Opus Arte

The United States celebrates its independence from Britain on the fourth of July, remembering the Declaration of Independence back in 1776. In the run up to this American public holiday, there is no better time to cast an eye over the luminaries of classical music from the Land of the Free.

©Robert Scarth, 2005

11 May 1945 – debut performance of Hashkiveinu, a Hebrew vocal and organ piece by Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein’s religious piece incorporates the prayer text from the Jewish Sabbath evening service and was commissioned for inclusion in a programme of contemporary music to be performed at the Park Avenue Synagogue in New York.

© Carl Van Vechten 1944