We have Previously written on One of Leonard Bernstein's main works, The unanswered questionThe amazing conference in six parts that the multidisciplinary artist gave as part of his functions as Professor Charles Eliot Norton of Harvard. More than 11 am, Bernstein tries to explain where and where in the history of music, especially at a time when classical music had reached a sort of crisis in atonality and anti-music, but was still pre-fusion.
But, as Bernstein said “… the best way to” know “one thing is in the context of another discipline” and These six conferences Bring all kinds of contexts, in particular Chomsky's linguistic theory, phonology, semantics, etc. And he does everything with frequent trips to the piano to make a point, or bringing an entire orchestra – which Bernstein kept in his back pocket for moments like that.
Joking aside, it is always a major learned work that has a lot inside to debate. It is relevant half a century after the fact, especially when so much music seems to have stopped progressing, just recycling.
The above clip is only one of the jewels to find among the conferences, what a spectator has found so surprising that they recorded it on the television screen and published on YouTube.
In the clip, Bernstein uses the melody of “Fair Harvard“, Also known as” believe me, if all these endearing young charms “by Thomas Moore – recognizable for young people as the intro of violin to”Come on, Eileen»- as a starting point. He assumes a prehistoric hominid humming the melody, then the youngest and / or female of the tribe singing along an octave.
From this moment of musical and human evolution, Bernstein brings the fifth interval – only a few million years later – then the fourth. Then, polyphony was born from that and … Well, we don't want to spoil everything. Soon, Bernstein brings us to the circle of fifths, compressing them in the 12 tones of the ladder, then 12 keys.
Bernstein can hear the potential of chaos, however, in the possibilities of “chromatic goulash”, and thus ends with Bach, the master of “tonal control” who balanced chromatic (which uses notes outside the scale of a key) with diatonic (which does not do it). (Everything comes back to Bach, right?)
And there, the video ends, but you know where to find the rest. And finally we will leave you with This other more explosive rendering of “Fair Harvard”.
Note: a previous version of this article appeared on our site in 2018.
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Ted Mills is an independent writer on the arts that currently hosts the Funkzone podcast. You can also follow it on Twitter in @TedmillsRead his other arts to write tedmills.com and / or watch your movies here.
At Learnopoly, Finn has championed a mission to deliver unbiased, in-depth reviews of online courses that empower learners to make well-informed decisions. With over a decade of experience in financial services, he has honed his expertise in strategic partnerships and business development, cultivating both a sharp analytical perspective and a collaborative spirit. A lifelong learner, Finn’s commitment to creating a trusted guide for online education was ignited by a frustrating encounter with biased course reviews.