Bernstein ... shows an interest in progressive music only for the sake of publicity or scandal - he doesn't like it - what he likes is American versions of Prokofiev and Shostakovich.
Elliott Carter, letter to Goffredo Petrassi, 11 May 1959*
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* Elliott Carter: A Centennial Portrait in Letters and Documents, F. Meyer and A. C. Shreffler (eds), Paul Sacher Foundation, The Boydell Press, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2008.
1 comment:
In the first episode of his tv show "C'è musica e musica" (which means "there are different kinds of music") Luciano Berio talked with Bernstein about serialism: Bernstein said that he had used it in many compositions, but later realized that it was only to express "boredom, distress, despair", and he simply could not live in that frame of mind… (I translate from the Italian translation, so his exact words may be different). Berio was amused. Great musician, anyway…
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