Leonard Bernstein: Symphony No. 3 »Kaddish« / Montserrat Caballé, Michael Wager, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein / Hungaroton LP 1978 Stereo

SLPXL 12505

Symphony No. 3 "Kaddish" is a programmatic choral symphony by Leonard Bernstein, published in 1963. It is a dramatic work written for a large orchestra, a full choir, a boys' choir, a soprano soloist and a narrator. "Kaddish" refers to the Jewish prayer that is chanted at every synagogue service for the dead but never mentions "death."

The symphony is dedicated to the memory of John F. Kennedy who was assassinated on November 22, 1963, just weeks before the first performance of the symphony. Leonard Bernstein wrote the text of the narration himself, but struggled with his own motivation for the aggressiveness of the text. In 2003, after talks with Bernstein shortly before his death, Holocaust survivor Samuel Pisar added a new narration about his personal experiences and how his family suffered and perished in the Holocaust, and his subsequent struggle with his belief. The Bernstein estate allowed this version to be used only with Samuel Pisar as recitator before his 2015 death.