
My Cousin Lenny: Remembering Leonard Bernstein - tintinnabula
http://thesmartset.com/my-cousin-lenny/
======
KingMob
Story time! My grandpa was Leonard Bernstein. Not the composer Leonard
Bernstein, but another NYC Leonard Bernstein. But occasionally, there would be
mixups.

They ran into each other at a restaurant once and shared a chuckle, when the
staff paged Leonard Bernstein to come to the desk for a phone call.

The best was when my grandpa was harassed by the mother of a violin prodigy
for a few months. She kept calling him on nights and weekends. Finally he
shouted at her, "Lady, I live in the suburbs on Long Island, what makes you
think I'm the _composer_ Leonard Bernstein!?"

~~~
gosheroo
Ha! And let's not forget NYC co-resident _Elmer_ Bernstein, composer of this
particularly fine Western theme:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuAZ4WhbI8o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuAZ4WhbI8o)

------
coolandsmartrr
So pleased to find Classical Music postings on HN!

For those interested in Bernstein's views, his last interview dubbed [Dinner
With Lenny]([http://a.co/j5kOMIM](http://a.co/j5kOMIM)) is recommended.

------
mhb
_To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough
time._

\--Leonard Bernstein

------
lobster_johnson
I found this segment recently where Bernstein discusses Beethoven with the
actor Maximillian Schell while sitting at the piano. Loved the relaxed
atmosphere (they're both smoking and looking cool) and the erudite
explanations and the little quotations from pieces playing on the piano (while
he apologizes for making small mistakes).

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuYY1gV8jhU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuYY1gV8jhU)

------
moomin
For those of you that find Bernstein's later work hard to parse, I highly
recommend his first symphony, written before his own style was fully
developed. It's like an extended essay about everything he likes about Mahler.
His recordings of Mahler's work are often criticised for not being faithful to
the intent of the composer, but that's to completely miss the point: they're
deliberately and wonderfully interpretive.

I wouldn't be so sure West Side Story is going to outlast Mahler 5, though.
They might tie...

------
lochland
Interesting to read that Bernstein was a member of the Communist Party. As
someone who's studied music and been a fan of Bernstein for years, I've not
once heard this, despite having read quite a bit about his music.

His politics has been whitewashed so hard it's not funny, and it's never
mentioned when his music is discussed.

~~~
matt4077
There was a time in the US where it was more honorable to be in the Communist
party, than being a member of Congress.

------
saintjeremy
I Heart this!

Bernstein's rendition of Rhapsody in Blue introduced me classical piano.

