The Leonard Bernstein Letters

by Leonard Bernstein

  Today an order came out restricting to the camp area all men with between 45 and 59 points. These men (me) will be shipped someplace by the 24th – Monday (this being Thursday). So almost by the time you receive this I will be entrained for my new station. What, what, what for, or why for, I don't know. Maybe training cadre for new recruits or processing cadre for dischargees. I wish I knew. I don't, but I'll let you know along with my new address. Pray that I am shipped a few thousand miles East.

  I was supposed to go to Frisco, Sunday through Thursday, for some kind of parade, but now it is off. I was planning to wire you tonight for Seymour's address.

  After a month, a good month too, of feeling in contact and in tune and in love with Mad, I suddenly find myself out of contact. I wish I understood why. It has happened before, but without much reason, that has to do with thinking and dreaming too much about her. I don't know why this should have the effect it did, if it did. But that is the way it is. Here, away from you all, your memories remain clear and bright for a while, then suddenly dim and it leaves me very much alone. But I am stronger now than ever and I don't feel unduly depressed. I miss you all, and it all.

  I haven't slept well either. I sleep, yes. But not the timeless death sleep I used to sleep. When I wake up now I am aware of every hour, the full 8. The way it used to be, I felt as though I had just closed my eyes when I got up. Now it is like I feel when I am sleeping with someone, e.g., slightly conscious because of the fear of rolling too much and waking them up. And I dream now too. At my aunt Pauline I practically floated off the couch two nights in a row. And who was the lucky girl? Aunt Pauline. Aren't I awful though.

  I'm looking for a score to Daphnis. Can you help without troubling too much.

  Don't pills help your sleeping? Or don't you want to try that? When the season or the rehearsals begin you will be better. Meanwhile try doing one thing at a time, forgetting the rest and stop having emotional orgasms. Why you have done all you can, that is enough. Forget it and go to sleep, relax, play some game etc. Really, Lensky, you may be the world's best musician, but you need some looking after – and some common sense. After all what is really important. You, or whatever it is you are beating your head against the wall about?

  And don't dare say I don't understand how much I don't understand how much it means to have the right kind of players etc. But a little horse sense, or you won't be conducting anything after 40. You'll have ulcers, diabetes, angina and coronary thrombosis etc. etc. etc. Christ man. Take it easy. Do I have to desert to see that you do?

  Tell Shirley I'll write her soon. And hello to Helen please.

  Love,

  Dave

  202. Mildred Spiegel to Leonard Bernstein

  [Boston, MA]

  25 September 1945

  Dear Pete,25

  I was asked by an organization in Boston to write to you for them. The United Order of True Sisters (in existence for 70 years and founded to benefit crippled children) would like to know if you could play for them – from 30 to 45 minutes – at a luncheon and meeting at the Copley Plaza – Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 29th. They want to pay you $200 plus all expenses. It is to be their biggest affair of the season and they naturally want a big attraction to help them raise a lot of money. They maintain rooms in the Children's Hospital and work in conjunction with the Harvard Commission on infantile paralysis.

  Of course I told them about the busy year you have ahead of you, etc., and that the date might conflict, etc., but I'd write you anyway.

  I am in no way connected with this group so please don't feel that a refusal would in any way affect me personally – just do as you like about it. If you can make it, they'd like lighter stuff – some Chopin, your Liszt Rhapsodie, some boogie-woogie and you can talk too if you don't want to play all the time.

  I know you're terribly busy these days, so have Helen drop me a note so that I can tell them your answer.

  Things are getting gradually better all the time – had my first Hershey bar in years today – also had lunch with Re La Mi.26

  Gonna see your ballet again next week – the same night as Undertow and The Gift of the Magi – Lukas conducts.

  […]

  Best of luck for the orchestra. I know it will be a brilliant yearrrr. Will hear you in February. Take care of yourself and get some sleep some time.

  Much love to you and Helen from

  Mildred

  203. Joseph Szigeti to Leonard Bernstein

  Palos Verdes Estates, CA

  1 October 1945

  [Telegram]

  Just learned with shock of Bartók's death.27 Would it be possible for us to give part of your program pair December 31 January 1 or failing that January 21, 22nd as Bartók memorial with one orchestral work and the Portrait in D major and Rhapsody #1 dedicated to me. Naturally no fee involved. These two works take only 19 minutes together. Am doing Berg memorial with Metropolis [Mitropoulos] General Motors December 30. Rhapsody which we played at Ravinia would have first New York performance.

  Joseph Szigeti

  204. David Oppenheim to Leonard Bernstein

  4 October 1945

  Dear Len,

  Just a few interestin' facts about some interestin' people we know.

  I saw Seymour [Meyerson] in Frisco. Both he and the town are fine. I like him very much. We had a good time roller-coasting etc. […] That we missed you was obvious in the way the conversation kept turning back to you. He is a great guy, Len. An amazing combination of artiness and common everydayness, plus a healthy objective interest in people and things that make him nice to be with.

  And the town is wonderful. I like the hills, water, fog, crooked angling streets, cable cars and the variety of good bars and restaurants. Lots of music too. If my aunt weren't here in L.A. I would go to S.F. on these 3 day passes. But I enjoy even more than S.F. a place to stay and vegetate. I hate the eternal search for rooms and walking lonely streets in search of companionship, that goes with being in a big town minus connections. And I could never get there enough to make any lasting ones.

  I thought that your P.M. interview was swell, esp. the statement on government sponsorship of music and art etc. But tell me more. How would it work out in relation to other private endeavors as regards comparative wages and as to who is used etc. It could be another political football. I am definitely interested in the idea though.

  That is all! You don't deserve more.

  Love,

  Dave

  Tell Shirl that I will write, and soon.

  Hello Helen!

  205. Leonard Bernstein to David Oppenheim

  1239 Broadway, New York, NY

  postmark 8 October 1945

  Dave Dollink,

  You dope. I've been delaying writing you in hopes of receiving your new address. Your last letter said you were on your way – and here you are, exactly as before. Anyway, it's a pleasure to have word again.

  I'm awfully happy that you and Seymour [Meyerson] hit it off. He's a top-notch kid, and so are you, of course, so it's a natural. I did receive your little recordings, but they wouldn't make [i.e. work] on my machine. Finally (yesterday) I hit on a plan for making them go, and was finally able to distinguish some highly hysterical (or drunk) carrying-on about roller-coasters & trolleys. But you both talk simultanacklach, so most of it is lost to posterity. Excellent spirit, though.

  Tonight's my big, big night.28 I'm a nervous wreck, but the orchestra is so fabulous and excited and young and interested and in tune and precise and enthusiastic, etc., etc., that if it's not a hit tonight I won't understand it. (Aaron's Outdoor Overture, Shostakovich 1st [Symphony], Brahms 2nd [Symphony].) And the latter is a joy.

  You really ought to hear it. Aaron was at the rehearsal this morning, and said – “At last we have American Brahms – lyrical, like a popular song.” I'm happy.

  I miss you like the devil. So what is happening to you? Don't be so vague.

  Ewige Liebe,

  Lenny.

  Your r
emarks on government subsidy are to the point. It's a matter of reconciling this with the popular interpretation of the “democratic method”. I'm thinking of agitating for a public referendum in NYC. Much love – and if you come across the article on me in Collins' disregard half of it as pure invention.

  206. Rosalyn Tureck29 to Leonard Bernstein

  448 Riverside Drive, New York, NY

  5 November 1945

  Dear Leonard,

  At long last, here is your “personality analysis”. I cannot take these things seriously but they are wonderful fun especially since the person who did it does not know to whom the doodling belongs.

  According to the analysis it looks as tho you must face the fact that you definitely fit into the genius category. As far as I am concerned from what I heard in your conducting the other night, you do.

  I hope to see you at the party after my recital on the 12th.

  Regards,

  Rosalyn

  [Enclosed with this letter is the “Personality Profile” for Bernstein:]

  This person's character shows a peculiar and great singleness of purpose. The sex development is practically nil and the personality which might have started to assert itself at one stage in the man's development has become completely absorbed by career.

  The career is complex. Its division is almost geometric and the line of demarcation, very clear. For each phase of the career, there is a well thought-out and deliberate development. The dark areas indicate the creative and the white areas the mechanical. The mechanical seems to dominate the subject and he is more curious about the development of it at this stage than he is about his creative development. There is one point about the career, which seems to come early in the middle life, which indicates the great peak of success. The subject will have attained a very happy balance of creation and mechanics.

  The sex symbol is interesting in that the line – the only line connecting it and the rest of the personality chart – extends right to the career symbol. This indicates that the subject's development is completely concentrated in his career. His personality symbol shows the same direction. There is no embellishment, no additions to it, there is no sign that any development of self has been accomplished. The sign connecting it with the career is merely two extensions from the sex symbol.

  It is interesting to note that, in spite of the fact that the sex symbol is not developed as a physical unit, it is present and the aesthetic aspects of it will be found in this man's career creations later in life.

  This man may not be a good mathematician, but he has an excellently organized mind. It is well disciplined as demonstrated by the complete lack of extraneous matter. It is also the mind of a purist.

  This man has great ego-maniacal tendencies and will often go to bizarre ends to gain a point. By nature though, he is retiring and socially shy. His great ego, however, serves as a shield against society.

  A fruitful creative life is indicated, but an extremely lonely social life will be his lot.

  207. Joseph Szigeti to Leonard Bernstein

  Palos Verdes Estates, CA

  27 October 1945

  Dear Lenny,

  I am delighted that I have at last succeeded in wresting [Harl] McDonald's30 permission to play the Bartók pieces with you on March 4th and 5th – that is, a fortnight before my appearance with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Carnegie Hall. I am intensely looking forward to doing the Bartóks with you; you know how much he means to me.

  I hope that Elkan Vogel of Philadelphia has already sent you the Bartók Portrait Opus Five [No. 1]. It was at Bartók's express wish that I revived this forgotten piece of his in Budapest in 1939. He was present at the rehearsals and of course at the concert too, and admitted that this forgotten youthful work of his still meant a great deal to him. (I think it must have been written around 1905 or 6.)

  In the score he gave me, he made a few slight retouches which I will show you in December when I am playing in New York with Mitropoulos. He cuts out the two trombones on page 13, and the first harp – i.e. one of the two harps – on page 15.

  As to rehearsals, here is my schedule immediately before our concert: February 26th, Baltimore; 27th, Washington; March 1st afternoon, Baltimore, Peabody; March 3d Sunday afternoon, New York City, Frick Museum. So you can dispose of my time, say on Saturday afternoon, March 2d, and Monday and Tuesday morning.

  All good wishes, and au revoir in December.

  Yours ever,

  Jóska

  208. Leonard Bernstein to David Oppenheim

  1239 Broadway, New York, NY

  11 November [1945]

  Armistice Day. Ha.

  Dollink Dovidl,

  I'm a swine. I haven't written a word in almost a month. Which is not to say that I wasn't thrilled at this seeming prelude to a discharge – or is it? And which is not to say that I miss you like crazy, & wish you home, and in my magnificent orchestra. Of course there would be union difficulties, since I don't suppose you're in this local. That's a big headache. Same is true of Jesse Ehrlich, who is getting out next week. I have huge hopes & plans for next season – all my favorite guys in the orchestra, 24 weeks at least, a commercial radio sponsorship, which looks very likely, and a greatly increased Victor recording contract, which I've already got.

  Seymour [Meyerson] has not been here, but seems to be arriving this week – just when I'm about to leave for a week in your favorite city of Rochester. I'm doing Jeremiah there for the first time, with a mezzo soprano named Zelda Goodman, a student at the school. She's sweet, and it ought to be fun. Last week was Cincinnati – great triumph – and this week I had my 3rd pair with my own – do you hear? – my own orchestra. They're the best yet. So much love for music makes them sound as no other organization. And I could still use you in it. And how.

  I've just returned from a run-through of Adolph & Betty's new show.31 It's a killer, a beast, and slumps only in regard to the score, which is fine but dullish, like so much Gould.32 If that boy had an iota of real personal personality he'd be the best one around. But, alas.

  Be a good guy and don't copy my delay in writing. Aren't you ever coming back –

  All my love,

  L

  209. Renée Longy Miquelle to Leonard Bernstein

  814 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD

  Jour de la Ste Renée, 12 November 1945

  Cher P'tit Kietchka,

  How to begin … I don't know! – because last week and now the next few days make my heart very full of you, for many “anniversaries” are now crowding in together with a very pleasant feeling of pride and well-being while basking in and relishing your musical doings.

  In two days it will be two years that you had your “big chance” – as they say – and as all of us who know you knew, you've kept right on.

  I need not gush and certainly do not want to, for my appreciation of your talents and all attendant accessories is more deeply and dignifyingly rooted than that.

  However, since it seems a total impossibility to get to you or see you unhurriedly and en “tête à tête amical” I must write and tell you how completely satisfying it is to know you, and to find you growing and maturing all the time; even though there is still more to be done and reached.

  My second visit to your orchestra rehearsal last Monday pleased me far more than the first, mainly because you did so much that was really beautiful with the Mozart, and what is more you put it across.33

  You know what my criticism of the last movement's tempo was (even though Helen said to me beamingly that it was a real Koussy clip, therefore marvelous) – I don't agree. Should that be a criticism? Koussy always takes El Salón at a more deliberate pace than it is meant, or so I've heard, yet you don't play it that way.

  Of course we all know what a temptation it is to play faster than necessary or slower in slow movements; but again, Lenny, you of all people must not give in to that sort of thing. Your sense of tempi is usually so completely right, please don't lose your balance and
throw us off ours. But, the rest of the Mozart was so good and so very elegant and nicely wrought that it was a real delight to hear.

  Why did you not tell me that you are doing La Création du monde at your next concert? Lucky I got the N.Y. paper yesterday for the first time in months!! So I'll be at rehearsal next Monday together with a young friend who cannot attend the concerts, since she works from 3 or 4 on till 11 p.m. (Please tell Helen to put me and Geraldine Viti on the list for admittance.)

  Somehow, Randall's symphony let me down. I had a more exalted recollection of it … very likely because it had been your first conductorial vehicle and I must have been more eyes, heart and anxiety than ears then.

  Last night, more nostalgia besieged me … you will know why when I tell you I went to see Of Mice and Men again. Five years have elapsed; and it is just as new, strong and right as it was. It very likely will be so for many years. Aaron's music is so right for it too. It is a very poignant experience. Thanks for all time Lenny for having introduced me to Aaron's music.

  Why did you not warn me and tell me Marc was back and not looking so well? I could not recognize him – a dreadful feeling – only when that marvelous smile of his burst forth did I know who it was … Oh! but what infinite sadness in that smile, darling – I was shocked. What's happened?

  When are you to conduct in Boston? And where will you be on November 23, 24, 25?

  All my love,

  Renée

  P.S. Please remember to bring your cuff-links to rehearsal on Monday. You know I want to have them engraved.

  210. Leonard Bernstein to David Oppenheim

  New Hotel Jefferson, St. Louis, MO

  postmark 27 November 1945

  Dave,

  If it weren't for the fact that you'll probably be out of the army and living around the corner from me by the time I return to NYC, I should be all wails and drama at this moment. Such a teaser as last week with you was! It hit me most clearly as the train pulled out of Penn Station, and I realized that we hadn't even said hello. Maybe we'll never really have to say hello again. Wide-eyed idealism.

  Have yourself a time in New York, and be very good to Seymour [Meyerson]. You're so good together, and I like to think of you as reciprocally understanding, even complementary. Singly you're vastly superior guys. Together you're practically God. Let me hear from you in this bleak, foggy place, where, of all things, a charming southern thunderstorm is now raging. The streets are very dark and full of lonely faces. The hotel is very bright and full of lonely faces.