The Joy of Music
Encyclopedia
The Joy of Music is Leonard Bernstein
's first book, originally published in 1959 by Simon and Schuster. A highly acclaimed, bestselling work, it is still in print today.
In the book, Bernstein completely abandons the traditional academic style of books on classical music. Some of the chapters are cast in the style of conversations about music between Bernstein and several imaginary people. (One of these conversations contains Bernstein's thoughts on Gershwin
's Porgy and Bess
, a work he never conducted or recorded.) Other chapters of the book are made up of complete transcribed scripts of Bernstein's television music lectures of the 1950s, taken from the TV show Omnibus. They include his famous dissection of the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven
's Fifth Symphony. But the published scripts rely heavily on printed musical illustrations, http://books.google.com/books?id=TKRLstZDYLMC&pg=PP1&dq=The+Joy+of+Music#v=onepage&q=Beethoven%27s%20Fifth%20Symphony&f=false so readers unable to read music were once unable to appreciate them fully. However, all of Bernstein's Omnibus lectures have recently been released on DVD, so now readers of The Joy of Music are now able to hear the musical examples they may have been unable to read. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002OVB9Z8 The program on jazz was also recorded on an LP and has been released on CD. The Beethoven's Fifth lecture has also been released on CD, but in an unfortunate format featuring the lecture playng almost simultaneously in different languages, recorded on one channel each, making it impossible to listen to each channel without hearing "feedback" from the other one. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000027O9
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
's first book, originally published in 1959 by Simon and Schuster. A highly acclaimed, bestselling work, it is still in print today.
In the book, Bernstein completely abandons the traditional academic style of books on classical music. Some of the chapters are cast in the style of conversations about music between Bernstein and several imaginary people. (One of these conversations contains Bernstein's thoughts on Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
's Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess is an opera, first performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It was based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy and subsequent play of the same title, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward...
, a work he never conducted or recorded.) Other chapters of the book are made up of complete transcribed scripts of Bernstein's television music lectures of the 1950s, taken from the TV show Omnibus. They include his famous dissection of the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's Fifth Symphony. But the published scripts rely heavily on printed musical illustrations, http://books.google.com/books?id=TKRLstZDYLMC&pg=PP1&dq=The+Joy+of+Music#v=onepage&q=Beethoven%27s%20Fifth%20Symphony&f=false so readers unable to read music were once unable to appreciate them fully. However, all of Bernstein's Omnibus lectures have recently been released on DVD, so now readers of The Joy of Music are now able to hear the musical examples they may have been unable to read. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002OVB9Z8 The program on jazz was also recorded on an LP and has been released on CD. The Beethoven's Fifth lecture has also been released on CD, but in an unfortunate format featuring the lecture playng almost simultaneously in different languages, recorded on one channel each, making it impossible to listen to each channel without hearing "feedback" from the other one. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000027O9