Bernstein - 100 years

As a music major at Colorado State University in the late 1960s and early 1970s, I was exposed to lots of different music. I liked many things, even though I was not as serious a student as I would have liked. One thing I vividly remember was buying a recording (LP – vinyl) of the Bernstein Mass that had just been performed in 1971 for the opening of the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. I was so captivated by the recording that I sent Leonard Bernstein a personal letter thanking him for the inspiration of the piece and what it meant to me. He responded with a personal and hand-written note, expressing his appreciation for my letter.

More than fifty years later, and observing the commemoration of Leonard Bernstein’s 100^th birthday on August 25, 2018, it seems as if Lenny and I are old friends; the adulation around the world demonstrates that he was, indeed, a friend to many. We’ve had the extraordinary opportunity to be able to attend the Ravinia Summer Festival where Marin Alsop, Lenny’s last and only female conducting protégé, has curated a series of concerts celebrating Lenny. We’ve heard Marin Alsop conduct Bernstein favorites such as Copland’s Appalachian Spring, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, and Beethoven’s Symphony #9, and we’ve heard Alsop interpret Bernstein’s own Chichester Psalms, Symphony #1 (Jeremiah), and the crowning performance of The Mass. The program was carefully constructed to reflect Bernstein’s character, his commitment to innovation, and his undaunted attempts to reach his audiences.

Before the performance of The Mass a panel including Jamie Bernstein (Lenny’s oldest daughter) discussed his life and what inspired The Mass. Jamie’s book, Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing up Bernstein (2018), was available after the panel and I snapped it up as quickly as possible (with autograph). The memoir is partially about Jamie’s life journey in discovering herself as a musician and social activist. The majority of it is an inside look into the very complicated life of a genius who demonstrated deep angst in the jarring and disturbing dissonances and rhythms of his music but always soothed and reassured with the beauty of some of the most soaring melodies of the 20^th century.

Born in 1918 to a modest Jewish family in Brooklyn, Lenny married Felicia, a Chilean who came to New York to study piano with Claudio Arrau, in 1951. The marriage would last, although tested by Lenny’s tempestuous and active life until her untimely death in 1978. A considerable portion of Jamie’s memoir recounts Bernstein’s active embraces, slurpy kisses, and effusive responses to men and women alike. Jamie expresses the ambivalence she and her siblings had to the growing realization that their father, endeared and revered, was either bisexual or gay and this ambivalence became even more significant in the latter part of Bernstein’s life when this fact became more public. Life was enthralling and challenging for Felicia and their three children.

Bernstein became an instant sensation in 1946 when he stepped in at age 28 for ailing Bruno Walter to conduct the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall.  Not long after his conducting debut, Lenny was recognized for his composing talent in the Broadway hits Fancy Free, On the Town, and West Side Story. Subsequent compositions met with a mixture of praise and criticism. In an effort to reach young people with new music, Bernstein incorporated musical ideas from the Beatles, folk, soul, and other popular artists. Combining these ideas with classical notions and striving to offer accessible and memorable melodies and politically progressive ideas, Bernstein’s music was not easy for others to grasp. The political ideas Bernstein advocated landed him on J. Edgar Hoover’s list of people to be watched; the final file accumulated by the FBI would number 800 pages.

Bernstein died in 1990 and the last words out of his mouth were, “What is this?” What a fitting conclusion to a lifetime of exploring the deeper questions of human existence. I’m not sure why I connected with Bernstein’s Mass in 1971; as a 21 year old at the time, it was a kind of music for which I yearned. Jamie Bernstein’s reflection on why The Mass was criticized when premiered but is now lauded by wide audiences who are hearing it this year is that, “In the new millennium, the world has caught up to Mass. It was, in many ways, ahead of its time. The mixtures of styles, the unapologetic tonality, the urgent questioning of authority, the openhearted political outrage – all these elements freshly resonate today” (p. 137). An artist, a genius, a personality capable of ecstatic joy and desperate sadness, and a failed and yet brilliant leader – Bernstein was a gift to many and his 100^th is a wonderful time to reflect on what he gave us.

Moss Kanter - MOVE

I find myself constantly looking for hope in this era of political dysfunction and economic uncertainty. I’ve reviewed a number of books over the last year that offered the possibility of positive change, with humankind drawing together to save our planet and those who inhabit it. Rosabeth Moss Kanter’s Move: How to Rebuild and Reinvent America’s Infrastructure (2015) is specifically focused on the U.S.A. and it provides numerous resources and documentation that the U.S. can deal with its decaying infrastructure challenge. 

Moss Kanter is a respected scholar and consultant; her network allowed her to get inside the details of many issues that require attention and this book focuses specifically on mobility infrastructure – rail, air, highways, and information. She wrote, “Mobility and its patterns determine who gets educated, who can get to a job, who can take advantage of what cities have to offer, and who can make deals or relationships and with whom” (Chapter 1 – locator 502). Her proposal for mobility infrastructures - repair, renew, or reinvent each.

Moss Kanter begins her analysis by providing a picture of a shared situation – a common fate that will attract consensus for action (much like Van Jones did in Beyond the Messy Truth). She indicated that those nations presently outperforming the U.S. in infrastructure have greater faith in government and its ability to address common concerns and a willingness to allocate public money to implement solutions. One example of the cost of failing infrastructure is that the estimated wasted time and fuel caused by congestion as American’s go to the workplace is $121 billion per year. In looking for solutions, how does the U.S. compare with other countries in its infrastructure investment?  The U.S. is 2.9% of GDP, the European Union is 5% of GDP, and China is 9% of GDP investment. Digging out of the infrastructure hole cannot be achieved if the investment is not increased. This investment may need to be partially financed through taxes but much of it could be raised through PPPs (Public-Private Partnerships).

First taking a look at rail, Moss Kanter substantiated how passenger rail failed so miserably while commercial/freight rail in the U.S. is the most efficient system in the world. How did freight break out of its previous mold? By cooperating with trucking to establish interlocking coalitions where both trucking and rail could benefit. In Chicago, freight and passenger rail now cross local and regional government lines and use new technologies to achieve greater efficiency and fewer delays. The examples of innovation and improvement in rail have been mirrored in air travel, with a particular focus on using new technologies to avoid bad weather (Total Turbulence) and improve flow from airport to airport. Again, using Chicago as an example, its O’Hare Airport is in the top 20 busiest in the world, it is in close proximity to rail and interstate highways and it is “within a one-day drive of 29% of North American consumers and within a two-day drive of 42% of consumers” (Chapter 3 – locator 1756). The response of a wise Chicago business community was to agree to expansion of the airport, new runways, and a much-anticipated renovation/reinvention of the terminals, even when some airlines resisted the cost of the infrastructure improvements they would share. Auto and information mobility provide additional opportunities to identify traffic routes that are less crowded (thus saving time and fuel) and will eventually offer opportunities for autonomous vehicles that will easily slide in and out of traffic patterns and reduce accidents. Zipcar and Uber (information information technology backbones) already provide alternative transportation for the growing number of urban residents who no longer want to own and pay taxes and insurance for a car.

In reflecting on interactions with those from other countries around the world, Moss Kanter indicated that the U.S. is now seen as more focused on banking and accumulated wealth of the few rather than building for the future public good. The international community has thus turned to other countries for how to build infrastructure to support development and bring prosperity to all. By contrast, while federal and state-level politicians are mired in their partisan bickering, mayors have stepped up to support important infrastructure initiatives. Michael Bloomberg of New York City, Manny Diaz of Miami, and Rahm Emanuel of Chicago are singled out as excellent examples of leaders who push to get things done. These cities and others “are increasingly viewed as sources of innovation and quality of life” (Chapter 5 – locator 2812). But, in order for cities to thrive, improved public transit is a must. “Opportunity for access to the tools of upward social mobility – jobs, a good education, health care, affordable groceries – is activated by geographic mobility” (Chapter 5 – Locator 2912). And public transit needs to not only include subways but rapid transit buses, Divvy bicycles, and safe/pleasant pedestrian walkways.

America has two great resources that no other country can match – the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation and the leading system of higher education in the world. These systems, and the infrastructure repair, replacement, and renewal they can fuel deserve the support of the government. A particularly poignant quote related to my intellectual interests was, “Whatever else leaders do, they are educators. They must educate themselves and then educate their constituencies. And teaching leadership should be part of every field and every profession” (Preface - locator 126). I couldn’t agree more! And, U.S. citizens have a right and responsibility to require politicians to respond in a non-partisan way to America’s needs. Moss Kanter closes her last chapter with a list of required conditions in order for the U.S. to move forward and she indicated – it’s not about money but will.