The Leonard Bernstein Letters (77 page)

Dear Mr. Bernstein,

How friendly you have written me! It is good that you understood my decision so well. I agree perfectly with your “postponement”. That gives me an idea:

Should we not give Carnegie Hall the last lubrication before she will die? E.g. with
Kontra-Punkte
(instead of
Gruppen
31st March), and David Tudor as pianist under your direction?

Carnegie Hall would be delighted by such a last honour: she would feel like Carnegie Walhalla, and then she will never be jealous of Lincoln Hall during her long death.

In the parcel (which I sent to you) you will find a tape 7
¹
/
₂
inches/sec. with a copy of an old performance of
Kontra-Punkte
(1955) and copies of
Gruppen
performances in Köln and Donaueschingen (worse, but with corrections). You will find also a little score of
Kontra-Punkte
and a record with the electronic composition
Gesang der Jünglinge
.

A last word on your letter: you should never be sad. You are the only artist since long time ago who gave me the impression to be more than a “serious” one, who can fill a room with life, with Unbefangenheit, with Aufgeräumtheit just by his presence, just by speaking and laughing about everything. That's gold of endowment without any merit; and I wish with all my heart that nobody could ever ruin or distort your soul. We live for music – yes; but we can say as well that music exists for us. There is a secret relationship between your soul and Mozart's soul, perhaps you know it: brilliant seldom stars appearing from time to time at the sky of this earth, light and transparent like angels, making everybody happy for a little moment of this long serious history … homeless like only homeless ones can be.

I know what I say; one half of my soul is like you are, like Mozart's; but I am a strange mixture of heaven and hell.

Thanks for having met you, thanks for having heard you and seen you (during your concert I became so angry against you, that I could not stay: I listened too serious, too egoistic); but now, already soon after the concert, I discovered you in my own mind, in my own soul. I even don't think any more that something like this can be destroyed: misdeal yourselves without any limit, spread on this earth as much as possible, reserve nothing.

Yours,

Karlheinz Stockhausen

Dearest Aa,

Happy Birthday! I'm all alone, imagine, out in the desert, in a rented house (all Japonee, & ugly) & a wonderful pool, & a Baldwin, and big rocky desert hills, & sun & fine air, all alone thinking of you. How I miss seeing you, & have missed it for years; how much I was looking forward to visiting some Sundays ago, & couldn't because Felicia wasn't well; thinking about how we can splurge it up a year from now at the Philh. for your 60th; thinking about those inside wheels of me that compose music, and are so rusty now (I wrote a bar today!), and how long I can go on being an all-time maestro without writing; & thence to Mahler (I bought lots of albums of Mahler, & I've been listening & crying as I listen –
Das Lied
is still one in a million) – & thence to Bruckner (I bought some of his symphs too, having never heard #6, 8 or 9!!) & find him impossibly boring, without personality, awkward & dull, masked in solemnity.

But Mahler makes me think of you, hard, and of our music, which I don't think I really understand the direction of any more (or the purpose); & I long to talk to you & have you explain it to me, & reassure me that new music is just as exciting as it was when you showed me all about it 20 years ago.

And I long also to kiss you and wish you a very happy birthday –

Always,

Lenny

Dear Lenny,

Many thanks for sending me your book.
⁵³
I shall look forward to enjoying it on my Christmas vacation at Rambleside.
⁵⁴

Meanwhile it is gratifying to read in the inscription that my teaching and ideas about music are remembered by my most brilliant and successful student.

Thanks again and arrivederci presto.

Your friend,

Fritz Reiner

Dear L,

Have you answered Stockhausen yet?

“None of your business Lukas” – Right. I am trespassing. But since you showed me his letter,
⁵⁵
forgive my thinking about it. I just thought of the perfect answer. Allow me:

Who is that man who dares out-flatter the flatterers, who dares manipulate you as if you were vain and childish (like the great S[erge] K[oussevitzky])? He is a man who built an international reputation not on a composition but on promises and promises, on a
platform
. “I will lead music to …”. Dictators promise and dictators flatter potential enemies into temporary allies, pulling the wool over their eyes. Did not Hitler once call the Italians “Aryans among Latins”? Ludicrous flattering which made the recipient quiver with joy. “Look here, everybody, the man whom I expected to hate me, whom everyone fears, he praises me, he wants to do business with me, he sent me a gift …”

What floors me is: it works. It's so ludicrous that it works. It worked on Stravinsky and it probably works on you.

But Lenny, suppose for a moment that Mozart were reborn, and that we'd all know: it's Mozart. What kind of a letter would a composer, would Stravinsky, would Stockhausen, would I write to him? Surely not: “I who am suspended between heaven and hell found you in my soul” but simply:

“Dear W.A.M. please allow me to show you my music. I need your advice, your criticism, and I hope you'll like me and the music. Yours …”

When I admire someone I do not “bestow” praise. Genuine admiration makes one modest, humble – in fact – a beggar.

Lukas

P.S. There is no possible apology for this letter of mine. Though I speak the truth it is quite obvious that I wrote it out of jealousy.

Dear Bernstein,

Forgive my late reply to your kind message. I accept very happily your commission for 61–62, very flattered to be numbered among the ten eminent composers. Since I will be going to New York in February, we can talk about that. As I am not a man of symphonies
alla Brahms
or Shosta[kovich], we'll see what I could write, because I want to do a good job. I've just finished my
Gloria
for Boston (60–61), so you don't need to fear a choral work. That said, I thank you and embrace you, hoping to see you soon.

Francis Poulenc
⁵⁶

Dear Leonard,

The Mahler-mania in me is getting out of control and I cannot suppress an urge to sing the Second Symphony this week. I remind you, with good cause, that I am a survivor of City Center performances of the
Symphony of Psalms
and the
Airborne
[Symphony] conducted by you, Ninth Symphonys of Toscanini and Koussevitzky, Berlioz Requiem of Munch, and about one thousand ditties ranging from Ives to Byrd led by Robert Shaw when I was a Collegiate Chorale kid.

The best and worst that can be said of my voice is that it is harmless. It is white. I too am white.

I have crashed many a chorus in recent years, but this time the idea of legality pleases me. This morning I called one F. Austin Walker at Rutgers who said he would be pleased to have me – the flu and all that having decimated his mankind. If it's all right with you, it's all right with him.

I will call Helen Coates Tuesday for the news of Resurrection or Rejection.
⁵⁷
Because the programs are printed and all that sort of thing, I will not insist on special billing, advance payment or the services of a claque.

Best,

Joe Roddy

Dear Lenny,

I was so pleasantly surprised by your charming and thoughtful call that I didn't tell you how touched I was that you should want to celebrate my 50th birthday. And I am delighted that you will celebrate it along with Barber's 50th and the 150th of R[obert] S[chumann], not to mention the Dean's (A[aron] C[opland]) 60th. You set me thinking about the program and I greatly appreciate your having consulted me. Actually, of course, any work of mine that you perform would afford me great pleasure. However, since this is a special occasion, I would like very much to be represented by a work with which I feel a close identification with you and one which will be having its own birthday next season too.

It will be 20 years next season that you and I first went over my Third Symphony with Kouss. But it is not just for sentimental reasons that this would be my choice for the program. On this occasion I would love to be represented by a piece of some weight and one that has been widely accepted. If you prefer No. IV (a tape of this will be sent to you tomorrow or Wednesday), fine. My idea for the program would be as follows:

In my view the order could also be 1, 3, 2, or 3, 2, 1. This is the closest I will probably ever come to making up a Philharmonic program. But I won't be the least bit insulted if you cannot carry out my suggestion.
⁵⁸

Once again, thank you for your vote of confidence. I told Frankie that Felicia will be calling and we will look forward very much to seeing you – it has been too long.

Affectionately,

Bill

Dear Lenny,

How excited I am at the thought of you in the pit for the overture. And Carol [Lawrence] coming back next week – well I am flying.
⁶⁰

Secco Records called me yesterday. I told them to add “some additions”. Is there anything from
Peter Pan
I could do? Also what would you say if the album said “Leonard Bernstein presents Larry Kert”?
⁶¹
There would be no extra work involved for you, just your permission I guess. They want me to start on the album around the first of May. I sure hope it's a good one.

Can't wait to see you on April 27th. Nope I'm not bugging you.

Sincerely with love,

Larry K.

Dear Lensk,

Everyone's been writing me how wonderfully you did the
2nd H
[
urricane
].

Also, was sent the write-ups. Naturally I'm tickled pink. Now I hear you're recording it – so I can hear it, and maybe CB[S]-TV will screen it for me when I get back end of June. Anyho this is just to say denks and denks again. (Did you get my wire? I really
was
all agog.)

When you get this I'll be in Tokio! (care Amer. Embassy.)

Had a nice concert here with the London Symphony Orch – big house and lots of enthusiasm. The English – of all ages – tend to spoil me anyhow, so I like it here.

I imagine Lukas has given you an earful about the Russkys. (Some nice lady piano teacher at the Leningrad Cons. asked after you most warmly.) It was an experience I wouldn't have wanted to miss.

Have fun with your new house. And love to you and Felicia.

Aaron

Dear Lenny,

Thank you so much for your letter. It came almost in an ESP way, arriving after I had just had a meeting with [David] Selznick telling him that if he went to New York and enlisted you that then I would be interested in the project, otherwise not. I must have heard you writing a letter a few days before.

The opera idea about the Chassidic ghetto sounds really exciting. Sure I'd love to work on it.

Our Chino has been set for four weeks now, so unfortunately I won't be able to see Nikiforos. I'll keep him in mind if anything changes or turns up for him.

The garage idea is a good one, but true to Hollywood standards turns out to be a super garage and I seem to be spending most of my energy in pushing walls closer to each other, washing colors out of the sets, and acting like a sheep dog in trying to keep the script in a nice well directed herd aimed for the success it was in New York. I run from side to side barking warning noises about strayed lines, changed lyrics and cut choruses.
⁶²
My they're getting tired of me.

Keep well, rest well and I promise not to pluck you out of your island repose unless I know that only you can do what has to be done.

All love as always.

Jerry

Dear Lenny,

This just got to me. If this is
your
version of what happened about “Somewhere”, it's news to me. Sure, we differed on it – but nothing was played by any orchestra that you did not know of. Nor would I ever be destructive to your music – I have too much respect for your taste and talent.
⁶³
If it
is
your
version (which I doubt) you owe me an apology I think – and if it isn't, I think you ought to put it straight. I don't think, Lenny – if I
am
to be accused of fang and claw – that I ever used them on you. I fought
for
“Somewhere” – over Arthur and occasionally Steve's objections.

Maybe I'm jumping the gun, and if so, forgive me – I value our collaboration and friendship in spite of difficulties we have when working (I'm sure we both have moments of wanting to brain the other). I find it always the most stimulating and valuable of all I've ever had anywhere. Moreover I always felt from you an admiration for my musicality as I've had for your theatrical ideas – so the item came as a shock. If that bit came from Arthur or Steve – I can understand it – but I'd appreciate hearing from you, and getting me or the paper straight.

Signed – like in Dear Abby,

‘Upset’

Jerry