Leonard Bernstein: Reflections

Directed by Peter Rosen

In this film Leonard Bernstein tells his story, from his early beginnings throughout his entire career. The film features rehearsals and performances of his third symphony, Kaddish for John F. Kennedy. Additionally, he discusses his compositional technique which is usually tonal. Bearing that in mind, he explains that his third symphony relied on the 12 tone system. The reason, he explains is that the 12 tone system is more expressionistic, and it better reflected the parts of the symphony in with a dialogue with god takes place.

Excerpt from the film: