Music Recommendation

A musician recently expressed to me his opinion that the two greatest 20th century musical works are Benjamin Britten’s “War Requiem” and Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony No. 3 “Kaddish.” These are famous but atypical choices.

After listening to “Kaddish,” I wrote a whole lot of thoughts on what I thought Bernstein was doing in the symphony. They were unnecessarily complicated, especially when I read Bernstein’s reflections. He intended to do the opposite of what I thought he was doing. So I’ll spare you all that — instead, 3 quick points about the piece and a recommendation to listen to it.

• “War Requiem” (1962) and “Kaddish” (1963) were finished a year apart.

• Both respond explicitly to world events: Britten wrote his piece for the rededication of Coventry Cathedral, bombed during World War II. Bernstein learned of JFK’s assassination as he was writing the final movement and dedicated the symphony “To the Beloved Memory of John F. Kennedy.”

• They are both religious works. Britten patterns “War Requiem” on the text of the Requiem Mass, adding poetry by Wilfrid Owen. Kaddish is one of the Jewish liturgical prayers for the dead.