Symphony No. 2 "The Age of Anxiety"

Bernstein’s idea of a modern symphony was urban, questioning, and hybrid, juggling intellectual concerns with entertainment; and his Second Symphony, composed in 1949, does all this with a dazzling unconventionality. Incorporating piano solos, it can feel like a concerto with a crazy structure. But what stands out is its semi-programmatic nature, drawing on a book-length poem by W.H. Auden, The Age of Anxiety, from which Bernstein borrowed both a narrative and title. Auden’s poem is a complex, Jungian response to post-war disillusion, featuring four lonely people in a New York bar who journey through the night (and through their lives) in search of meaning. Bernstein’s music follows their endeavour. Part 1 opens with a “Prologue” that sets the scene and introduces a downward-moving clarinet scale, suggesting descent into unconsciousness. Two sets of variations follow, representing the “Seven Ages” of man, then the “Seven Stages” of a dream shared by the characters. Part 2 proceeds through a slow “Dirge” as the characters mourn the loss of authoritative direction in their lives, a “Masque” as they evade their problems by partying (to a jazzy piano solo), and a healing “Epilogue” whose climactic crescendo suggests the rediscovery of faith. In a Mahlerian way this journey through the night moves from despair to hope: a process that takes 40 minutes but feels therapeutic.