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AMS signed and dated at the head, "Leonard Bernstein, Apr. 8, 1935," four pages on two sheets, 6.5 x 8.5, entitled: "A Musical Dream." The 16-year-old Boston Latin School student pens an essay, in part: "There is so much talk in the air about Utopias of different sorts that I venture to present my own little plan for an ideal musical world. If we enter a house of worship, we very often hear a sermon on the subject of a religious Utopia, one in which all nations, races, and groups shall worship a common God and see Him in a common light. Socialize religion! In periodicals, page after page is given over to the discussion of a Utopia in which the basis of exchange shall be production. Socialize government! Then why not socialize music?
I submit that it would be a very uninteresting world if people did not have differences of opinion, and bring those differences into an open field of combat. Yet the little idea I have devised seems to me to be the only solution for peace in musical circles.
The Keynote of my Utopia is: give every composer a 'break'! Whether or not he seems promising…let him have a fair chance to plead his case! Veritable wars have arisen among musicians over the competence of particular music-makers…
There is a certain Mr. D— who is designated as being a confirmed hater of Wagner's music-dramas. Now, surely, a person who has the intelligence to decide for himself that Wagner is contrary to his every idea about what music should be must have the intelligence to see that there is much to be said for Wagner. He should admit that the music is strangely eloquent—unlike anything else ever written. He should recognize the intense emotional display in the music. He should consider that there must be a reason that the Opera House sold out for 'Die Walkuere.'
The other factor in the building of my Utopia is the education of the lay class—or the laymen who show any interest in this field—to mark a composer for what he is worth…Here is a typical female gush: 'Me? Oh, I just adore music. Do you know Gershwin's Rhapsody? Or, is it Ravel's? These composers are so confusing….' The Rhapsody has inherent quality; that cannot be denied. But that is not the reason for the above gushing. That was brought on by the sweeping success of the piece among the people at large, and is valid in so far as it is sincere.
First educate your people; then teach them to consider carefully, with the education they have, the merits and faults of each composer. Then shall the wolf lie down with the lamb, and the Schubertian with the Strawinskian." In fine condition.
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