Bernstein on Schoenberg

I can't believe that these 5 Schoenberg posts (excerpts) from lecture 5 have generated so much response and so many hits .  I seem to have inadvertently stumbled across a very active intelligent and inquisitive musical sector of You Tube . For my channel this post is on fire ! 

My goodness. What an intelligent, articulate man Bernstein was. I'm giving a lecture on Schoenberg to my music appreciation class tomorrow, and think I'll just spend a good chunk of time showing them this......

I have to admit, I underestimated Bernstein until now. But his interpretation in the few bars he's playing of 10 show a deep understanding of that work that actually impresses me, even more than the lecture.

Bernstein could make a stroll in the park sound like an epic act.

Although film music (that is, music composed for film from roughly the mid-30s to the present) is often under-valued by musical scholars, good film music composers have embraced virtually every musical style invented as simply yet another "tool" is their musical toolbox with which to create the various expressions demanded by the films. Thus, "atonality" (within the context of film) is less of a "progression" and more of a "discovery". Bernstein correctly points out that atonality in art music can often be difficult for the listener, and yet those same listeners would have no trouble with accessibility at all when hearing the exact same music appropriately accompanying a scene in a film. Take the opening scene in JAWS, for instance. Would more "accessible" music even have had as great an impact? Subjectively speaking, probably not. Not all film music is good. (In fact, much of it is awful.) And not even all of the parts of a good film score are good. But film music is seldom appreciated for what is perhaps its greatest contribution: to provide an avenue for new and challenging concepts to be heard by the general public.

Bless you of posting these. The more the merrier.I can't tell how how they open up my ears.

I truly love atonality now that it's grown on me. I understand it very well now. The themes are really quite dark, eerie and mysterious. Beautiful as hell once you understand it.

Thank you for posting this. We are performing this quartet in November in Brookline and Salem, MA and will share with our audiences.

Listening to Bernstein play Schoenberg on piano reminds me of some of the avant garde/post-modal jazz pianists of the 1960s. Great lecture, I always enjoy what he has to say, and play.

Your ringing phone added character to the Schoenberg piece

5:10 A talented painter, but also a talented designer of furniture and architectural installations, and even an inventor of a reimagined chess game for four players. A true Renaissance man.

Excellent and very pedadogic presentation by Leonard Bernstein.

Bernstein, what a great master and teacher.  He made simple and easy to understand what is so obscure in scholarly books.

Nice! I've been on a Schoenberg kick lately, listening to his entire oeuvre in order of opus number. I'm up to Op 21. It's great listening to the evolution toward the 12 tone system!

Thanks for uploading these, they are super interesting for me as a musician and also a great showcase of how talented Bernstein was.

This man loved performing in front of his admirers the most. In addition to all his musical activities, he should also be a film actor.

This was beautiful to listen to. Bernstein makes the music speak to you.

Excellent post. This is extremely helpful for a project I have. Bernstein also happens to have one of the best speaking voices I have ever heard, lol.

thank you so much for posting this. Much appreciated.

This reminds me of when I first read Donald Mitchell's "The Language of Modern Music" a long time ago. I learned a lot from that book. Highly recommended, if you can find it.