Ned Rorem / Symphony No. 3 (Bernstein)

[@patrickmichaud9076]

Magnifique symphonie. Superbe interprétation de Leonard Bernstein. Wonderful Symphony like Leonard Bernstein performance

[@Twentythousandlps]

Bernstein said in prepared remarks at this concert: "the Third Symphony of Ned Rorem is a frankly romantic work, appealing, tender, lyrical; and spiced with jazz elements in its 2nd and final movements. Actually Rorem is best known for his songs; he is a marvelous composer for the voice; his lyricism is true and deep inside him; and it shows up in his longer works as well. Perhaps we could call this a song-symphony, with a few dance movements for relief. Listen particularly hard to the two short movements in the middle, one after the other; they are the key to the whole work."

[@alexkije]

Very well said!

[@JohnPennello]

The third and forth movements are super beautiful! Such delicate sensitivity.

[@jimstokes6742]

I like the first and the last.

[@pavelbezukhov]

This has been a favorite work of mine since I was a child. I'm so glad to finally get to hear the Bernstein recording. Thank you so much for posting this lesser known gem.

[@billyoumans1784]

Sorry to hear of Ned’s passing. I knew him a little. Rip.

[@jimstokes6742]

I like the painting, too. Thanks for the explanation of the score.

[@jacklaw7932]

This give me bittersweet memories of New York City.

[@vladislovkyzinski3430]

WOW! Am revisiting this delightful symphony. There are so many diverse motifs in this bittersweet sounding work. I hear music quite like Leonard Bernstein used in West Side Story around 7:04. Show biz motifs. Snatches of 1950s TV show underscore. It is tragic that music like this is not more widely played. But Thank God for KZbin. But no thanks to the rather snide remarks of the queens. God may forgive the evil in their hearts.

[@Obaysch]

Vladislov Kyzinski snide remarks from queens are quite apropos with Rorem, who has specialized in that. Love this master dearly anyway.

[@alexkije]

It's the music. Don't knock the composer, per se.

[@7karlheinz]

I love Bernstein, but Abravenel’s recording on Turnabout (conducting the Utah Symphony Orchestra) is still my favorite version of this symphony.

[@jimstokes6742]

I like the 1st and the last movements. And I very much like the painting Summer Night by George Bellows.

[@vladislovkyzinski3430]

Sounds like music for a gritty NYC b&w movie of the 50s. The bell at about :45 sounds like the bell to start fight in a ring.

[@vladislovkyzinski3430]

8:12 sounds like "Another opening, another show" quote. :)

[@Glinkaism1]

+Vladislov Kyzinski Indeed! Very astute.

[@Glinkaism1]

+Roger Wilco By golly, I think you may be right, Vlad.

[@jacklaw7932]

+Vladislov Kyzinski My gosh, yes!!! Like music for a 1950s film.

[@jacklaw7932]

I hear a West Side Story motif here. Most likely coincidence or inadvertent use of Rorem's theme by Bernstein. Danged if I know or anyone else does. The beginnings of WSS go waaaay back to 1947. Fascinating how the storyine evolved! But listen to the last movement of Sym #3 here, and you'll hear the Jet's theme from WSS. But then Rorem also has what sounds like the opening phrase to Another Opening, Another Show, too.

[@jerryhagen5926]

Most likely synchronicity. Birds of a feather. After all, Ned and Lenny were both homosexual, which I don't hold against them.

[@jdoggtn7]

Check out the prelude to the first act of Blitzstein's Regina. Bernstein plagiarized it note for note to make "Maria" in West Side Story. Of course he and Blitzstein had a "thing" going at one time.

[@alexkije]

@@jerryhagen5926 hahah. They held each other. Everybody needs somebody, sometime. I'll take a redhead, brunette, or blond lass or lady.

[@vladislovkyzinski3430]

AHA! This is LIVE. In the recording, there's is an added "cha-cha-cha" phrase at the very end! And the first movement is more uptempo!

[@jerryhagen5926]

Tis live and lively.

[@sergejtikhonov4962]

The opening theme is "O Fortuna" reminiscence. Isn't it?.. R.I.P., mesmerizing Ned Rorem !

[@fgldnglbs]

@Jack Law: Can't be. West Side Story opened in 1956, while this was written in 1958. Bernstein and Rorem apparently took a few dabs from the same palette.

[@Glinkaism1]

+fgldnglbs Aha! :)

[@davidking663]

And they both loved Aaron Copland!

[@alexkije]

Hey! There ya go. However, I bet Ned took several years to compose this.

[@alexkije]

AHA! Starting at 7:00. It wounds like "Something's Coming" from West Side Story. Parts of this symphony would to well a s underscore to tough movie set in NYC.

[@giovannismartini479]

The Largo reminds me the rautavaarian strings writing, even though it was two or three decades before !

[@heterosectional]

What's the painting? I have a recording of this on cassette that I taped off the radio years ago. It starts at the crescendo at about 0:29. I thought that's how it started. And have got so used to it I rather like it upcut like that. :)

[@kicsiobi]

The painting is George Wesley Bellows: Summer Night, Riverside Drive (1909)

[@alexkije]

@@kicsiobi Ah, I see it. Thanks for the whole title. It is utterly grand from a much better time. So intricate and for-real!

[@marcelolasta6636]

Muuuuy buena!!

[@Twentythousandlps]

By 1958 most of the younger composers had a more chromatic, dissonant style, and Rorem himself went in that direction later.(Try his Piano Concerto no. 3, for example.) But a conductor today would be more apt to choose this for an audience to hear. Far more "relatable".

[@jacklaw7932]

VIVA NED ROREM. Another good Ameri/Norsky composer.

[@Glinkaism1]

+Jack Law WH00PY ludefiske!

[@yowzephyr]

Alas I am allergic to mono. I think it's a headphones thing. If I had speakers maybe it wouldn't bother me so much.

[@alexkije]

Get used to it, snowflake.

[@written12]

Great music and the perfect conductor for it. The nasty exchange between the painfully snobby, on the one hand, and the gay bashes, on the other, was quite unexpected and sickening. Oh, and there was some Latino bashing as well.

[@MrInterestingthings]

My dear , that's because ring fights and 50's movies are all you 've ever been exposed to .Try expanding your horizons and you'll get more pleasured references when you listen to music . Ned Rorem is one of the greatest living American Masters .Of course you don't know how to listen so just be quiet . Why are the ignorant always making pronouncements in public ?

[@ivanmanuellarcodegregori4481]

My English is not so well, but I'm agree with you, Ignorance is audacious and insolent, that is the case of Mr. Vladislov Kyzinski. Ned Rorem is so high that he can't see and listen this marvelous music.

[@ivanmanuellarcodegregori4481]

+Roger Wilco ¿A qué le temes Roger Wilco (si ese es tu nombre) a tu homosexualidad o a tu ignorancia? What are you afraid of Roger Wilco (If that is your name) to your homosexuality or your ignorance?

[@RichardASalisbury1]

". . . where would should be spelled 'you've' That just for starters." Huh? Your grammar, syntax, etc. are worse than his, and your comments even snarkier and more juvenile. Grow up and just enjoy the music.

[@heterosectional]

@@jimstokes6742 no shit. does a bear defecate in the woods? hahaha

[@carloscuadrosoriundocarlos6523]

@@heterosectional What are you afraid of Roger Regor (If that is your name) to your homosexuality or your ignorance?

[@williametheridge1764]

No. Tries too hard