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Post new topic Leonard Bernstein's brilliant explanation of harmony
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Author Topic:  Leonard Bernstein's brilliant explanation of harmony
Andy Volk


From:
Boston, MA
Post  Posted 6 May 2017 4:54 am    
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt2zubHcER4
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Charlie McDonald


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out of the blue
Post  Posted 6 May 2017 6:10 am    
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He explained things that I didn't have questions for yet and answered everything. (Just stack the fifths!)
The greatest music educator we've had here, IMO.
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Ian Rae


From:
Redditch, England
Post  Posted 8 May 2017 1:49 am    
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The thing that strikes me most about Bernstein is that despite the depth of his knowledge and his talent for lecturing, his conducting performances were way up the emotional end of the spectrum and not academic at all. He understood perfectly how the car worked but still enjoyed the thrill of driving it.

Also, as he demonstrates the progress of harmony through the decreasing intervals, when he gets to thirds he makes a very telling aside to the effect that he prefers just the fourths and fifths. So did many other 20th c. composers: Aaron Copland, Paul Hindemith in Germany, Ralph Vaughan Williams in England and Claude Debussy in France all expressed themselves that way from time to time.
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Charlie McDonald


From:
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Post  Posted 8 May 2017 5:22 am    
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It's interesting that 'Dear Harvard' hangs closely to its thirds, much like Romantic era music.
Expanding the 4ths and 5ths both ways eventually led to Steely Dan. Certainly the composers you mentioned, Jeff, expanded the art of music.
How we build on music literature was the subject of a Norton Lecture, where Bernstein was able to hold the attention of the audience for
far more than five minutes. Children always seemed engaged at his young people's concerts.

And his repertoire during these concerts is amazing, calling up and playing the right examples seemingly off the cuff.
And all of that without having to rely on his own works to illustrate. Great teacher.
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Andy Volk


From:
Boston, MA
Post  Posted 8 May 2017 11:27 am    
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And this one was really unexpected!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygn7ORgPbEE

Oh yeah, and friggin' Leonard Berstein could play boogie boogie piano off the cuff!
Whether you agree with his assessment of the Kinks or not he had an ear out beyond the rarefied halls of classical music to the popular music of his time.
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Ian Rae


From:
Redditch, England
Post  Posted 8 May 2017 1:06 pm    
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It's no surprise to me that the composer of West Side Story had an ear for popular styles. And from this side of the Pond it has always appeared that there are fewer barriers on your side. To us Brits, Americans seem better at treating music as just music without the compartments. After all, what Bernstein demonstrates is that the theory of music is the same however it's used in practice.
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