Leonard Bernstein's Scores to be Preserved Online by NY Philharmonic

According to a report in the New York Times, The New York Philharmonic is the recent recipient of a series of grants from the Leon Levy Foundation allocated towards putting historical archives online in a unique program.  The music institution has elected to launch this program with the scores of Leonard Bernstein, who has a long relationship with the Philharmonic as both a conductor and a composer.  

Bernstein is also the composer of the beloved Broadway hits, West Side Story, Candide and On the Town.  

As reported in the New York Times, it was a team of library historians and archivists who made the determination to begin the archiving process with Bernstein, and to cover the period between 1943 and 1970, which they have deemed the International Era. According to the Times, Bernstein was selected first not only because of "Mr. Bernstein's fame and the compelling interest in his career, but also because it was the era when the United States emerged as a world power and New York became a cultural capital. It was a time of frequent touring for the orchestra; in addition, it moved to Lincoln Center, hired its first female member and negotiated the first year-round labor contract with American orchestral musicians. The era also produced a good sampling of recorded material."

instead of being scanned, the pages will be photographed, approximately about 2,000 pages a day for aesthetic purposes. Once scanned into the program, access will be free though not all of the materials will be available online due to copyright issues. However, as they will be cataloged, researchers will know that the materials exist.

To read the full report in the New York Times, click here.

Leonard Bernstein was a conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim. He is perhaps best known for his long conducting relationship with the New York Philharmonic, which included the Young People's Concerts series, and also for his compositions, which include the musical theater works West Side Story, Candide, and On the Town. Bernstein was the first classical music conductor to make numerous television appearances, perhaps more than any other classical conductor, all between 1954 and 1989. Additionally, he had a formidable piano technique and was a highly respected composer.   In all, he wrote three symphonies, two operas, five musicals, and numerous other pieces.