DISSERTATION ABSTRACT

Ann Glazer Niren
The Influence of Solomon Braslavsky and Congregation Mishkan Tefila on Leonard Bernstein
(research director: Ron Pen)

Aaron Copland once remarked, “The truly Jewish composer need not worry about his Jewishness—it will be evident in the work.”  This statement could easily be applied to his friend and junior colleague, Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990).  Although he composed much secular music, a large percentage of Bernstein’s oeuvre, such as his first symphony (“Jeremiah”), reflects his Jewish upbringing.  In recent years, many scholars have focused on Jewish aspects of Leonard Bernstein’s compositions, but very few of them have considered how and where these aspects originated.

This dissertation will examine how Bernstein’s Boston synagogue, Mishkan Tefila, and its music director and organist, Solomon Braslavsky, came to be important early influences.  One chapter will investigate the musical practices of Mishkan Tefila against the backdrop of American synagogue tradition in the twentieth century.  Another will focus on the life of Braslavsky, heretofore mostly neglected.  Other chapters will compare Braslavsky pieces, such as Birchas Kohanim and Un’saneh Tokef, to Psalm 148 (1935), Hashkiveinu (1945), and Chichester Psalms (1965) by Bernstein; all but the latter are generally unknown.  A later chapter will illustrate Braslavsky’s continued impact on Bernstein as an adult. An important component of this dissertation will be interviews with those who knew Braslavsky, Bernstein, or both.  This study will therefore indicate how Bernstein’s early Jewish life was manifested in his music.

10/06/2009