The Joy of Music

by Leonard Bernstein

This classic work is perhaps Bernstein's finest collection of conversations on the meaning and wonder of music. This book is a must for all music fans who wish to experience music more fully and deeply through one of the most inspired, and inspiring, music intellects of our time. Employing the creative device of "Imaginary Conversations" in the first section of his book, Bernstein illuminates the importance of the symphony in America, the greatness of Beethoven, and the art of composing. The book also includes a photo section and a third section with the transcripts from his televised Omnibus music series, including "Beethoven's Fifth Symphony," "The World of Jazz," "Introduction to Modern Music," and "What Makes Opera Grand."

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Art, Biography, History, Classical Music, Reference

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1959

About the author

Leonard Bernstein was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was the first conductor born and educated in the United States of America to receive world-wide acclaim. He is perhaps best known for his long conducting relationship with the New York Philharmonic, which included the acclaimed Young People's Concerts series, and his compositions including West Side Story, Candide, and On the Town. He is known to baby boomers primarily as the first classical music conductor to make many television appearances, all between 1954 and 1989. Additionally he had a formidable piano technique and was a highly respected composer. He is one of the most influential figures in the history of American classical music, championing the works of American composers and inspiring the careers of a generation of American musicians.

Reviews

[Lobstergirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bernstein can be hippieish and outdated at times ("now, isn't that as hot a lick as you could wish for?"), and the audience for several of these "imaginary conversations" and TV talks either isn't precisely me, or doesn't exist anymore (for instance when Bernstein assumes that everyone listening will know some basic tune that everyone knew in the 50s, and no one has known for 20 years because we don't teach music in the public schools anymore). But he's indisputably an engaging, gifted, energetic, genre-crossing, telegenic presence.

The meat of the book is transcripts of seven Omnibus television programs Bernstein recorded, hosted by Alistair Cooke. The transcripts include bits of musical scores, but the book doesn't come with a CD or DVD. Fortunately someone has very nicely posted all of these programs to Youtube and they make for interesting and informative watching either after you've finished the book, or in place of it. (There are some small differences between the book transcripts and the TV programs, such as substituted pieces of music here and there.) A 4-DVD set of the programs was also produced in 2010, ISBN 141723265X.

Omnibus Bernstein: Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (33:37)
Bernstein, at the piano both talking and playing, and conducting The Symphony of the Air behind him, uses Beethoven's discarded sketches from the Fifth Symphony to show why the final versions Beethoven decided on were the best.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ6G2Z...

Omnibus Bernstein: The World of Jazz (45:43)
"Can you do the mambo? I cahn't."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSmwT_...

Omnibus Bernstein: The Art of Conducting (48:49)
You have to love the beginning of this, where Bernstein conducts The Symphony of the Air in Brahms's First, then after a few bars walks away. "See? They don't need me. They do perfectly well by themselves. So why is a conductor necessary?" I've often asked myself that, so this was extremely instructive. This segment is absolutely worth watching. Bernstein can be seen eyeing the lines of his script, which he has open on the piano next to his orchestral score, reading from both at the same time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD6akI...

Omnibus Bernstein: American Musical Comedy
Yucky! I loathe musical comedy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwUqST...

Omnibus Bernstein: Introduction to Modern Music (49:19)
"Why do so many of you hate [modern music]? Let's find out. Maybe after you know what it is that you hate, you may hate it less, or at least hate it more intelligently." I love this one. It ends with Bernstein conducting the Presto of the Ravel Piano Concerto in G major, from the piano.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVCFCn...

Omnibus Bernstein: The Music of Johann Sebastian Bach (1:05:23)
This is a treat. It opens with a rehearsal of the Magnificat, Bernstein conducting, so you get to hear the nuts and bolts of what he wants done. Undertones, overtones, violin bowing, "Bach forte," crescendos and dimuendos. "Let's modify the dynamics so we can hear these two poor little flutes play." After lots of examples of Bach from the piano, he concludes with snippets and explanations of the Saint Matthew Passion, with full chorus.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fukTsx...

Omnibus Bernstein: What Makes Opera Grand? (1:17:20)
"This Omnibus will please the addicts," Alistair Cooke intones. "But we should still like to make a special appeal to the people who think of opera as the mother-in-law of the arts." Bernstein spent most of his time on a scene from La bohème, trying to show us what makes opera great. (Hint: it's the music.) I haven't learned to enjoy Italian opera yet and not even Bernstein could convince me. The telecast concludes with the final scene from Tristan und Isolde, which was more congenial.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70xW0I...

[Jojo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book! Even if you have no background in music (ESPECIALLY if you don't) the way Leonard Bernstein discusses music in various forms will give you a deeper understanding and greater appreciation of the medium. I admittedly can't read music very well (even with singing lessons and three years of trombone), but I still "read" the music that appears throughout and was able to at least understand the movement and flow of the pieces he discusses. I also plan to watch the clips of the "Omnibus" scripts so I can understand what he says even better.

His lessons are broken down into entertaining essays, a short and sweet personal story about the experience of scoring the famous film "On the Waterfront," photos, and seven scripts from the late 1950s series, "Omnibus." Each section builds on the ones before and enlightens you through examples you may have previously brushed aside as banal and old-fashioned.

I now have playlists created for and peppered with all the musical examples Bernstein cites and a reinvigorated love of what makes music so special: that mere mortals can sculpt sound and touch our souls at their core, and it all begins with some dots and bars.

[May Ling · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful piece on Bernstein's thoughts on music. I thoroughly enjoyed the written pieces. For those that don't play an instrument, just use youtube to help you along with the music piece.

I found it amazing that so many of the thoughts that he had about the composers are identical to what my impressions are. It was re-assuring to know that I'm on the right track. Of course, Bernstein articulates better than I ever could.

I adore his comments on Bach. I don't love Beethoven like he does, but I definitely have a new appreciation that I would not have had before.

Fabulous fabulous!!

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

i remember the first time i read this, especially the first imaginary conversation he has with himself (over Beethoven). i felt like someone punched me in the gut. in a very, very good way. i just knew *exactly* what he was talking about. one of my favorite books of all time.

[Iris · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was written for the non-musician, but musicians of all ages and experiences would benefit from a read, too. LB taps into diff classical areas -- jazz, modern music, bach, opera (just to name a few) -- in a way only a conductor can, maybe in a way only LB can. i got my mind blown during his overtones discussion. does every other musician know this? --> that overtones gave us the notes to build the common chord and the pentatonic scale? whaaaaat. music is amazing.

[E L K Y · Rating 5 out of 5]

Undeniably a genius. As a former student of music, I enjoyed this book thoroughly. The thing about not just the literary body of work but also Leonard Bernstein's performances and lectures, all of it, is deeply educational if you love music and especially if you love it on a technical level. But his appeal reaches towards anyone, because you can feel the man lived and breathed music.

The Joy of Music is a journey through emotional expression that hides behind composing, performing and conducting, and if you do study music and especially instruments, I would say is a must-read. But if you are a general reader with little to no knowledge about music theory, this book still provides something profound for you as a listener - I will leave this quote as an example:

"You see, music is something terribly special. It doesn't have to pass through the censor of the brain before it can reach the heart; it goes directly to the heart. An F-sharp doesn't have to be considered in the mind; it's a direct hit, and, therefore, all the more powerful." (page 289).

[Micah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The way he talked reminded me so much of my friends lol. Just pointless debates for fun

The “Imaginary Conversation” in the beginning is just him roasting his poet friend on a roadtrip together when he pretentiously used Beethoven in a comparison for verbal fluff like “These hills are pure Beethoven”- even though the guy knows nothing about him.

Leonard just proceeds to basically tear Beethoven apart, troll the poet friend about the bs comparison , and his friend is basically like, “OKAY I get it. My idol is being crushed before my eyes, you happy? I mean man, do you even like him?? You sound like you hate him at this point!”

Leonard: “Well yeah he’s one of my all time favorites. He’s a genius.”

Friend: smh


So good

[Nat B · Rating 3 out of 5]

In theory, super cool, but some parts were pretty boring tbh. I really liked the conversation between L.B. and L.P.!

[Kelly Sedinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This, along with THE INFINITE VARIETY OF MUSIC, is essential to my library. Bernstein was the Carl Sagan of music: a popularizer and gifted writer, in addition to his skills as a composer, conductor, and performer. I've read this book many times; this was the most recent re-read.

[JOANNA · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5*
Gillade några av hans tankar, dock lite udda att basera halva boken på TV-manuskript och försöka förklara på ett (aningen) bristande sätt hur det ska se ut och låta.

[Gillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book but it felt very informative and almost instructive and I wished it was a little more of a story

[Tim Drummond · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very accessible look into the world of classical music. Leonard Bernstein, one of America's greatest conductors, composers, and music educators, helps us to see why he loves Bach, opera, and Beethoven, and why we should care. The majority of the book is a series of transcripts from his 1950's era TV show "Omnibus," complete with score excerpts for those who can read music (it doesn't really take away all that much if you can't though). There are a lot of books about why certain music is so great, but many of them are either full of warm and fuzzy crap, useless facts, or only accesible to musicians. This is not one of those. Read it.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this gem at Thrift Town, and ended up reading it in one sitting (including time at the piano)! I learned so much from it. I wish I could have seen these TV programs when they came out. Bernstein would have had a fabulous blog, if he'd had time to blog.

[Nandha Kishore]

Instead of calling it a collection of essays or imaginary conversations, I would like to term this a compilation of thoughts from Bernstein.

Bernstein at the very beginning quashes my notion of understanding classical music or the way in which I've usually sought to understand classical music. He argues that only purely musical meanings are worth pursuing and that's what he intends to do in the book. The way he systematically talks about Beethoven's music and confirms his numero uno status as a composer stands a testament to that. He very cleverly differentiates between the symphonic form of composing and composing for an opera. In fact, he keeps drawing distinctions like that all along the book - a composer who became a songwriter and a songwriter who became a composer when talking about him and Gershwin, the Apollonian and the Dionysian ways of conducting between Mendelssohn and Wagner, the difference between a music comedy and an opera, it just keeps going.

His analysis of the American music scene, the way American music is evolving in what he calls the American singspiel period and America's wait for their Mozart and those parts were slightly unrelatable for me as I was way much more used to listening to concertos more than operas. But, it proved to be a nice introduction. I quite liked the way he spoke about the musical comedy and it satisfying people's expectations by being a mixture of all things. I could draw parallels with Tamil writer Jeyamohan talking about Tamil commercial cinema which he calls a mixture of arts. He establishes jazz as an equally important form of classical music and talks about the race relations that outline jazz music and how improvisation forms a major part of it.

He also slightly expands into the relationship between natural language and music, which I feel he delves more into in his Unanswered Question lecture series. The modern music part where he talks of John cage's atonality was rather new to me. I am used to his 4'33" and Stauckhausen's Helicopter Symphony, but I got to learn of Imaginary Landscape No. 4 and the idea behind it. The Bach part, most of it was slightly familiar to me, so there weren't many surprises there. I also loved the way he used some phrases -"democratic anarchy, the inexplicable ability to know what the next note has to be". Bernstein, the writer, came through there for me.

Overall, the book might be slightly difficult for a novice WCM listener to pick up as he talks at length about musical ideas that need a bit of introduction. It is not a good introductory book, but a great one for slightly intermediate listeners who would love to explore more of classical music.

[earlgray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely wonderful treasure of a read that brought an ocean of joy to my life!

The passion, the masses, fantasias, fugues, preludes, cantatas, staccatos, sonatas, toccatas, variations, concertos, passacaglias, ah! Music is a kaleidoscope of fun, it is a doorway to new possibility.

BACH!, that colossal syllable which makes composers tremble and brings musicians to their knees,—he truly opened my mind a new and brilliant way. I cannot believe this man was so in love with numbers and and the PURPOSE of them, and was so religious about them too—the STORIES that his music held and presented, ah! I tremble. The romanticism, the majesty of his “Passion of Matthew” piece is sooo ugh!! Redemptive?? It reflects the anguish of worldly pain and villainous betrayal where Bach will magnify the scenes of Judas betraying his Master and best friend with a kiss, the disciples falling asleep on Jesus at the garden or Gethsemane MOMENTS before his crucifixion, you just FEEL it all in the music! It electrifies your brain!!?1!!That’s what music does.

I am deeply inspired by how Bach was able to do it all, turn “all that glorious stuff to order, meeting deadlines, carrying out so many simultaneous activities, playing the organ, directing choir, teaching school, instructing his army of children (10 children), attending board meetings, keeping an eye out for better jobs. Bach was a man, after all, not a god, but he was a man of God”, and “this is the spine of Bach’s work: simple faith.”

I originally picked up to book (as I am falling back in love with the piano) and to stimulate something in my poetry writing as I will be taking another workshop soon and here I am rambling like a madman! Don’t even get me started on the tornado-esque beauty, glory, and majesty of Beethoven’s Fur Elise III Mvt.!…… hahaha

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. I grew up with Leonard Bernstein presenting the Young People's Concerts and hoped to get some of the same feeling.
Unfortunately, this didn't work as a book. Most of it was scripts of a show that he did on television in the 1950's. These had lots of examples which are printed as portions of the musical scores. Without the ability to hear the music in my head from reading the notes, I can't follow the explanation. One of the scripts was about what a conductor does and how the conductor's interpretation of the music changes the orchestra's sound. It had three examples of how the same piece was performed with different conductors. But the printed copy was the same music each time. I understood the concept, but not because of what I was reading. The last essay, about grand opera, had a large section where the spoken-word version of a libretto was compared with the sung version. Again, I understood what he was trying to convey, but without hearing it this was just "Leonard Bernstein says this is more powerful and more emotional", not that I experienced the emotions he expected from the audience.

There were also places where this felt very dated. (It was written in the 1950s.) In the section about the conductor's role he described it as one man leading one hundred men. Not "one hundred players" or "one hundred musicians". Men.

Another review on Goodreads says that the TV episodes are now on You Tube. So maybe I'll watch/listen to them and get a better feeling than I did from reading this.

[Tomé Barrios · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book that introduces the reader to important topics so classical music can be more compreensible.

I loved the chapter on Bach and about opera, Bernstein gave really good examples which I totally agree at. And, although this chapters are based on his telecast from the late 50's, it has some freshness in it.
Additionally the exchange with the Broadway Producer and Bernstein, in the beginning, are very interesting to read.

Some quotes that I found interesting:
"If we are to try to "explain" music, we must explain the music, not the whole array of appreciators' extramusical notion which have grown like parasites around it"

"And finding it [musical discussions] is impossible without the conviction that the public is not a great beast, but an intelligent organism, more often than not longing for insight and knowledge."

"In this first reading, he [the conductor] must form his own opinion of the cultural and stylistic position of the work. Here a whole other kind of knowledge comes into play: a knowledge of Brahms's period; the atmosphere of his life and of his country; the goals he set himself in his work; the influence of other composers and artists on him - in short, all the cultural background that surronds his work."

[Anson Cassel Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

More than fifty years after reading this book for the first time (and almost sixty years after watching Bernstein’s Omnibus lectures on commercial TV), I reread my old paperback copy of this work with its Smyth-sewn binding. Much of the first section, “Imaginary Conversations,” now seemed dated, perhaps because Bernstein was trying too hard to write in what passed for 1950s casual style. Nevertheless, there’s still much of value here for the thoughtful reader.

The seven Omnibus television scripts, which compose about half the book, have an even greater staying power. (Oddly, though the programs were directed at musical novices, a considerable number of pages are given over to musical scores, which presumably novices can’t read—though these days they might be able to follow along while watching the old program recordings on DVD). Rereading these scripts, I found myself recalling sentences I had read (or perhaps even heard on TV) fifty years before, even humming music I hadn’t physically listened to for some time. The experience proved to be a pleasurable walk down memory lane with an immensely gifted preceptor.

[Avery Anarchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The popularity of Leonard Bernstein has skyrocketed since the premiere of the Maestro film. When I found The Joy of Music at a used book store, I had to grab it. To be quite brutally honest, I was disappointed by this book. There were some really great moments, don’t get me wrong. Some insight and history in this book was very meaningful to me. Specifically the chapter on musical theatre, and the history of how American musical theater evolved was really cool. But I couldn’t help but feel that a majority of these chapters were not meant to be in book form. These were screenplays- scripts of the TV programs that Bernstein did during the 1950s.. having them written out with long musical examples, it just doesn’t make sense as a reader. If one were to read this book while watching the TV program, it might make more sense, but then, what’s the point of having it written down in the book? Musical examples perhaps? It could be nice.
The About the Author section at the end does mention that Bernstein never had time to write a book during his busy life. True, so I guess this is the best he could do, a collection of TV scripts and brief writings. *shrug*

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book offers stellar insights into Bernstein's attitudes about music, conducting, and composition (especially how he prefers a slight musical idea fully developed to a transcendent standalone tune, the difference between enjoying Mozart and Gershwin while kowtowing to Beethoven and Kern). Over half of this book consists of the scripts to seven of his televised Omnibus music programs, programs of music pedagogy about jazz, Bach, opera, rhythm, and other aspects of music worth appreciating. All these are fine on the page, but because they are so rich with musical examples, they are perhaps better enjoyed wherever you might see them in their original form.

I have provided links to those I could find.

[Vlad Pîrvu · Rating 4 out of 5]

”We bumble. We imitate scientific method in our attempts to explain magic phenomena by fact, forces, mass, energy. But we simply can’t explain human reaction to these phenomena. Science can explain thunderstorms, but can it explain the fear with which people react to them? And even if it can, somehow, how does science explain the sense of glory we feel in a thunderstorm, break down this sense of glory into its parts? Three parts electrical stimulation, one part aural excitement, one part visual excitement, four parts identification-feelings with the beyond, two parts adoration of almighty forces — an impossible cocktail.

But some people have explained the glory of a thunderstorm, and such people are called poets. Only artists can explain magic; only art can substitute for nature. By the same token, only art can substitute for art. And so the only way one can really say anything about music is to write music.”

[Padraig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a collection of essays, adapted mostly from TV performances Bernstein did in the 1950s and 60s. The problem with it in book-form is that, when it comes to the musical examples, you need to be a pretty good reader of music to interpret them (on the TV show, he just played them). I have some basic music-reading skills, but the score sections in the book were above my level, and I ended up skipping them.

It's a pity, because he does have some interesting things to say, and you can pick up a certain amount of this from the text. But there's a theme he comes back to many times in the book, that words are a poor substitute for music, and unfortunately this is the downfall of the book, for the common-reader at least.

[Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I research more about Leonard Bernstein while reading this review, and watched the making of west side story (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjxWK...). Bernstein is an interesting and talented man, and his book deepens my understanding of music.

Classical music
Bernstein discussed Beethoven and Chopin in depth in his book. Following these two great composers, Bernstein talks about music forms.

Ultimately one must simply ply accept the loving fact that people enjoy listening to organized sound (certain organized sounds, anyway); that this enjoyment can take the form of all kinds of responses from animal excitement to spiritual exaltation; and that people who can organize sounds so as to evoke the most exalted responses are commonly called geniuses.

Science can "explain" thunderstorms, but can it "explain" the fear with which people react to them? And even if it can, in psychology's admittedly unsatisfactory terminology, how does science explain the sense of glory we feel in a thunderstorm, break down this sense of glory into its parts?
But this is all mere dust- nothing compared to the magic ingredient sought by them all: the inexplicable ability to know what the next note has to be.

Form is only an empty word, a shell, without this gift of inevitability; a composer can write a string of perfectly molded sonata-allegro movements, with every rule obeyed, and still suffer from bad form. Beethoven broke all the rules, and turned out pieces of breath-taking rightness. Rightness- that's the word! When you get the feeling that whatever ever note succeeds the last is the only possible note that can rightly happen at that instant, in that context, then chances are you're listening to Beethoven. Melodies, fugues, rhythms- leave them to the Chaikovskys and Hindemiths and Ravels. Our boy has the real goods, the stuff from Heaven, the power to make you feel at the finish: Something is right in the world. There is something thing that checks throughout, that follows its own law consistently: something we can trust, that will never let us down.

If it could be told in words, then why would Chopin have found it necessary to tell it through notes in the first place? Of course, I could try to articulate the musical meaning of a prelude in words, but what a bore it would be!

Perhaps our differences arise from the fact that the musician hears so much more in the music that he finds it totally unnecessary to bring associations into the picture at all. You and I, in our artistic disguises, do, as you say, come from opposite posite sides of the tracks, and can approach each other, meeting, so to speak, at the tracks themselves.

Jazz Music
Whatever ever jazz is, it's our own folk music, naive, sophisticated, and exciting. ing. And out of it has been born something we call the musical comedy.

Real core of all jazz: improvisation. Remember, I said that jazz was a player's art rather than a composer's. Well, this is the key to the whole problem. It is the player who, by improvising, makes jazz.

Now we come to the most exciting part of jazz, for me at any rate: simultaneous improvising. This happens when two or more musicians improvise on the same tune at the same time. Neither one knows exactly what the other is going to do; but they listen to each other, and pick up phrases from each other, and sort of talk together. What ties them together is the chords, the harmony, of "Sweet Sue."

Musical composition
Composing is a very different thing from writing tunes, after all. I find that the themes, or tunes, or whatever you want to call them, in the Rhapsody sody are terrific- inspired, God-given. At least four of them, which is a lot for a twelve-minute piece. They are perfectly harmonized, ideally proportioned, songful, clear, rich, moving. The rhythms are always right. The "quality" is always there, just as it is in his best show tunes. But you can't just put four tunes together, God-given given though they may be, and call them a composition. Composition position means a putting together, yes, but a putting together of elements so that they add up to an organic whole. Compono, componere-

The whole picture is what counts; and the composer must see it not as a composer poser but as a man of the theater. Then the gratifications are many: he sees how the score has helped to blend atmospheres, to provide continuity, or to add a dimension by telling an inner story not overtly articulated in the dialogue or, the action.

Actually there are two struggles that every composer has. One is to find the right notes for themes; the other is to find the right notes to follow themes, to justify these themes as symphonic themes.

The real function of form is to take us on a varied and complicated half-hour journey of continuous symphonic progress. To do this, the composer must have his inner road map.

Musical improvisation
What does improvising mean? It means that you take a tune, keep it in mind with its harmony and all, and then, as they used to say, just "go to town," or make it up as you go along.

First, of course, is the difference in intention. A variety show aims to please, and nothing more; an opera, on the other hand, has an artistic intention, which is to enrich and ennoble the audience by inducing lofty emotions in them. Then there is a difference of kind: a variety show is a packaged collection of songs and dances, skits and sketches, acrobatic turns, dog acts, and what not, put together with no unifying thread other than variety itself; whereas an opera has a story to tell- a plot- and aims to further this plot through the use of music.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bernstein deserves to be an icon of American music for his compositions, for his interpretations of the works of other composers and for his efforts to educate people about music. I have watched many of his TV specials. This book, which contains scripts from some of them, does an excellent job explaining many musical topics. The writing is for the layman, though it helps if the reader can read music. I especially enjoyed the chapters on jazz, writing a musical song and on Beethoven’s fifth Symphony, but they’re all great.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must admit that this book has helped me a lot. Especially considering the fact that I have fulfilled some of my knowledge gaps caused by getting bored of studying music in music college. To be honest, I f*cked up most of lections being a freshman/sophomore because I wasn't sure about my desires, my goals etc. and simply I was a fool misled by my own wrong statements and rejections but now I'm sort of rehabilitating and revising my own state of mind.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, at least I read the parts that were in words. The musical notation, not so much. For a more up-to-date discourse on classical music (and also some jazz) read Haruki Murakami's conversation with Seiji Ozawa.
Absolutely on Music: Conversations with Seiji Ozawa

[Mary Rice · Rating 4 out of 5]

“That is really the crowning delight of opera: that in the very same moment we can experience conflicting passions, contrasting moods, and separate events. And because only the gods have ever been able to perceive more than one thing at a time, we are, for this short period, raised to the level of the gods.”

[Mary Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish this entire book was a collection of essays like the first half! I enjoyed the first half so much. The second half is just a transcript of his Omnibus lectures. Including that as the second half of the book seemed pretty low effort.

First half of book: 5 stars. Second half of book: 3 stars. Average: 4 stars.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

I so wish we had a contemporary who was communicating about music the way Bernstein did. This book includes scripts from his telecasts, which I need to find if they're online somewhere. Really enjoyed it.

[Ellen Goldfinch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. To get the most out of it, you can watch the Omnibus series on Youtube. Episode 7 on opera was only available on Vimeo. Watching it with the book in hand will teach you a great deal and enhance your enjoyment of classical music.