[vc_row][vc_column][vc_raw_html]JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwc3JjJTNEJTIyaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZvcGVuLnNwb3RpZnkuY29tJTJGZW1iZWQlMkZ0cmFjayUyRjBaR0RHUmc1ejloS1hZYTdiTE9DZWglMjIlMjB3aWR0aCUzRCUyMjEwMCUyNSUyMiUyMGhlaWdodCUzRCUyMjgwJTIyJTIwZnJhbWVib3JkZXIlM0QlMjIwJTIyJTIwYWxsb3d0cmFuc3BhcmVuY3klM0QlMjJmYWxzZSUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRmlmcmFtZSUzRQ==[\/vc_raw_html][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]The first movement, Phaedrus:Pausanius, is in two parts.<\/p>\n
First part:<\/strong><\/p>\n Leonard Bernstein called the first part \u201ca lyrical oration in praise of Eros, the god of love.\u201d<\/p>\n It opens with the solo violin playing a melody alone. I imagine this is someone (Phaedrus? Bernstein? Everyman?) simply talking about Love. The tempo is slow; the mood is contemplative and tender. The melody meanders up and down and then resolves.<\/p>\n Bernstein once wrote, \u201cAn important feature of a good melody \u2013 it\u2019s shape \u2013 the curve it makes, as it rises with tension, and settles down in relaxation.\u201d (Young People’s Concerts, pg. 213)[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_video link=”http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=oizMzCfm-Rk”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]After the solo violin plays the melody, the first violin section of the orchestra enters playing the exact same melody (although it starts three notes lower than the original.) This happens at :56 seconds on the Spotify recording above. When they have finished, the viola section joins and plays the same melody again three notes lower (1:52), and then the cello and bass section start to play the same melody again three notes lower (2:45) but the excitement has built up by this point and it all swirls around into the Second Part (2:58). This method of layering melody is called a fugue (see J.S.Bach).<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]Second Part<\/strong><\/p>\n The second part of the first movement is graceful and energetic. Bernstein says that it \u201cdescribes the duality of lover and beloved.\u201d So within the second part, there are two even smaller sections. Let\u2019s call them \u201cL\u201d for Lover and \u201cB\u201d for Beloved (or \u201cL\u201d<\/strong>eonard \u201cB\u201d<\/strong>ernstein)?<\/p>\n On the recording L is from about 2:58-3:30 and B is 3:46-4:48. Like a lover and beloved, each section has a slightly different character. L is a bit more active and upbeat, B is more vulnerable; in fact Bernstein writes in the music above the B part, \u201csweet with grace\u201d and \u201cdelicate.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/4″][vc_column_text]Here\u2019s a short excerpt with piano of the beginning of part L.<\/strong><\/em>[\/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9GEfm2NDVEI”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/4″][vc_column_text]And a short excerpt with piano of the beginning of part B.<\/strong><\/em>[\/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=otTKXCJ2z5Y”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]L and B each appear twice, connected by orchestral bridges. So, the overall form of the first movement sounds (looks) like this:[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”103″ img_size=”large”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [vc_row][vc_column][vc_raw_html]JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwc3JjJTNEJTIyaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZvcGVuLnNwb3RpZnkuY29tJTJGZW1iZWQlMkZ0cmFjayUyRjBaR0RHUmc1ejloS1hZYTdiTE9DZWglMjIlMjB3aWR0aCUzRCUyMjEwMCUyNSUyMiUyMGhlaWdodCUzRCUyMjgwJTIyJTIwZnJhbWVib3JkZXIlM0QlMjIwJTIyJTIwYWxsb3d0cmFuc3BhcmVuY3klM0QlMjJmYWxzZSUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRmlmcmFtZSUzRQ==[\/vc_raw_html][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]The first movement, Phaedrus:Pausanius, is in two parts. First part: Leonard Bernstein called the first part \u201ca lyrical oration<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":15,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharonroffman.com\/bernsteinserenade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharonroffman.com\/bernsteinserenade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharonroffman.com\/bernsteinserenade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharonroffman.com\/bernsteinserenade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharonroffman.com\/bernsteinserenade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/sharonroffman.com\/bernsteinserenade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":216,"href":"http:\/\/sharonroffman.com\/bernsteinserenade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17\/revisions\/216"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharonroffman.com\/bernsteinserenade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharonroffman.com\/bernsteinserenade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}(Please forgive the horrible sound quality of these homemade videos, made with an iphone in a NYC apartment!)<\/h6>\n