The next song, 'Little Smary', is a bedtime story that the composer, as a child, often heard from his mother, Jennie Bernstein. The music alternates between the bright, cheerful tone of the mother telling a tale of 'lost and found' and the deep emotions of the listening child. In 1977, Bernstein described Chichester Psalms: “the most accessible, B-flat major-ish tonal piece I’ve ever written.” Three Movements, Six Psalms: Words of Peace and Reconciliation

Almost immediately following its publication, Chichester Psalms also became one of the most obvious works to which choruses turn whenever they seek to include a substantial piece of contemporary “Jewish”—viz., Judaically related—music on concert programs. Raise a shout for the Lord, all the earth; worship the Lord in gladness; come into His presence with shouts of joy. It consists of eight movements, with more and less traditional titles from ‘Waltz’ and ‘Mazurka’ to ‘Turkey Trot’ and ‘Sphinxes’. Bernstein based the music around the notes B and C, for ‘Boston’ and ‘Centennial’. With two film adaptations and many successful stage runs, West Side Story is Bernstein’s best-known work by far. A collaboration with lyricist Stephen Sondheim and director-choreographer Jerome Robbins, it’s considered by many to be one of the greatest musicals of all time.Only goodness and steadfast love shall pursue me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for many long years. The last movement opens with a dissonant orchestral Prelude recalling both the opening of the work and the Psalm 23 tune, then settles into a setting of Psalm 131 ('Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty...') marked peacefully flowing. This is in a steady 10/4 rhythm (which is really pairs of 5/4) and is as richly melodic as any Broadway number. This segues into the final section, the first verse of Psalm 133, 'Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity,' sung by unaccompanied choir. There is a final pianissimo 'Amen'. a b Fishbein, Joshua Henry (2014). "Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms / An Analysis and Companion Piece". escholarship.org . Retrieved October 15, 2018.

Chichester Psalms is tuneful, tonal and contemporary, featuring modal melodies and unusual meters. Through its use of motivic repetition, there is the sense of a hallowed rite. From the time of its sold-out world premiere at Philharmonic Hall on July 15, 1965 conducted by the composer himself, it was apparent that Bernstein had created a magically unique blend of Biblical Hebrew verse and Christian choral tradition; a musical depiction of the composer’s hope for brotherhood and peace. Each of the three movements contains the full text of one Psalm and an extract from another, but the relationship between the two texts, both in their meaning and in their musical treatment, is different each time. The work opens with an exhortation to praise the Lord: the mood is triumphal and authoritative, like a proclamation. This is the trigger for the main part of the movement, an ebulliently dancing (and in places jazzy) scherzo-like setting of Psalm 100, where the array of percussion is much to the fore in “making a joyful noise.”

Pages in category "Psalms"

Bernstein made his own selection from the psalms, and decided to retain the original Hebrew for an ecumenical message, focused on the "brotherhood of Man". [5] Introduction [ edit ] Susan Lewis: Why The Unusual Chichester Psalms is Quintessential Leonard Bernstein wrti.org May 25, 2018 The final movement—which is also the longest—begins with a passionate and elegiac introduction for the strings. This leads into a warm, assuaging setting of Psalm 131, to a long and intensely memorable melody in 10/4 time, which is first cousin to the love-songs of Bernstein’s stage shows. Finally the chorus, unaccompanied, intones a verse from Psalm 133 as a vision of peace before the closing Amen. This year, to celebrate Leonard Bernstein's centenary, the Chichester Psalms will once again be performed in the Cathedral on Saturday 24th November. This performance promises to be a major highlight of the year's celebrations.