Four Sabras


Four Sabras is a short composition for solo piano by American composer Leonard Bernstein. Sabras refers to vignettes or portraits of different fictitious Israeli children.

Background

Best evidence suggest it was written throughout the early 1950s. It was initially entitled Six Sabras, which indicates Bernstein expected to write a total of six short pieces, but these two pieces were never eventually written. It was probably written at the request of Israeli Music Publications, possibly as a set of pieces for children. The cover of the original manuscript, where the list of pieces was specified, could be found among Bernstein's papers in Israel in 1948. The set would be eventually finished by 1956. The set of four pieces was never formally premiered, but it was recorded for the first time by Jack Gottlieb in May 1993. It was published posthumously in 2010, by Jalni Publications and Boosey & Hawkes.

Structure

Four Sabras consists of four short pieces for solo piano and takes a total of six minutes to perform. The list of movements is as follows:
The first movement is a slow and pensive piece, generally played. It was initially conceived as an Anniversary to Cesarina Riso, but, as many other anniversaries composed by Bernstein, remained unpublished. It would also become the basis for Candide's Lament, using much of the musical material. This piece is in, with a few tempo changes towards the end. The second movement uses the term "Chassidele", which means "little Jew". It is basically a two-hand dialog between a rav, a teacher who intones lessons in a melody that is similar to Modest Mussorgsky's "Samuel" Goldenberg, played by the left hand, and Idele, a young boy who is distracted, played in octaves by the left hand. The time signature is, and it is marked Rubato in the score, while the right hand is expected to play Rhythmically. The third movement is a dance-like piece, possibly referring to a friend of Bernstein's, Yossi Stern, an Israeli artist known for his cartoons. It is marked Pesante in the score and bears many time signature changes. Finally, the fourth movement is a three-part piece, the middle part later being arranged for On the Waterfront.

Recordings

Here is a complete list of recordings of Four Sabras: