The legendary composer and conductor is the subject of Bradley Cooper’s new movie.
There can be no disputing that Leonard Bernstein is one of the most significant American composers of all time: across a hugely successful career, his contribution to a range of genres from classical to musical theatre was immense.
Therefore, the only challenge for Bradley Cooper when assembling the soundtrack for his new film about the legendary musician was just how much of the music to include.
Should he populate the film with Bernstein’s most recognisable works or instead opt for some deeper cuts?
According to Maestro producer Kristie Macosko Krieger, Cooper always had a good idea of which way he wanted to go.
“I think that Bradley really knew the music so well, and he knew exactly what he wanted to do with the music,” she told RadioTimes.com during an exclusive interview.
“So it would have been easy to throw in the score and the making of West Side Story into this project, but he decided to do it a little differently, and to just have that one piece of the prologue in the film. He just knew the right places to put the music so you knew that it was a Leonard Bernstein film.”
The decision to use a great range of Bernstein’s music was also welcomed by his daughters Jamie and Nina.
“We loved that Bradley chose so much other Bernstein music to put in the film,” Jamie explained. “It’s like another character in the film – this music that is so audible and meaningful and rich, and we hope that that will pique the interest and curiosity of viewers so that they’ll want to hear more Bernstein music.”
“There’s a lot of it,” added Nina. “It’s very, very beautiful, at times achingly tender, at times boisterous, at times powerful, passionate – it runs a really enormous emotional gamut. We hope that people tap into it.”
Read on for more information about exactly what Bernstein music appears in the Maestro soundtrack.
Maestro soundtrack
The full list of music that appears in the film can be found below:
All music composed by Leonard Bernstein except where stated
- Symphonic Suite from On the Waterfront
- Manfred, Op 115 Overture composed by Robert Schumann
- Fancy Free: Var 1 (Galop)
- On the Town: Lonely Town. Pas De Deux
- On the Town: I Get Carried Away/You’ve Got That Look (That Leaves Me Weak)
- Trouble In Tahiti: Interlude
- Candide: Paris Waltz
- Facsimile: Molto Adagio
- Fancy Free: Enter Three Sailors
- Fancy Free: Var 3 (Danzon)
- On the Town: New York, New York
- Anniversaries for Orchestra: X. For Felicia Montealegre
- Songfest: To What You Said
- Symphony No. 5 in C-Sharp Minor, Pt 3: Adagietto composed by Gustav Mahler
- Candide: Make Our Garden Grow
- West Side Story: Prologue
- Mass: XVII. Pax Communion
- Facade – An Entertainment: Sir Beelzebub composed by William Walton
- Symphony No. 2 ‘Resurrection’: V. Finale. In Tempo des Scherzos composed by Gustav Mahler
- Symphony No. 2 ‘The Age of Anxiety’, Pt 1. A. The Prologue
- Lincoln Chase: The Clapping Song (Clap Pat Clap Slap) composed by Lincoln Chase
- A Quiet Place: Postlude
- Symphony No. 8 In F Major, Op 93 composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
- Chichester Psalms: Psalm 23
- Candide: Overture
- Symphony No. 3 ‘Kaddish’. II. Din-Torah
Maestro is now showing in UK cinemas and will release on Netflix on 20th December 2023. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on.