But steeped though he was
in Judaism, Bernstein
fought a love-hate battle
with his heritage all his life.
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has ever had. Two and a half months
earlier — November 14, 1943 — he had
made an electrifying debut with the
New York Philharmonic, substituting
at the last moment for the indisposed
Bruno Walter on a Sunday afternoon
concert broadcast on nationwide radio.
Suddenly, he was the hottest conductor
around. And “Jeremiah” immediately
served notice that he was a symphonic
composer of real promise. Given a New
York premiere by the Philharmonic on
March 29, it was rapturously received by
critics and audiences and won the New
York Music Critics Circle Award for
best new orchestral work of 1943 –1944.
To complete his conquest of American
music, Bernstein premiered his brilliant
ballet Fancy Free in April at the Metropolitan Opera House and in December
unveiled the Broadway musical On the
Town (based on the ballet’s scenario),
which ran for 463 performances.
TIMB
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RE
IC
Under the baton of Artistic Director Robert Shafer,
The City Choir of Washington is A SOUND LIKE NO OTHER.
THE HOLLY AND THE IVY
music for christmas
Sunday, December 14, 2014 | 4:30 pm
National Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C.
The City Choir of Washington | The City Choir Brass Ensemble
•
Mozart
CORONATION MASS
Arvo Pärt
TE DEUM
But in the summer of 1939 when he
began work on what became “Jeremiah’s” third movement and in late
1942 when he returned to this piece
and transformed it hastily into a threemovement symphony as an entry in a
competition, he was still leading a handto-mouth existence. Hanging out in
various NYC apartments, he pressed his
friends into service copying pages as he
completed the work’s masterly scoring
in just ten days.
Bernstein described all three of his
symphonies as expressions of an ongoing musical search for faith. His father,
Sam Bernstein (to whom he dedicated
“Jeremiah”), was a Talmudic scholar,
and his grandfather and great-grandfather had been Hasidic rabbis in Russia.
But steeped though he was in Judaism,
Bernstein fought a love-hate battle with
his heritage all his life.
Sunday, March 15, 2015 | 4:30 pm
National Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C.
The City Choir of Washington | The City Choir Chamber Orchestra
•
A FRENCH CHORAL SPECTACULAR II
Sunday, May 10, 2015 | 4:30 pm
Saint Luke Catholic Church, McLean, Virginia
The City Choir of Washington
Robert Shafer, conductor | Paul Skevington, organist
Robert Shafer, Artistic Director
O r d e r Yo u r Ti c k e ts To day !
www.citychoir.org • 202-495-1613 • [email protected]
November–DEcember 2014 |
O v ertur e
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