Serenade after Plato's "Symposium"

The Serenade, after Plato's Symposium, is a composition by Leonard Bernstein for solo violin, strings and percussion. He completed the serenade in five movements on August 7, 1954.^[1] For the serenade, the composer drew inspiration from Plato's Symposium, a dialogue of related statements in praise of love, each statement made by a distinguished speaker. The seven speakers who inspired Bernstein's five movements are:^[1]

I. Phaedrus: Pausanias – marked Lento and Allegro

II. Aristophanes – marked Allegretto

III. Eryximachus, the doctor – marked Presto

IV. Agathon – marked Adagio

V. Socrates: Alcibiades – marked Molto tenuto and Allegro molto vivace

Although the Serenade is scored for violin, strings, harp and percussion (timpani and five more percussionists playing side drum, tenor drum, bass drum, triangle, suspended cymbal, xylophone, glockenspiel, chimes, Chinese blocks, tambourine), the violin is the most prominent solo instrument. The composition is about a half-hour in length.^[1]

Commissioned by the Koussevitzky Foundation, the Serenade is dedicated to "the beloved memory of Serge and Natalie Koussevitzky". The premiere was conducted by Bernstein himself on September 12, 1954, at La Fenice (Venice), with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and violinist Isaac Stern. It was also first recorded by Stern and Bernstein for Columbia Records on April 19, 1956, in New York City, with the Symphony of the Air.^[1]

References

Sources

• Bernstein Season: Serenade after Plato's Symposium , a BBC programme on the work.

External links

• Bernstein, Leonard: Serenade (after Plato's 'Symposium') (1954) 30' / for solo violin, harp, percussion, and strings Boosey & Hawkes

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Leonard Bernstein

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Opera and operetta

• Trouble in Tahiti (1951)
• Candide (1956)
• A Quiet Place (1983)

Musicals

• On the Town (1944)
  • "New York, New York"
  • "Lonely Town"
• Peter Pan (1950)
• Wonderful Town (1953)
  • "Ohio"
• West Side Story (1957)
  • "A Boy Like That"
  • "America"
  • "Cool"
  • "Gee, Officer Krupke"
  • "I Feel Pretty"
  • "Maria"
  • "One Hand, One Heart"
  • "Something's Coming"
  • "Somewhere"
  • Tonight"
  • "Tonight Quintet"
• A Party with Betty Comden and Adolph Green (1958, collaboration)
• The Race to Urga (1968)
• 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (1976)
• The Madwoman of Central Park West (1979, contribution)

Ballet

• Fancy Free (1944)
• Dybbuk (1974)

Orchestral music

• Symphony No. 1 (Jeremiah) (1942)
• Symphony No. 2 (The Age of Anxiety) (1948–49, revised 1965)
• Symphony No. 3 (Kaddish) (1963)
• Fanfare for the Inauguration of John F. Kennedy (1961)
• CBS Music (1976)
• Slava! A Political Overture (1977)
• Divertimento (1980)
• Concerto for Orchestra (1986, 1988, 1989, originally Jubilee Games)

Concertante

• Prelude, Fugue and Riffs (1948)
• Serenade after Plato's "Symposium" (1954)
• Ḥalil (1981)

Chamber music

• Piano Trio (1937)
• Clarinet Sonata (1942)
• Dance Suite (1989)

Choral

• Hashkiveinu (1945)
• Chichester Psalms (1965)
• "Olympic Hymn" (1981)
• Missa Brevis (1988)

Vocal

• Psalm 148 (art song, 1935)
• I Hate Music (song cycle, 1943)
• La Bonne Cuisine (song cycle, 1947)
• "So Pretty" (1968)
• Songfest: A Cycle of American Poems for Six Singers and Orchestra (1977)
• "My Twelve Tone Melody" (1988)

Piano music

• Non troppo presto (Music for the Dance No. 1) (1937)
• Music for the Dance No. 2 (1938)
• Sonata for the Piano (1938)
• Anniversaries (1942—1988)
  • Seven Ann. (1942–43)
  • Four Ann. (1948)
  • Five Ann. (1949–51)
  • Thirteen Ann. (1988)
• Four Sabras (ca. 1950)
• Bridal Suite (1960)
• Touches (1980)

Other compositions

• The Lark (incidental music) (1955)
• Mass (1971)
• Opening Prayer (1986)

Film adaptations

• On the Town (1949 film)
• West Side Story (1961 film)
• West Side Story (2021 film)

Books

• The Joy of Music

Related articles

• Academy for the Love of Learning
• Artful Learning
• Bernstein–Mahler cycle
• Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution
• Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts
• New York Philharmonic concert of April 6, 1962
• Pacific Music Festival
• The Unanswered Question (lecture series)
• Young People's Concerts
• Maestro (2023 film)

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