Leonard Bernstein and the Twentieth Century

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Bernstein was undoubtedly one of the most—perhaps the most—versatile musicians of the twentieth century. As a composer, he not only worked within a wide variety of genres—symphony, opera, ballet, musical, and so on—but he also drew on an eclectic range of styles. Yet his career was by no limited to the compositional sphere; he was also a renowned conductor, performer, educator, political activist, and international celebrity. In this course, we will study Bernstein's life and work as a window into a number of characteristic twentieth-century concerns. This includes the tensions between high-, low-, and middlebrow culture; the impact of mass media on classical music; the transition from modernism to postmodernism; and the relationship between art and political activism. As well as getting to know the considerable secondary literature on Bernstein, students will have the opportunity to work with primary, archival materials from the Bernstein Collection at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. Course requirements will include papers and presentations.