Essay on Leonard Bernstein: A Celebrated Composer Who Brought Diversity and Peace

Leonard Bernstein is a renowned music composer remembered by his great artistic works and is considered to be among the most celebrated composers. His greatest influence was the public who enjoyed his pieces. He worked in a wide range of genres like the orchestral, ballet, opera, and musical theatre. Bernstein uses his artistic works and composition to pass on diversity issues to his supporters and advocate for peace. He had many scandals form his personal life like being a homosexual, but this did not affect his popularity, and his genres were spread all over. He had his own creative style and believed in it though some individuals were against it. Bernstein used his music genres to create social unity in his society after all the things that he had encountered. Most musical composers associate their works with the issues of diversity and the things that happen around them and in their society. Composers, performers, or educators always use their public influence to advocate for change by rallying their supporters to practice their desired values. The paper will, therefore, analyze how Bernstein's compositions were directly engaged with the issues of diversity.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Bernstein was committed to diversity, and this was seen form his works. He loved all types of music provided that it had an impact on society and helped in unifying the society. Laird outlines that in his piece On the Town, Bernstein was influenced by the potent political work hence blurring the boundary between the American music genre and opera. He, therefore, uses classical traditions and opera to reach his targets and advocate for diversity.

Bernstein outlines that his work is mainly on the struggles that he encounters and those of his people evident form his orchestra and classical works. He believed that music could promote social change for individuals and societies. He took advantage of his eminence, talent, and outgoing personality to produce classical music that was appropriate for all ages and to also advocate for social change. He would reach a large group while he was both on stage and out of the stage. Besides, Bernstein integrated his commitments to social justice with his music and also with his daily activities proving how music could influence social change. For instance, according to Laird (2018), he used his works to advocate for the abolition of nuclear and military forces by asking his supporters to wear blue armbands to portray their oppositions to the building of the nuclear arms development in their territories. The piece is in his composition entitled On the Town. He also took advantage of his arts to improve the relationship between the united stated and the Soviet Union during the world war.

In On the Town, Bernstein was always speaking for Israel and its musical culture helping in keeping an internationalist perspective even though he directed much energy to the American musical identity. He also campaigned for a variety of movements like civil rights and funding for arts programs to improve his society. He used his popularity with the public to reach these goals as he could reach many people and bring them together by his compositions. He could not get confined to one music genre or style hence disintegrating boundaries to engage in diversity issues. His response to the issues of diversity was always in a way to create peace and improve the cultural existence in society.

Bernstein became a music director of the NY Philharmonic, which gave him room to exercise racial equality. The orchestra only consisted of the whites, and he took advantage of his position to speak and write on discrimination present in classical music. In the Young People's concert, he featured and invited the African Americans in his works hence helping to break the ethical discriminations laid upon the blacks. Bernstein highlighted the lack of diversity in classical genres like discrimination against women in classical music and also the oppression and discrimination against the minority groups. TThe groups were denied equal opportunities like the dominant groups because of their diversity difference, which was an idea that he did not agree with or like. He, therefore, mobilized for social change to infuse every individual in the society to the available opportunities. As a result, he appointed African Americans to be members of the orchestral music, which outlined the changes from his struggles.

According to Reichert (2019), he was raised in a Jewish community, but he drew away from the Jewish tradition, life, and scriptures when composing his works, indicating his take on diversity. He, however, introduced some Jewish music and themes in his compositions to integrate the diverse cultures and traditions like introducing the sound of the shofar to instruct the others to rally and work together. The shofar was like the voice of God, who spoke through the prophets. Reichert (2019) adds that he used his religion to express his religion and identity from the symphony orchestra. For instance, in his piece Jeremiah, he writes on prophesy, profanation, and lamentation to arouse the emotional trauma that occurs as a result of faith and crisis.

Conclusion

As discussed in the paper, Bernstein used his artistic compositions to respond to the diversity issues that he felt were not ideally practiced in his society. He advocated for social change and maintained a commitment to racial equality evident in his art pieces. His pieces On the Town and the symphony number one: Jeremiah aided him in promoting cultural change and religious identity as expressed in music.

Bibliography

Laird, Paul. "Genre and Stylistic Expectations in the Musical Theater of Leonard Bernstein." American Music Review 48, no. 1 (2018). https://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/aca_centers_hitchcock/AMR_48-1_Laird.pdf

Reichert, Erin Hobbs. Leonard Bernstein: Model Music Educator. California State University, Long Beach, 2019. http://search.proquest.com/openview/82a78ddef520c103bc12cb4c710ad091/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y