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Leonard Bernstein and Ode to Joy

Sri Chinmoy was a great admirer and friend of Leonard Bernstein – one of the greatest musicians of the twentieth Century. Fortunately Sri Chinmoy and Leonard Bernstein had the opportunity to meet on a number of occasion and could share their love of music

Extract From: Second Meeting with Leonard Bernstein

SRI CHINMOY: Our admiration for you is also boundless. Just recently in Central Park, you gave so much joy to 500,000 people-not for a fleeting second but for hours. It is beyond the flight of our imagination how a single God-lover can inspire, illumine and give joy to 500,000 people. For us, this is something unheard of!

LEONARD BERNSTEIN: I think the secret is what you said about not a fleeting second. The secret of music is that it makes time stop. We are all prisoners of clock time: “I have to be at my job” or “I have to see my wife” or “I promised I would be there at eight o’clock and it’s now that time.” What music does is release you from that, so that you can be in the time of the music.

The YouTube clip below is of Leonard Bernstein conducting Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. – I feel Ode to Joy is a fitting tribute to the musical life of Leonard Bernstein.

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