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Leonard Bernstein ( August 25, 1918 - October 14, 1990) was an American Jewish composer and orchestra conductor. Bernstein was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts and studied at Harvard. He was highly regarded as a conductor, composer, pianist, and educator. He is probably best known to the public as long time music director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra; for conducting concerts by many of the world's leading orchestras; and for writing the music for the musical West Side Story. All told, he wrote three symphoniesA symphony is an extended piece of music for orchestra, especially one in the form of a sonata. The word "symphony" The word symphony is derived from the Greek syn (together) and phone (sounding), by way of the latin symphonia''. The term was used by the, two operaCharles Garnier's Opera, Paris, opened 1875 Opera is an art form consisting of a dramatic stage performance set to music. The drama is presented using the typical elements of theater such as scenery, costumes, and acting. However, the words of the opera,s, five musicals, and numerous other pieces. Bernstein's politics were decidedly left wing, but unlike some of his contemporaries, he was not blacklisted in the 1950sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s Years: 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 Events and trends Technology United States tests the first fusion bomb..In the late 1960Events January-February January 1 Independence of Cameroon January 9 Aswan High Dam construction begins in Egypt January 11 Chad declares its independence. January 14 Ralph Chubb, the gay poet and printer, dies at Fair Oak Cottage in Hampshire. January 23s and early 1970Events January events January 1 Construction begins on Arcosanti, by Paolo Soleri, in Mayer, Arizona, located 65, miles north of Phoenix, Arizona. January 1 Unix epoch at 00:00:00 UTC. January 12 Biafra capitulates, ending the Nigerian civil war. Januarys he expressed support for groups such as the Black Panthers and publicly opposed the Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a war fought between 1957 and 1975 on the ground in South Vietnam and bordering areas of Cambodia and Laos See Secret War) and in bombing runs ( Rolling Thunder) over North Vietnam. See also the timeline of the Vietnam War. Fighting on.
During the 1960s, he became a well-known figure in the US through his series of "Young People's Concerts" for US public television.
On Christmas Day, December 25, 1989, Bernstein conducted Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 as part of a celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The concert was broadcast live in more than twenty countries to an estimated audience of 100 million people. For the occasion, Bernstein reworded Friedrich Schiller's text of Ode to Joy, substituting the word "freedom" (Freiheit) for "joy" (Freude). "I'm sure that Beethoven would have given us his blessing", said Bernstein.
Bernstein was a highly-regarded conductor among many musicians, in particular the members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, of which he was a regular guest conductor. However, some people found his histrionic conducting style irritating and distracting; he danced and went into fits of exultation as he conducted. Bernstein's personal life was marked by anguish over the tradeoff between a conductor's glory and a composer's productivity, the criticism invited by his impassioned political activism, the conflict between his devotion to his family and his bisexuality, and bouts of depression suffered in his later years.
Bernstein married Felicia Montealegre, a Chilean, in 1951 and with her had three children. The couple separated in the mid-1970s when it was discovered that Bernstein had had several homosexual relationships. After the separation with his wife, Bernstein lived an openly gay lifestyle with his lover since 1971, Tom Cochran. He returned to his wife when she became terminally ill.
