Symphony No. 2 (Bernstein)

Leonard Bernstein's Symphony No. 2 The Age of Anxiety was composed from 1948 to 1949 in the US and Israel. It is titled after W. H. Auden's poem of the same name. It was dedicated to Serge Koussevitzky. The symphony was revised in 1965.

Instrumentation

The symphony is scored for piano and orchestra. The orchestra is composed of 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, 4 percussionists, celesta doubling pianino, 2 harps, and the standard string section. The percussionists play an extensive array of instruments: snare drum, bass drum, tenor drum, tam-tam, cymbal, temple blocks, triangle, glockenspiel, and xylophone.

Movements

The symphony is two parts, One and Two, each of them comprising 3 sections A, B and C.

Part One

• a) The Prologue: Lento moderato
• b) The Seven Ages: Variations 1 - 7
  1. Variation 1 L'istesso tempo
  2. Variation 2 Poco più mosso
  3. Variation 3 Largamente, ma mosso
  4. Variation 4 Più mosso
  5. Variation 5 Agitato
  6. Variation 6 Poco meno mosso
  7. Variation 7 L'istesso tempo
• c) The Seven Stages: Variations 8 - 14
  1. Variation 8 Molto moderato, ma movendo
  2. Variation 9 Più mosso (Tempo di Valse)
  3. Variation 10 Più mosso
  4. Variation 11 L'istesso tempo
  5. Variation 12 Poco più vivace
  6. Variation 13 L'istesso tempo
  7. Variation 14 Poco più vivace

Part Two

• a) The Dirge: Largo
• b) The Masque: Extremely Fast
• c) The Epilogue: Adagio; Andante; Con moto

Premiere

The work was premiered on April 8, 1949, with Serge Koussevitzky conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the composer at the piano.

Ballet

The symphony was choreographed in 1950 by Jerome Robbins.

External links

• Bernstein on the Age of Anxiety at the Wayback Machine (archived September 28, 2007)
• Hyperion notes
• Notes by Thomas May