Symphony No. 3 (Bernstein)

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Kaddish is the third symphony of Leonard Bernstein. The 1963 symphony is a dramatic work written for a narrator, a large orchestra, a full choir, a boy's choir, and a soprano soloist.

This often-neglected work is dedicated to the memory of John F. Kennedy. Though some see it as a reaction to the Holocaust, there is no documented link.

1 Structure
2 Performance of the Symphony
3 Recordings of the Symphony

[edit] Structure

[edit] I : Invocation - Kaddish 1

The text begins with a narrator addressing "My Father" (ie, God) and states that he wants to pray a kaddish. After the initial approach to the Father in prayer, a chorus sings his kaddish in Hebrew. At the end, the narrator repeats the final words of the prayer:

Amen! Amen! Did You hear that, Father?

Sh’lama raba! May abundant peace Descend on us. Amen.

The speaker then questions why he would allow such disorder in mankind's lives, suggesting that surely he must have the power to change it.

[edit] II : Din-Torah - Kaddish 2

The prayer escalates into a confrontation with the Father (who never replies in the symphony), and in a "certain respectful fury", accusing him of violating his promise with mankind. One of the more poignant texts from the symphony comes from this movement:

Are You listening, Father? You know who I am:

Your image; that stubborn reflection of You

That Man has shattered, extinguished, banished.

And now he runs free—free to play

With his new-found fire, avid for death,

Voluptuous, complete and final death.

Lord God of Hosts, I call You to account!

You let this happen, Lord of Hosts!

You with Your manna, Your pillar of fire!

You ask for faith, where is Your own?

Why have You taken away Your rainbow,

That pretty bow You tied round Your finger

To remind You never to forget Your promise?

"For lo, I do set my bow in the cloud ...

And I will look upon it, that I

May remember my everlasting covenant ..."

Your covenant! Your bargain with Man!

Tin God! Your bargain is tin!

It crumples in my hand!

And where is faith now—Yours or mine?

The speaker calms down, speaks softly and suggests that he comfort God. A wonderful soprano solo conveys a lullaby, intended to help the speaker rock God gently to sleep, after which the speaker will help God dream.

[edit] III : Scherzo - Kaddish 3 - Finale. Fugue-Tutti

The scherzo is a fast-tempo dream sequence. God has fallen asleep and the narrator paints a dream. God is no longer in control and the narrator has full power to bring God on this journey through his own imagination. The speaker begins by painting what God has made:

This is Your Kingdom of Heaven, Father,

Just as You planned it.

Every immortal cliché intact.

Lambs frisk. Wheat ripples.

Sunbeams dance. Something is wrong.

The light: flat. The air: sterile.

Do You know what is wrong?

There is nothing to dream.

Nowhere to go. Nothing to know.

The narrator then proceeds to show God that he is in control of this dream.

Now behold my Kingdom of Earth!

Real-life marvels! Genuine wonders!

Dazzling miracles! ...

Look, a Burning Bush

Look, a Fiery Wheel!

A Ram! A Rock! Shall I smite it? There!

It gushes! It gushes! And I did it!

I am creating this dream!

Now will You believe?

A burning bush and gushing rock refer to some of the miracles described in the Old Testament. The narrator next places a rainbow in the sky, in parallel to the story of Noah, when God placed a rainbow in the sky to institute a new covenant with man. In loud triumph and anger, the speaker declares:

Look at it, Father: Believe! Believe!

Look at my rainbow and say after me:

MAGNIFIED ... AND SANCTIFIED ...

BE THE GREAT NAME OF MAN!

After showing God the problems in the world, he helps God believe in the new arrangement. The music builds to an amazing climax, crowned with the entrance of a boy's choir singing the phrase "Magnified and sanctified be His great name, Amen" in Hebrew.

The pace of the music slows down, as the narrator has finished his dream. He wakes God and God then confronts the reality of the image. The narrator, satisfied that God has seen His errors, beams:

Good morning, Father. We can still be immortal,

You and I, bound by our rainbow.

That is our covenant, and to honor it

Is our honor ... not quite the covenant

We bargained for, so long ago.

The narration ends with a commitment from both sides, God and Human, to "Suffer and recreate each other."

Though there is a resolution to the struggle, the music does not end triumphant and grand. Instead, it ends in a final kaddish by the choir and the final chord is dissonant, suggesting that all is still not right and more work must be done.

[edit] Performance of the Symphony

The symphony premiered in Israel and was received with mixed reaction, mainly due to its highly religious overtones.

Since its revision in 1977, the symphony does no longer specify the gender of the narrator, and recordings featuring both male and female narrators have been made. In the second recording linked below (which is of the first version for female narrator), the narrator is cast as Bernstein's own wife, Felicia Montealegre.

Bernstein wept profusely during part of a performance of the Kaddish Symphony at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in which I participated on March 17, 1981. This strong emotion did not interfere with his conducting of the piece. Later he reported privately that he had seen, floating above the stage in front of the great organ pipes, the spirits of John and Robert Kennedy and his wife Felicia. By this time in his life, Maestro Bernstein traveled with a coterie of male followers, and kept a silver flask with him backstage and at rehearsals. He often seemed to be intoxicated (including on the night when he wept during Kaddish), but his drinking, again, didn’t get in the way of his music – though possibly others might argue otherwise.