Two Rare Chamber Works by Bernstein and Copland

Most listeners in the United Kingdom will associate the name Leonard Bernstein with West Side Story, the overture, Candide, the film score On the Waterfront or the musical, On the Town. Enthusiasts may think of his Chichester Psalms or the Missa Brevis. I guess fewer people will be advocates of his three symphonies, the Serenade (after Plato’s Symposium) or the incidental music to Peter Pan. On the other hand, no one can ignore his achievements as a conductor, an educator, an author, and a television personality.  

Bernstein wrote precious little chamber music. Examples include the early Piano Trio (1937), the Violin Sonata (1940) and the Clarinet Sonata (1942).

In 1936, whilst still a student at Harvard University, he completed his Music for String Quartet. The Allegro vivace, first movement (at least) was played through at rehearsal by members of the New England Quartet. Afterwards, Bernstein asked one of the violinists, Stanley Benson, if he would like to keep the manuscript score. It was preserved in the family music cabinet and was occasionally played during ‘at-homes’ but was then largely forgotten about. When it surfaced again, it was edited by Garth Edwin Sunderland. Around the same time, Sunderland located what seemed to be a second movement of this quartet in the Library of Congress. The liner notes explain that musicologists are certain that both movements are part of the same work: there are thematic references to the opening Allegro vivace in the concluding Andante (tempo di sarabande). Stylistically, the Quartet is eclectic. Echoes of Bartók, Stravinsky and Hindemith, as well as George Gershwin may be detected. I found this an approachable and satisfying chamber composition. Whether it will successfully enter the repertoire remains to be seen.

The coupling on this CD is with the rare Elegies for violin and viola by Aaron Copland, written when he was living in Mexico. It received its premiere in New York on 2 April 1933.  The work was withdrawn shortly after the performance. However, the composer mined it for the fourth movement, Subjective, of his orchestral Statements (1932-35). According to Copland scholar Howard Pollack, it is “virtually a note-for-note transcription.” The liner notes explain that the conclusion of Elegies is “the basis of the last portion of the third movement of Copland’s…Symphony No.3.”

This chamber piece is lugubrious and introverted with much interplay between contrapuntal and harmonic textures.  There is nothing that foreshadows Copland’s populist “American” works. If anything, this music nods more to Berg and Bartók than jazz or the “vernacular.” That said, it is interesting and rewarding.

The performance by the assembled Quartet is outstanding. It provides an illuminating account of these roughly contemporaneous pieces by two of America’s most significant composers. The liner notes give a detailed overview of Leonard Bernstein, and succinct programme notes. It should be noted that this is a short duration CD, lasting for18 minutes. It is what in the good old days we would have called an EP (extended play).

Listeners should approach this CD aware of the fact that neither work is in the “received” style of each composer. That said, both are important and deserve to be in the repertoire to allow a greater understanding of each man.

Track Listing
Leonard Bernstein (1918-90)
Music for String Quartet (1936)
Aaron Copland (1900-90)
Elegies for violin and viola (1932)
Lucia Lin (violin), Natalie Rose Kress (violin), Danny Kim (viola), Ronald Feldman (cello)
rec. 6 February 2023, Shalin Liu Performance Center, Rockport Massachusetts.
Navona Records NV6557

With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review was first published.