The original opening orchestration page for Bernstein's 'Symphony No. 3, Kaddish,' written in his own hand, 13.5 x 18, no date but circa August 1963. Bernstein establishes his preferred layout for drafting the score, indicating which staves should be used for scoring various parts of his orchestra, including flute, piccolo, oboe, trumpets, percussion instruments, vibraphones, harp or piano, and so on, with vocal, speaker, and chorus parts separated by blank staves.
In the upper right, he pens a detailed note to fellow composer Phillip Lambro, who was responsible for preparing printed sheets of orchestration paper using this handwritten example as a model. In full: "Dear Lambro: Thank you for your suggestion. Something like this should do it, I imagine. Of course, the extra staves will necessitate a larger page (I don't think the staves should be any closer together than this). 500 sheets will more than suffice. I'm afraid they can't be transparencies, since I'll be scoring mostly on tour, in a wild hurry, at airports & hotels, & whenever possible; & those sheets will be unmanageable. I'll try to score it as legibly as possible, in pencil (given the speed), omitting all vocal & chorus parts, which can be inserted during the final ink copying job, taken from the 'short' score, which I am now completing. Many thanks—Leonard Bernstein."
At the bottom, he notes: "Leave a solid bottom margin! 1 1/2˝ or so." In fine condition, with a block of light toning, and two small paper remnants, in the lower blank area.
Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony No. 3, 'Kaddish,' is perhaps the work in which his Jewish spiritual heritage and his deep, lifelong concern for a troubled humanity most powerfully converge. Conceived as an intensely personal cri de cœur, the symphony wrestles openly with faith, doubt, and moral responsibility, framing the ancient Aramaic prayer within a modern, anguished dialogue with God. Bernstein dedicated the work to the memory of President John F. Kennedy, whose assassination occurred as the symphony was nearing completion, lending the music an added sense of poignancy.
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