Bernstein on Debussy pt 1

Bernstein delineates the architecture of misdirection as expressed in Debussey's Afternoon of a Faun . "The Last ditch effort to diatonically contain the ever increassing chromatic density of the last decade of the 19th Century". Excerpt from lecture 4 "The Delights and Dangers of Ambiguity" from the 1973 Harvard Lectures. "The Unanswered Question"

[@jean-marcknight8816]

"Cubism is around the corner" ... now that was a smart one !

[@thenlnlkn]

Jean-Marc Knight damn, didn’t even notice that What a poet

[@PianoMeSasha]

would have thought that pretty obvious. rite of spring

[@markayzenshtadt7200]

oh wow I missed that one!

[@dr.brianjudedelimaphd743]

I assume he is referring to Picasso ?

[@sizesmall1756]

the second bark at 7:52 is definitely a tritone away from the bark at 8:06, G# and D. your dog is getting this.

[@TMcD3]

sizesmall is the dog in G or D major ?

[@stevemontgomeryunheardofgu2759]

Hi. When I heard the dogs barking a tritone away, and Mr. Bernstein doing his best to keep up with them, I thought I'd share this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jF6ZpHeZbNSdeq8

[@adrianwells769]

diabolical dog

[@ferociousgumby]

And at 8:22 we begin to hear the whining. . . everybody's a critic (and a good shake at 8:38)

[@brucekuehn4031]

Imagine - there was a time when this kind of intellectualism was actually available on broadcast television. And further, most of our "sets" could only receive 3, 4 or maybe 5 channels. Where are we today in comparison? Giants walked the Earth back then.

[@sitarnut]

Man-alive.... thanks for saying that. People just don't get it--that we could, on those three channels, see in one week, Paul Desmond, Miles Davis, and Oscar Peterson - usually on The Tonight Show with Steve Allen. I miss those times so much.

[@vyleart4488]

Now intellectualism is seen as lies and danger. Back to the middle ages....

[@bluepacifica123]

Growing up in New York at the height of Bernstein's popularity, his brilliance and class permeated the arts in New York City as well as the rest of the world. I feel so lucky to have been a witness to Bernstein and to grow up surrounded by his music.

[@writeract2]

@msa 100% agree.

[@writeract2]

Bruce, this was all planned - from this high, trained rigorous level of intellect & discourse to the dumbed down trash we see & they give us today - #Elites plan - it's a bloody nightmare.

[@krrainey77]

Pianist, Conductor, Composer, Educator what a great man

[@alexandernagel5994]

As a music teacher myself I say that Bernsteins lectures are masterpieces of music teaching. Bravo.

[@nickbailey202]

I'm completely overwhelmed with his genius. His ability to so succinctly break down theory is humbling

[@nicolasvanpoucke.pianist]

We need this stuff on television today!

[@mrtriffid]

"Tritonically-alienated . . ." Leonard Bernstein, STOP IT before you make me SWOON from the sheer musicological majesty of your prose!!!!!!!!

[@josecamilo1640]

Mr. Bernstein is the epitome of a great connoisseur of his professional art... His intelligence shines, his acknowledges on linguistics, general "musical science" and his major intellectual stances are highly appreciated and virtuously shown on these series of lectures he presented.... Additionally, he was an extraordinary communicator, given with a powerfully modulated speech conveyed through a convincingly nice tone of voice. It is delightful to listen his explanations and it is easy to understand his multilingual sprinkled deposition. LB was and is one admirably gifted human being!!!! Respect and best regards for ever!!!

[@LucBoeren]

perfectly said!

[@EvanZamir]

It’s insane that he does this all in one take.

[@karlhungus5554]

What a wonderfully talented, intelligent, and eloquent man was Mr. Bernstein.

[@rishi_mahendran]

Wow! Bernstein has enlightened millions on this piece, expressing every story in beautiful words. Think: all of this came from one human soul with fierce musical, poetic inspiration! So much can we do in this life, creating purity out of reality, creating melodies of the air, joy of the sea!!

[@kutuluu]

I love Debussy, sometimes all I can think about is Debussy

[@maggiessong]

Me too! Find him in Bill Evans too,

[@christinasochor]

kutuluu Is that a Family Guy reference?

[@MultiTrace22]

kutuluu But always remember to finish on the Bach, never on Debussy.

[@aveguevara]

Debussy was a famous Rosicrucian. Who knew?

[@aanon2550]

Demann got Debussy on Demind

[@TheSteveSteele]

Debussy IS modern music. The greatest composer of our time, IMO.

[@aarontyrtania1128]

This is the most interesting about music theory I've ever seen.

[@paxwallacejazz]

+Aaron Tyrtania Check out "The Greatest 5 min in Music Education" also posted on my channel

[@aarontyrtania1128]

Yes, I've seen that one already. It is AWESOME!

[@napriaa5175]

God I love the way this man speaks, so knowledgeable, passionate, and clear to understand

[@karlhanson6119]

I am extremely impressed listening to Bernstein's thoughts. His insights about music - about chromaticism, diatonic, triads, fifths - are astounding. I intend to watch more of these, because I think I understand where he is coming from. It is unfortunate that today, because of blogs and social media, just about anyone can bather away, drowning out the opinions of true experts. Bernstein represented the pinnacle of musical thought.

[@paxwallacejazz]

Even though Bernstein wasn't a great composer necessarily; he was a brilliant musical mind, with truly original insights about the connections between structure and affective response. Well worth the effort.

[@edphaze6550]

These videos are incredibly enlightening for me. I'm a guitarist with a pretty good understanding of harmony, but the principals explained here are so inspirational for me. I will be exploring these concepts!

[@paxwallacejazz]

ed phaze Glad to hear it !

[@paxwallacejazz]

So yeah watch these lectures in their entirety they are posted numerous places try cagin and I am happy you like my excerpts !

[@paxwallacejazz]

ed phaze glad to hear it!

[@giggityhertz6347]

Thanks for sharing this. Bernstein was a genius and a treasure.

[@adaptableadventurerider]

I really wish we had stuff stuff like this on our free view tv, amazing to listen to.

[@soaringvulture]

What a genius is Bernstein. He's extremely learned and is able to bring all of his knowledge to bear on a musical piece. And he can communicate this knowledge to us. And he can play the music. He rocks. Whenever I hear Debussy, I remember how well my brother plays it. I tried to copy him but never came close. I see from Bernstein's exposition that I don't understand the music well enough to play it. I can also see that my brother does understand it. There's no substitute for talent.

[@jonnie303]

Thank you so much for posting this. Bernstein is a remarkable lecturer, making the complex comprehensible.

[@paxwallacejazz]

most welcome

[@paxwallacejazz]

Hey everyone these carefully edited briefings are posted with the hope that your interest might be piqued enough to listen to these lectures in their entirety just look to the right... however I understand that even the most ardent music lovers might not have 3 hrs to devote to broaching these elusive insights hence these video cliff notes

[@MuscleDaddyCMH]

you mean piqued..... :) And thanks SO MUCH for posting , these were so important!

[@paxwallacejazz]

MuscleDaddyCMH Thanx for watching Sir,and I stand corrected :-)

[@pmathew63]

just discovered this.. intend to spend a lot of time on these lectures when I get the time. Thanks !

[@thermalchill]

paxwallacejazz Thank you for your videos. They are very helpful!

[@eugenelefed]

and your comments in these videos are rad by the way!

[@ichaffee1]

thank you .. I love how he explains music , not just the notes and meter etc,, but the depth,, the way it makes you fell.. He was a genius!! Remember Harlends Opus.when he teaches his music class and says... " It's not just notes on a page!!"

[@Jimyblues]

In 1970 Wash DC heard a brilliant speech by Bernstein against the Vietnam war - he was not like this / he was so impassioned he was almost doubling over -with logic that flew straight to the heart

[@CARLTONMOXLEYUnknownpianist]

I love the dog sound it help me realize not to be afraid of music theory like I've been for the past 37 years and even book for being a 64-year-old musician who never got over the fear of music theory

[@aliyaahmad5840]

Lol the barks startled me. This is a gem. Reminds me of music school days. If only our theory profs had been this captivating! Thanks for sharing this ♥️

[@paxwallacejazz]

I believe in these lectures we are receiving the insights of decades of conducting the finest orchestras on Earth all the while being constantly exposed to brilliant musical minds.

[@aliyaahmad5840]

paxwallacejazz absolutely; agree with you 100% 👌🏽♥️

[@WitchesCoven-vy8cz]

@@aliyaahmad5840 Just about everything Bernstein Talk about is something that I in 42 years of listening and playing music thing I ve felt and noticed but couldn't articulate. Amazing that I could learn so much in a half hour. Fantastic. The world is going to he'll. I'm convinced. You'd never hear or watch a new show today that had one third of the insight presented here.

[@WitchesCoven-vy8cz]

@@aliyaahmad5840 "are things I've felt. That's what I meant to type.

[@WitchesCoven-vy8cz]

@@aliyaahmad5840 "

[@ChPonsard]

The tritone: "The devil in music" And then Bernstein goes to write West Side Story, where the name Maria starts with a tritone :D

[@wormswithteeth]

christophe ponsard He had already.

[@HieronymousLex]

he's not saying the tri tone is bad. he's referencing it being banned from church music historically

[@sabbastian]

Pretty much the entire musical was written around the tritone.

[@charleslyall5857]

He was a supreme communicator.

[@ThomasBond007]

@@HieronymousLex it wasn't banned from the church. check out Adam Neely's video on it. It is only called the devil in music because it was (and is) particularly hard to sing

[@jarrodnanson3573]

Ive never listened to Bernstein speak before, I'm hooked the colour of his prose fit perfecty with the ambiguity of chromaticism

[@paxwallacejazz]

very pleased to hear it :-) I spent a lot of time trying to extract the "really good stuff from each lecture "

[@brettmorris4789]

Thank you for uploading this stuff, I'm totally enthralled

[@guilhermesobrinho1329]

I am so grateful for this video being avaliable...

[@MiaFeigelsonGallery]

Thanks a million, @paxwallacejazz and thank you as well, Master Leonard Bernstein !!! Happy birthday, Claude Debussy... the one and only !!!

[@hippojuice23]

I only wish I had the full musical vocabulary to describe Mt emotional reaction to each chord change and swell or shift of motive/emotion in this piece! I've been in love with it since I was 17!

[@paxwallacejazz]

hippojuice23 music has meanings of it's own !

[@paulogazola553]

Amazing. I will look for more Bernstein's lectures...

[@michaelhayes6887]

Perfect. He explains as well as he plays for all of us, technically, historically, musically, and verbally.

[@classicalperformances8777]

Bernstein was fabulous, but in every composition class I've been they teach the exact same stuff:-)

[@thebonkersjupiter]

Thanks for posting these videos.

[@geoffm.6842]

This is a great series. Thank you for posting it!

[@paxwallacejazz]

You do know these are just short excerpts from much longer lectures delivered in 1973 . 6 lectures called "The Unanswered Question". Guess what? It's posted numerous places on You Tube. Just type it in.

[@chrisn7259]

God he was unique. No one could inform like Bernstein.

[@classicalperformances8777]

he was amazing, but this exact analysis of Debussy's Faune you can find in most composing and conducting master classes

[@justins.696]

Bernstein explains exactly why Debussy is my favorite composer in a way that I absolutely cannot.

[@MegaStrijder]

i love to hear all the lectures

[@SashaRimsky]

Love this. thank you for the upload

[@lorik.6669]

One does not have to "binge" through this, I don't. I compare this to reading a book. You don't have to read it all in one sitting. There are hours of his lectures to enjoy starting in the early 60's. Go "nuts" on KZbin! He the most engaging proponent of music "education" ever. It was and is so compelling. I'm Chris, using my wife"s phone. She passed away in June after surviving almost eleven years of brain cancer. And with zero deficits. But that's another story.

[@paxwallacejazz]

Lori K. Well hey brother perhaps you might like my 3rd stream Requiem written for my mom on my channel it's for Orchestra and Jazz piano Trio. Look up Winter Adagio in my video list on my Channel paxwallacejazz.

[@RanBlakePiano]

paxwallacejazz hope i May find

[@RanBlakePiano]

Lori K. I am so sorry

[@russkendrickmartin7257]

Wow this is great stuff!!! And oddly enough I think I'm understanding what Leonard is getting at...Can't wait to try it out to see if I'm actually following!

[@youtoo2072]

Bless You for Posting this!!! AND I bust a gut laughing with doggie's superior timing , doggie knows a Lot about music too !! My cats gather around no matter how or what I play on piano, its a salon and concert time and you should see them crawl and climb closer and closer and relax and lounge and go into trances with me.. Debussy is indeed their Rockstar too !!LL!! AND BERNSTEIN His Axeman !!LL! YAAAAaaaa!!! So I guess I was born with a singing voice Alto that lends so well to harmony but especially in E keys , ohhh …. but I still have lead music nicely at church , so hmmm.... church leaders getting scaredy-pants but Bach and his organ they were cool with , hmmm history cycles ..and makes political problems .. bleh.. lol ROCK ON!!

[@brianexplores285]

What a brilliant teacher!

[@michaelmattice4986]

Luv me some Debussy...And what a great way to learn music!:)

[@n3v3rg01ngback]

A lot of New Metal riffs use that sharp fourth. I’m reminded of “Go Away” by Godsmack. Footnote: Gerard Manly Hopkins did some strange things with meter and the accentuation of syllables in his poetry, sometimes even including accent marks over vowels that English speakers would otherwise not emphasize. He called it “instress.” Comment from Debussy: “Close, but actually I arranged those chords that way merely because it sounded cool. That’s my only test for what stays in a piece.”

[@eagleheart7637]

Thank you, M. Bernstein!

[@Adelaide522]

Thanks for uploading, I enjoyed every second of it :)

[@paxwallacejazz]

Entirely welcome ! PS also a car guy but have only owned hoopties .

[@SR-wi2hf]

This is wonderful thank you so much for posting!

[@paxwallacejazz]

Shiri Reznik Welcome

[@billdomb]

incredible lecture from an unbelievable talent

[@lanechange9932]

The tritone plays an important role in diatonic harmony. The dominant 7 chord has a root, a 3rd, a 5th, and a flatted or lowered 7th. The interval between the 3rd and the lowered 7th creates the tritone, which causes instability or tension, and needs to resolve by contrary motion to the major third in the resultant tonic chord, which causes resolution. You could get away with playing a tritone 400 years ago as long as you resolved it with contrary motion. If you played a tritone and did not resolve it, it was the dungeon for you. That same tritone can also resolve by opposite contrary motion to the minor 6th interval if that same dominant chord is in 2nd inversion. This is what happens in Bernstein's "Maria" where the first 2 notes make up a tritone, making you think it's part of an altered chord (a chord containing a note or more that don't belong to the key the composition is in.) But when it resolves, you realize the initial tritone is simply the 4th and 7th step of the major key. It sounds chromatic but it's really diatonic. Genius.

[@conservativemike3768]

It’s 2023 and we now live in an Idiocracy… how far so many can fall, and so quickly. Your dog has good taste.

[@noahmay7708]

Even Bernstein says the tritone was banned! Adam Neely you are an insightful bloke.

[@loiseaunoir1021]

How clear! The "devil interval" can be found a plenty in Bach's music too

[@Setyourhandle8080]

Absolutely mesmerizing.

[@ljdobles8104]

Gracias por el video. Buenísimo.

[@brandoncurry3864]

Thank you thank you thank you, this made my day

[@mybachhertzbaud3074]

I never tire of experiencing a piece of Debussy's.😁🎶🎹🎹🎶 Play On

[@mmedeuxchevaux]

I haven't a clue what Bernstein is talking about. Yet I'm drawn to his his passion, charisma and genius.

[@saucyjk6453]

Wow. What a Teacher. Awesome.

[@Astavolamusic]

Tritonius Maximus , obscuring tonality once again 🎭😶💯

[@FABCELLI]

I think that even a stone can understand Bernstein's lessons. What a Master! Wow!!

[@tuxguys]

The Tritone. The Devil's Interval. Lenny hits it out of the park yet again, with an equal effortlessness as he displays both his instrumental and his didactic virtuosities. (Is Part 2 of this out here, somewhere?)

[@yorkshirepianist8407]

Not only a great insight to Debussy's work, it makes me want to explore the other artforms of his time.

[@paxwallacejazz]

Dude you really want to watch this old series in it's entirety! It's posted all 6 lectures on You Tube several channels. Try channel cagin or Shawn Bay just type in the Unanswered Question by Leonard Bernstein lecture one Phonology. They're well worth your time🙋‍♂️👍☮

[@rexel666]

The octave's ratio is 2/1 The perfect-fifth's ratio is 3/2 The perfect-fourth's ratio is 4/3 The tritone's ratio is √2/1 - an irrational number!

[@Camtoonz]

Wonder if Pythagorus dealt with that last entry?!

[@KegPatcha]

A dog... there was a dog in Debussy's music!!

[@vinayseth1114]

yep- what a nonconformist! :D

[@citizenway]

Thx for posting!!!

[@levansaginashviliskidney8726]

Extremely well spoken

[@Geffers58]

The unexpected "Bach" made me jump.

[@thermalchill]

He makes so much sense !

[@johnnyquest6115]

"How do we count silence? Do we care?"

[@wormswithteeth]

John Cage: Hold my beer.

[@richardsonthony]

Thank you for these posts. gratis gratis gratis...

[@1969sdh]

what key did the dog bark in?

[@kevintang4932]

B flat. but sometimes my ears are wrong when it comes to anything other than an absolute pitch

[@patodiblasi]

Bb followed by an Ab I think. Considering it was over Bb7, it was very impressive. His Bb is a little bit out of tune though... :P

[@weeksaskew7536]

I thought it sounded more like A, Ab. Then again, this dog bark is one of the major points of contention in analysis of this Debussy piece.

[@sitarnut]

Too bad we can't have wonderful Erik Satie here with us. He could weigh the notes on his 'Phonomotrometer" or whatever he called it. If you want to live laughing, read his "Essay on Critics."

[@paxwallacejazz]

decidedly so

[@Nilguiri]

Fascinating... thanks.

[@Obaysch]

Love the bark. Sweet.

[@alexanderdelacruz9249]

I think the dog is trying to say, "hey maestro, I have a theory ". lol, love dogs by the way.

[@StephenGrew]

Yes and the structures when composing can be felt..., intuitively, like dealing with colour, you don't need to know the chemical composition of Blue or Green to use the colours in combination with, colour, line, shape etc.....

[@QHarefield]

Very interesting. Thank you.

[@west4coast77]

Thanks so much for posting these wonderful Bernstein excerpts. Not only a fabulous musician, composer and conductor - but a master communicator. The classical lectures are fascinating.... And on the flip side - I would have loved to have heard him discuss composing for musical theatre and the process of arranging fabulous scores for West Side Story, On The Town, Peter Pan..etc. "Lenny" was indeed a deep well of talent.

[@SciFiGirl007]

I would love to know what those musicians are thinking/feeling during this lecture. No doubt they understand they are sharing the stage with a genius, but I wonder if they are following along with all that he is saying. I cant imagine not being sucked into Bernstein's passion and expertise. I'm not a musician and I'm getting pulled in.

[@RichardMorrisonBaritone]

Thank goodness for KZbin

[@giotheproducer2476]

Debussy was a Master Painter, using every technique and creativity , to reach the "pleasure of sound (Le plaisir du son) " ...I feel that E natural note on that Bb7 chord like a 4# (or 11th#) introducing a Lydian sound/atmosphere, typical of the Impressionism/Belle Epoque era - if you look very closely to that chord, it's got 2 tritones, not one...(One is Bb-E , root-4#/11#- the other being Ab -D (7th- 3rd) - So -with an "atonal" quality in itself, it's got an incredible "functional/directional" power and possibilities...His choose of D (Maj 7) is great, though

[@757birdie]

hahaha the dog, seriously thank you for sharing...

[@paxwallacejazz]

Caesar good dog and you're very welcome sir

[@paxwallacejazz]

How ambiguity relates to musical expressivity ;very interesting isn't it ?

[@757birdie]

yes

[@gomezalx]

The first bark scared the crap out of me! LOL

[@nectarmusic2868]

Reminds me of the old joke about someone who was asked what he thought of Debussy's "Afternoon of a Faun". He replied that he rather liked the bit about four o'clock!

[@twangbarfly]

Hahaha - very good!

[@lilacswithtea]

"*snap* Foiled again!" Oh, how I relate to that so!

[@jdriscoll2000]

Ok I had 0 idea this guy was this smart and articulate

[@alainblanchard3086]

Un vrai régal !

[@biffdorkinton555]

I'm old enough to remember programs like this broadcast on regular TV. Today, we have Duck Dynasty.

[@charlieconlon4476]

Haydn & Beethoven also pushed at the gate, but Sebastian Bach had already explored the outside.

[@mojeimja]

Bernstein: plays tritone many times Devil: You called?

[@ryantay9642]

The tri-tone was a real stumbling point in my music theory classes in college. Why they were worried about "the Devil in Music" in 1972 seemed like a waste of time. Not only were we doing writing exercises to avoid a vertical (chordal) alignment of the tri-tone but also in linear form if you had parallel major thirds adjacent to each other. Ridiculous! I wish they had spent the time studying Debussy. This inspired lecture from Leonard Bernstein would have been much better received.

[@paxwallacejazz]

Well walking before running and all BUT;traditional classical (not jazz) theory is a quilt made of vestigial pieces of 18th and early 19th century approaches to vertical organization . Debussy himself was yawning in class . Honestly "Harmony" doesn't become exciting until you begin to truly understand they are trying to show you the entrance to the control room that contains those switches, dials and buttons that control mood and dimensionality in music . My introduction besides listening to my band director improvise at the piano was "the greatest 5 min in music education" posted on this channel (the free wheeling goulash part at the end) .

[@ryantay9642]

Lol. My dad was accidentally using my Google Account. I was about to say "I never posted this. Where did I learn all this stuff about Jazz." Lol.

[@BlackKettleRanch]

I had no idea he was so brilliant.

[@classicalperformances8777]

Bernstein was brilliant for so many reasons, but in every composition class I've been, they say the same stuff:-)

[@candy9986]

Love 💕 Lenny B. We were lucky.

[@wohololao]

Right after the dog backed Bernstein says: "Silence!" lol

[@tedricher7745]

Moments of construction- not our moment, for better and worse, of deconstruction.

[@cyalos]

The tritone is part of the harmonic series though, not in contradiction with it. For example, the scale on an overtone flute boils down to a dominant #4 scale. Although it is a bit off compared to well tempered tuning, is clearly gives a lydian (dominant) sound. As usual, the church fathers didn't look past what was inconvenient to them.

[@jimbosteen2935]

U actually played the beginning of body and soul, he gave us 6 notes!