Leonard Bernstein's Piano Music: A Comparative Study of Selected Works
type: CreativeWork
description: Much of Leonard Bernstein’s piano music is incorporated in his orchestral and theatrical works. The comparison and understanding of how the piano works relate to the orchestral manifestations validates the independence of the piano works, provides new insights into Bernstein’s compositional process, and presents several significant issues of notation and interpretation that can influence the performance practice of both musical versions. The chronological and historical significance of his piano music has been sometimes inaccurately recorded and/or generalized. In understanding the factual chronological, social, and political relationships behind the piano works and their orchestral manifestations, I argue that the piano works, both unpublished and published, are significantly influential to the development of American music and New York aesthetics in the twentieth century. This research also explores why several unpublished completed piano works held in the Library of Congress have been withheld.
abstract: Much of Leonard Bernstein’s piano music is incorporated in his orchestral and theatrical works. The comparison and understanding of how the piano works relate to the orchestral manifestations validates the independence of the piano works, provides new insights into Bernstein’s compositional process, and presents several significant issues of notation and interpretation that can influence the performance practice of both musical versions. The chronological and historical significance of his piano music has been sometimes inaccurately recorded and/or generalized. In understanding the factual chronological, social, and political relationships behind the piano works and their orchestral manifestations, I argue that the piano works, both unpublished and published, are significantly influential to the development of American music and New York aesthetics in the twentieth century. This research also explores why several unpublished completed piano works held in the Library of Congress have been withheld.
author: Osterkamp, Leann
keywords: American Studies, Music, Musicology, Music Performance, Other Music, Orchestral, recycling, New York in the 1900s, American music
date published: 2018-05-01T07:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T02:00:35Z
provider: City University of New York - Graduate Center
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York