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Leonard Bernstein, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Negotiation of Jewish American Identity, 1947-1967

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Leonard Bernstein, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Negotiation of Jewish American Identity, 1947-1967 View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by KU ScholarWorks CONDUCTING CULTURE: LEONARD BERNSTEIN, THE ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA, AND THE NEGOTIATION OF JEWISH AMERICAN IDENTITY, 1947-1967 By Erica K. Argyropoulos Submitted to the graduate degree program in Musicology and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ________________________________ Paul R. Laird ________________________________ Roberta Freund Schwartz ________________________________ Scott Murphy ________________________________ Alicia Levin ________________________________ Sherrie Tucker Date Defended: 13 April 2015 ii The Dissertation Committee for Erica K. Argyropoulos certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: CONDUCTING CULTURE: LEONARD BERNSTEIN, THE ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA, AND THE NEGOTIATION OF JEWISH AMERICAN IDENTITY, 1947-1967 ________________________________ Paul R. Laird Date approved: 11 May 2015 iii Abstract Leonard Bernstein’s relationship to his Jewish identity—his determination to nourish and sustain it—was one of the single most important aspects not only of his musical career, but also of his greater character. Throughout his life, his deep concern for his own Jewishness manifested as a persistent commitment to certain organizations. One of the most prominent of these was the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, originally known as the Palestine Symphony Orchestra. This dissertation is a contribution to our knowledge of Bernstein’s work in Israel and explains the significance of his relationship to the Israel Philharmonic between the years of 1947 to 1967, chronologically exploring milestones that saw the benefit and evolution of both parties. Bernstein stood by the orchestra during Israel’s pre-statehood battles, the War of Independence, and the resultant conflicts with the United Nations; he attracted prominent musical associates to the cause, such as his mentor, Serge Koussevitzky. He helped the orchestra to raise the necessary funds for their first international tour in America, leading them in that venture. Through the years, he lobbied for a permanent home for the orchestra, and when their dream was finally realized, he traveled to Tel Aviv in 1957 to lead the dedication concert. When Israel prevailed in the Six-Day War in 1967, he proclaimed the victory from a mountaintop in dramatic fashion in the historic Mount Scopus concert on 9 July 1967. For their own part, the orchestra was there to witness Bernstein’s rise to prominence. They celebrated his early victories as a composer by performing both of his first two symphonies; in 1963, they premiered Bernstein’s third iv and final symphony, Kaddish, in Jerusalem: a deeply personal work that touched upon their mutual traumas at the hands of the Holocaust—with the composer at the podium. Although the collaboration between Bernstein and the orchestra has been the subject of great romanticism, this document demonstrates that the story of their partnership is far more complicated than it appears on the surface. Despite the difficulties of personality and circumstance that arose between the two parties, however, they remained dedicated to each other. While Bernstein’s energies were primarily directed at the advancement of his career in the United States, he retained his relationship to the Israel Philharmonic as a major priority throughout his rise to prominence and beyond. v Acknowledgements The completion of this project would never have been possible without the generous support of a number of individuals. Firstly, I would like to thank my committee members as a whole for the care and attention they have placed into reading this document and offering their individual insights. Most of all, I extend my sincerest gratitude to my adviser, Paul Laird, for the numerous hours he has spent patiently re- reading this text and discussing the concepts and details presented therein. His exhaustive knowledge of Bernstein’s personality and career has enriched my dissertation to a degree that otherwise would have been impossible, and his devoted mentoring and belief in my abilities provided me with an ongoing source of strength not only throughout this project, but even more, the whole of my doctoral career. I also wish to individually extend my thanks to Alicia Levin for offering her perspective; Roberta Schwartz for her dedicated support throughout this process; Scott Murphy for taking a considerable amount of time to assist me in my theoretical understanding of Bernstein’s Symphony No. 3, Kaddish; and Sherrie Tucker, for generously offered her expertise in American Studies and providing another valuable angle from which to consider this project. Lastly, I wish to thank each of the faculty at the University of Kansas with whom I have had the pleasure of working throughout my graduate career. Each of them has contributed to my scholarly development and inspired me in various ways to better myself both academically and personally. I also wish to extend my gratitude to Mark Horowitz at the Library of Congress for his patient and gracious assistance with my research endeavors in the Leonard vi Bernstein Collection. Likewise, I want to thank Avivit Hochstadter of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Archives for the many hours she devoted in allowing me to work within their collection. I also wish to recognize Yaacov Mishori, principal hornist of the Israel Philharmonic, for the memorable afternoon we spent together discussing Bernstein’s later work with the orchestra. Although his insights ultimately fell outside of the scope of my project, he offered an invaluable glimpse into the special relationship Bernstein shared with the orchestra and its members, both professionally and personally. Finally, I wish to thank all of my friends and family, especially my grandparents, Nicholas and Parthena; my aunt and uncle Kim and Khodr; my sisters, Miri and Angela; and most of all, my parents, John and Pamela. All of you have accompanied me with patience and love on this journey, each in your own way. More than anyone, you have made my success possible, and I am truly blessed to have had your tireless support over the years. Each of you forms an essential part of me; your souls touch everything I have written. I dedicate the pages that follow to you. vii Table of Contents Introduction 1 Literature Review 5 Chapter One: Quests for Identity 13 Leonard Bernstein: America’s Foremost “Jewish Musician” Introduction 16 “In the beginning was the note, and the note was with God”: The Roots of Identity, 1918-1947 20 The Jewish Nation and its Orchestra Precursors to Zionism: Humanism, The Enlightenment, and Beyond 62 A Movement Is Born: Theodor Herzl and the Founders of Zionism 66 Changing Tides: Balfour, the British Mandate, and the Rise of Adolf Hitler 70 From the Abyss: World War II, the Fall of an Empire, and the Birth of a Nation 72 Growing Pains: The New Israeli and the Palestine Symphony Orchestra 75 Chapter Two: The Age of Anxiety 80 Chapter Three: Rising Fortunes 162 Chapter Four: Saying Kaddish Introduction 189 From Inception to Israel: The History of Bernstein’s Kaddish 191 “Fare-thee-well”: Bernstein takes on the Serialists 197 An Unlikely Source of Inspiration: Bernstein and A Survivor From Warsaw 202 viii “While I have breath I will sing”: A Survivor of Warsaw and Kaddish 206 Acclaim and Assault: The Critical Controversy Surrounding Kaddish 225 Conclusion 231 Bibliography 241 Appendix I: Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Permissions 254 1 Introduction “…like many American Jews, he practiced Judaism lite, but inhabited it as though it were body armor. At the same time he was always tweaking the norms of Jewish conduct as if those boundaries could not contain him. Inside that enclosure he often pushed against the pillars, and at times, like the Biblical Samson, part of the structure would come crashing down.” - Jack Gottlieb, Working with Bernstein (2010) In the spring of 1951, Leonard Bernstein, not yet thirty-three years old, gave a speech at a benefit for the American Fund for Israel. His relationship with the organization was long-standing, dating back to the days when they had called themselves the American Fund for Palestine. The group had largely bankrolled the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra’s recently concluded tour of the United States—their first—an endeavor in which Bernstein had also played a critical role. With the tour and the fundraiser behind him, Bernstein slipped off to Mexico for some sun and what he hoped would be a productive compositional sabbatical. Since the beginning of his career, Bernstein had always felt a sense of obligation derived from his Judaism: not only a duty to his people and to the Bernstein name, but an indescribable need to nurture this integral part of himself. Now, as his stature continued to increase, that sense of responsibility weighed more heavily than ever upon his shoulders, as revealed in a letter he penned to his secretary Helen Coates from Cuernavaca: “I want a little rest from being a professional Jew; I would love to be, for a while at least, just a human being.”1 Bernstein, of course, could no more have turned away from his Jewishness than he could have his musical career. Other conductors, such as Bernstein’s respected 1 Leonard Bernstein to Helen Coates, 19 April 1951, Library of Congress, Leonard Bernstein Collection Online, <http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/bernstein/>, accessed 1 February 2015. Used by permission of The Leonard Bernstein Office, Inc. 2 mentor, Serge Koussevitzky, had made the early decision to convert, to distance themselves from the fold. Bernstein, conversely, famously declared in response to Koussevitzky’s suggestion that he change his name to Leonard S. Burns that he had “decided to make it as Leonard Bernstein or not at all.”2 As the first American conductor to achieve prominence on the international scene, his talents, vivacious youthfulness, and charm were ultimately of far more importance to the public than his religious and cultural affiliations.
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