With me its a tossup between him and Duke Ellington.
With me its a tossup between him and Duke Ellington.”
Fascinating debate, and I think you have narrowed it to the two finalists. But I think LB has to win. His work as a public intellectual, basically bringing musicology to the masses, his lectures at Harvard, all of that is amazing and important work. Moreover, the versatility of his compositions, comparing West Side Story to say his Age of Anxiety symphony...Bernstein truly mastered music in its entirety.
Ellington’s output is astonishing and vast.
But I think Bernstein has the slight edge here....