed a skilful utilization of biblical themes to express the almighty power of GOD. The composition of the work was in jazz genre as he was conversant and popular for authoring music in the genre. The work had a sense of inhibited expression whereby other performers had the chance to alter its presentation during live or concert performance. Mostly, his mastery and skillfulness in the composition of the music content made it flexible to have other musicians, bands and choirs to perform his work even in the present day (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2018). Therefore, the success in the writing of the Almighty Father explains why Leonard Bernstein was able to become one of the first successful composers and conductors in American history.

The Big Stuffs peaks about emotions and feelings which people need to express to get comfort and solace. Leonard crafted the music to facilitate support and comfort to the people who may be experiencing sorrow and hard times in their life. The music relates to issues that human go through on a daily basis. The preference for jazz in the creation of music was due to its ability to facilitate inhibited expression and enable the musician to communicate his message effectively (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2018). The Big Stuff explains that there is hope for the people going through a hard time in their life. The music portrays love for the other people who and hope to find solace in the future. The composition of the work was done in a manner that would allow other musicians to perform the content in concerts and shows.

The Happy Blues is an expression of a happy mood. The composition of the song was made in a manner that people could rely upon to express their emotions and feelings about specific situations and other people in life. Through the combination of various musical instruments and the lyrics, the music enables the audience to feel the hype by a particular moment or occasion. Also, the music is uplifting and consequently changes a person's mood even if they are going through sorrow in life. The music provides hope of having promising moments in the future despite the situations that one may be going through. In composing the music, Leonard was careful to address the feelings of most people in society (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2018). In writing his music contents, he carefully and skillfully utilized various aspects of life such as happiness.

The content creation or music writing requires a musician to have the skill set to analyze various themes in life to create music with a message. An essential aspect of music writing is the ability to connect with the audience. Achieving success as a musician requires that one connects with the audience in a whole new level that other musicians cannot. Subsequently, achieving worldwide acceptance requires a musician to have the capability to create content that connects with the universe rather than a selected group of people. The success of Leonard Bernstein in his career as a musician, pianist, conductor, and a composer can be attached to his skilful utilization of diverse aspects and issues in life in the authorship of his (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2018).

Reference

Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2018). Leonard Bernstein | American composer and conductor. In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leonard-Bernstein