Listening to Bernstein's brass quintet today, I realize how much I actually love his music. Sure, there is the famous "West Side Story", but I think there is a lot to be said for his other compositions.
As Professor Manning said today, it may be that the true genius of Bernstein's writing is overshadowed by the popularity of West Side Story, which makes a good deal of sense to me. It is similar to an actor who gains their fame in one major leading role and is then forever thought of as that particular character (Elijah Wood, anyone?)
Listening to the short quintet today made me realize that it is important to explore many compositions by the same composer instead of simply going by what is 'popular' in our culture. By taking the time to dive in a little deeper we can discover some amazing musical gems that might otherwise be buried forever.
Thanks for reading---more posts to come soon!
This reminds me of how we were talking during quintet about the guy from the Ernest movies only being known for those movies. :)
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