Shelagh MacLeod & Chad Smith Play Bernstein's A Simple Song from Mass

Shelagh MacLeod, clarinet, and Chad Smith, piano, play "A Simple Song" from Bernstein's Mass: A Theater Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers. The composer is Leonard Bernstein with text by Bernstein and additional text by Stephen Shartz. Commissioned by Jacqueline Kennedy in honor of President John Kennedy, it premiered on September 8, 1971, Maurice Peress, conductor, and Alvin Ailey, choreographer. The premiere was part of the opening of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C., USA.

Bernstein uses the Mass to hang all of his beliefs and questions, and embraces Broadway, opera, rock and blues with a narrative blending Latin and Hebrew texts within the traditional Mass framework.

Mass is a celebration of human faith. It contains the essence of Bernstein as a complex man and artist and, beneath the surface showiness is a profound statement of faith that comes across so very clearly within Simple Song.

St. John's Episcopal Church Minneapolis,Episcopal Church in Minnesota,Bernstein's Mass,Jacqueline Kennedy,