Lenonard Bernstein :: essays research papers

Leonard Bernstein was born in Lawrence, just north of Boston, on Sunday, August 25, 1918. Bernstein was named Louis at birth, after his m different&8217s grandfather, but at the age of sixteen he had it formally changed to Leonard, or Lenny.As a child, Bernstein was sick in truth often with asthma and hay fever. Perhaps due to these and many early(a) medical conditions, Bernstein preferred to be alone. He didn&8217t care to drop off much time with his family or even with his peers. Most likely because of this self-isolation, Bernstein&8217s passion for music developed at a young age. At the age of ten, Leonard&8217s family received a piano from an aunt who no longer needed it. She knew of Leonard&8217s love for music, but I mistrust she knew what a great impact this gift would have, not only on Leonard, but also on the world of music. After the young son began to show an interest in the instrument, a neighbor offered to give him lessons, which lasted for slightly a year. After t hat year, Bernstein was no longer satisfied with his teacher, so he went out to find another one. He was referred to a teacher by the name of Miss Susan Williams and despite his father&8217s protest, this teaching relationship with Miss Williams lasted for two years.When Bernstein decided that he needed a more(prenominal) professional teacher, he went under the education of Helen Coates, who would later become a life long friend and secretary. After four years of on the job(p) under Helen, he was accepted as a student of Heinrid Gebhard, who was the crush piano teacher in Boston.At the age of seventeen, Bernstein was accepted at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was interested in many other things other than music. For example, philosophy and history were both subjects of great importance to him. After graduating from Harvard seed laude in 1939, Leonard spent a year in New York City. He met many influential people throughout the course of this year, including Aa ron Copland.Aaron Copland is regarded as cosmos Bernstein&8217s composing mentor. In fact, Copland was probably the most important deflect on All-American music at this time. Bernstein and Copland had many similarities that may have enabled them to make water the very strong bond between them. They both came from Russian/Jewish families both men were raised in urban areas both became problematical in left wing politics and both were homosexual.