BERNSTEIN: Chichester Psalms / On the Waterfront

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On the 45th anniversary of this historic concert, we’re delving into the music — and memories of Chichester Psalms. The short 'Prelude' typifies an inner calm surrounded by external storms. The piano music is discordant and impetuous, but is calmly interrupted by the couple singing 'I love you. It's easy to say it and so easy to mean it too.' The piano seems to disagree, but the couple are off on an exploration of what 'I love you' means for them, how they can hold onto that in a turbulent world and where it might lead them. Dr. Hussey was apparently concerned lest Bernstein feel restricted by the ecclesiastical parameters of the festival or the awesomeness of the Cathedral venue. Bernstein composed Chichester Psalms amid a busy schedule, completing his first work since the Third Symphony, Kaddish, in 1963, written in memory of President Kennedy. Both pieces combine choruses singing Hebrew text, with orchestral forces, but where Kaddish is a statement of profound anguish and despair, Chichester Psalms is hopeful and life-affirming.

Although it may seem now that Bernstein’s celebrity and international visibility in the twin worlds of theatrical and concert music made him a natural candidate for so important a commission, this invitation may also be viewed as adventurous, if not courageous, for its time. In retrospect, however—on another plane—it might not have been so far-fetched (even if unprecedented) for the Dean to commission a transparently and avowedly Jewish composer—whose most recent work had been based not only on Judaic liturgy in its original language but on a personalized Jewish theological interpretation with Hassidic foundations—to write for an Anglican cathedral setting. Nor should the very positive response there to its Judaic parameters have been completely unexpected. This event was preceded by a history of English curiosity about Jews and Judaism dating to the Puritan era of the Commonwealth and Protectorate in the 17th century, with some antecedents in much earlier ecclesiastical scholarship—although motivations were neither always completely benign nor unalloyed. More recently—despite alternating and ambivalent attitudes toward Jews that could range from outright anti-Semitism to, in some assessments, a curiously English brand of philosemitism—ancient and medieval Judaic history in particular appears to have ignited episodes of interest among some 19th-century English intellectual, literary, artistic, and even religious circles. Much of that interest could be viewed in relation to less than benevolent agendas. Still, on at least some levels, it could also transcend geopolitical or evangelical considerations. The music for the beginning of the second movement is taken from sketches from Bernstein's unfinished The Skin of Our Teeth. The men's theme was adapted from material cut from West Side Story. Chichester Psalms, although a comparatively short work (less than 20 minutes in duration) is one of Bernstein's most popular pieces and provides a good introduction to his writing. It is full of Bernsteinian dramatic contrasts. It utilises his trademark lively, asymmetrical rhythms, often with five or seven beats to the bar; his angular melodies with large, surprising leaps; his placing of accents where least expected; his use of speech rhythm in song. The text is the original Biblical Hebrew, which Bernstein sometimes daringly manipulates to great dramatic effect. Raise a shout for the Lord, all the earth; worship the Lord in gladness; come into His presence with shouts of joy.

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Read more: Who was Leonard Bernstein? Exploring the man behind the ‘Maestro’, Bradley Cooper’s new musical biopic In early December 1963, Bernstein received a letter from the Very Reverend Walter Hussey, Dean of the Cathedral of Chichester in Sussex, England, requesting a piece for the Cathedral’s 1965 music festival: “The Chichester Organist and Choirmaster, John Birch, and I, are very anxious to have written some piece of music which the combined choirs could sing at the Festival to be held in Chichester in August, 1965, and we wondered if you would be willing to write something for us. I do realize how enormously busy you are, but if you could manage to do this we should be tremendously honoured and grateful. The sort of thing that we had in mind was perhaps, say, a setting of the Psalm 2, or some part of it, either unaccompanied or accompanied by orchestra or organ, or both. I only mention this to give you some idea as to what was in our minds.” The festival united the cathedral choruses of Chichester, Winchester and Salisbury. Dr. Hussey was a noted champion of the arts, having commissioned works by visual artists, poets, and composers. Among these are: an altarpiece painted by Graham Sutherland, stained glass windows by Marc Chagall, a sculpture depicting the Madonna and child by Henry Moore, a litany and anthem by W.H. Auden, and perhaps most notably, the cantata Rejoice in the Lamb by Benjamin Britten. Despite Dr. Hussey’s initial wish for the setting of Psalm 2, Bernstein responded with a “suite of Psalms, or selected verses from Psalms,” under the working title, Psalms of Youth (Bernstein changed the title because it misleadingly suggested that the piece was easy to perform). Hussey was hoping that Bernstein would feel unrestrained for composing in a more popular vein despite the sacred nature of the assignment. Hussey wrote, “Many of us would be very delighted if there was a hint of West Side Story about the music.” Chichester Psalms juxtaposes vocal part writing most commonly associated with Church music (including homophony and imitation), with the Judaic liturgical tradition. Bernstein specifically called for the text to be sung in Hebrew (there is not even an English translation in the score), using the melodic and rhythmic contours of the Hebrew language to dictate mood and melodic character. By combining the Hebrew with Christian choral tradition, Bernstein was implicitly issuing a plea for peace in Israel during a turbulent time in the young country’s history. Each of the three movements of Chichester Psalms contains one complete Psalm plus excerpts from another paired Psalm. Musically, Bernstein achieved Dr. Hussey’s wish for the music to remain true to the composer’s own personal style. The piece is jazzy and contemporary, yet accessible. In a letter to Hussey, Bernstein characterized it as “popular in feeling,” with “an old-fashioned sweetness along with its more violent moments.” The music of Chichester Psalms is essentially American, incorporating within its core 'classical' style elements of Bernstein's beloved jazz, blues and Broadway music. When commissioning the work the dean of Chichester Cathedral mentioned that 'many of us would be delighted if there was a hint of West Side Story about the music'. Bernstein duly obliged.

The story began in 1963 when Walter Hussey, Dean of Chichester Cathedral, wrote to Leonard Bernstein asking if he would compose a piece of choral music for the Southern Cathedrals Festival in 1965. Bernstein accepted and the result was his choral masterpiece the Chichester Psalms. By combining the Hebrew with Christian choral tradition, Bernstein was implicitly issuing a plea for peace in Israel during a turbulent time in the young country’s history. The Cathedral of Chichester, in Sussex, England, after which Bernstein titled this work, is the seat of a cherished sacred music legacy that dates to the tenure of its honored organist and composer, Thomas Weelkes (ca. 1575–1623), one of the leading avatars of the early-17th-century English madrigal genre and a pioneer in the development of Anglican Church music in its formative period. Each year since 1960 the Cathedral of Chichester has collaborated with its neighboring cathedrals in Winchester and Salisbury in the production of a summer music festival, though the tradition of the annual meeting of the Cathedral Choirs actually dates to 1904. Bernstein composed Chichester Psalms in 1965 during a conducting sabbatical from the New York Philharmonic. In a poem quoted by The New York Times that year, Bernstein described the process of composing the work, commissioned in 1963 by Walter Hussey, dean of the Chichester Cathedral, for a choral festival:This year, to celebrate Leonard Bernstein's centenary, the Chichester Psalms will once again be performed in the Cathedral on Saturday 24th November. This performance promises to be a major highlight of the year's celebrations. In 1977, Bernstein described Chichester Psalms: “the most accessible, B-flat major-ish tonal piece I’ve ever written.” Three Movements, Six Psalms: Words of Peace and Reconciliation

Theological as well as ceremonial and patrimonial aspects of Jewish antiquity seem to have had a special appeal at various periods. A few vestiges of that fascination can still be detected in the coronation ceremony of the English monarch—who, of course, is also the supreme head of the Church of England. A fair number of Christian English scholars, especially since the 18th century, have produced academic works concerning Judaic texts. And romanticized visual depictions of the Second Temple and other scenes of ancient Jerusalem were fashionable during the Victorian era—for example, among Pre-Raphaelite expressions.

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In the score, Bernstein notes that the soprano and alto parts were written "with boys' voices in mind," and that it is "possible but not preferable" to use women's voices instead. However, he states that the male alto solo "must not be sung by a woman," but either by a boy or a countertenor. [6] This was to reinforce the liturgical meaning of the passage sung, perhaps to suggest that Psalm 23, a "Psalm of David" from the Hebrew Bible, was to be heard as if sung by the boy David himself. [7] The orchestration of Chichester Psalms calls for six brass (three trumpets and three trombones), two harps, a large percussion section, and strings. The original conception or “version”—in which form the work was given its premiere at Chichester Cathedral at the end of July 1965—is for a chorus exclusively of men and boys, with the boys’ voices on the soprano and alto lines. (This follows the German, or continental European choral tradition, rather than the established English Church format that calls typically for boys only on the soprano line with adult countertenors on the alto part.) Two weeks earlier, however, Bernstein conducted the actual world premiere at New York’s Philharmonic Hall (now Avery Fisher Hall), with the New York Philharmonic and the Camerata Singers—a mixed choir with women’s voices substituting for boys on the soprano and alto parts. Performances since then have been given in both formats. But Bernstein stipulated in a note to the published score that the long alto solo in the second movement, which is unsuited to the timbre of the female—and certainly an adult female—voice, must always be sung either by a boy (which is generally preferable) or a countertenor.

The finale comes in from the third movement without interruption. The principal motifs from the introduction return here to unify the work and create a sense of returning to the beginning, but here the motifs are sung pianississimo and greatly extended in length. Particularly luminous harmonies eventually give way to a unison note on the last syllable of the text—another example of word painting, since the final Hebrew word, Yaḥad, means "together" or, more precisely, "as one". This same note is that on which the choir then sings the Amen, while one muted trumpet plays the opening motif one last time and the orchestra, too, ends on a unison G, with a tiny hint of a Picardy third. Each of the three movements comprises one complete psalm and an extract from another, complementary or contrasting, psalm. The first movement opens with a chorale on Psalm 108, verse 2: 'Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early', which is followed allegro molto with Psalm 100 complete: 'Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands...' in a jazzy 7/4 rhythm punctuated with jaunty Latin American bongo drums.Chichester Psalms was Bernstein's first composition after his 1963 Third Symphony ( Kaddish). These two works are his two most overtly Jewish compositions. While both works have a chorus singing texts in Hebrew, the Kaddish Symphony has been described as a work often at the edge of despair, while Chichester Psalms is affirmative and serene at times.