The Age of Anxiety

Our last Seattle Symphony for this season was a tribute to Leonard Bernstein. No "West Side Story" tunes-- instead we heard his compositions The Chinchester Psalms and The Age of Anxiety, based on a poem by W.H. Auden.

Above is an old photo of Leonard Bernstein at the piano, looking pretty anxious himself. He was an immensely talented teacher, bringing "classical music" to television in the 50's, and famous for his recorded young people's concerts. Bernstein was a superb pianist and conductor, but above all he wanted to be remembered as a composer. He lived from 1918 until 1990, when the chain smoking finally caught up with him.

Describing modern classical music is difficult. I like Auden's poetry, but I've never read the book length "Age of Anxiety." Both Auden and Bernstein were interested in religious and ethical themes. When Bernstein read it in 1948, he found the poem "fascinating and hair-raising." Of course, that was a fascinating and hair-raising time of history. Like the poem, his symphony is divided into six movements which blur into each other (I tried to keep track on the program notes, but couldn't.) The piano (played by Misha Dichter) represents the quest for meaning, faith and love against a wild backdrop of woodwinds, horns and percussion.

Anyway, here is a beautiful photo (borrowed from the Getty Archives) of the poet Auden on the beach in 1946. Angst and cigarettes...