Throughout the 1950s, Leonard Bernstein was a regular guest on the television show Omnibus. His appearances on the show, hosted by the erudite Alistair Cooke with support from the Ford Foundation, marked Bernstein’s first appearances on television and elevated him as a familiar cultural figure throughout the country. Bernstein appeared on Omnibus seven times, discussing various musical topics. In 1955, he was invited to host a segment on “The World of Jazz.” For the occasion, Bernstein demonstrated elements of the form at the piano and then dusted off a piece that he had written in 1949 but that hadn’t yet been performed.

Prelude, Fugue and Riffs was commissioned by clarinetist Woody Herman and his jazz band, but they broke up before they could premiere the work. Bernstein returned to the piece in 1952 when he considered including it in the musical he was working on with Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Wonderful Town. It was cut during the show’s tryouts.

Enter Omnibus and its upcoming focus on jazz. Bernstein provided a brief introduction to the piece, explaining: “It’s in three short continuous sections: a prelude for the brass alone, then a short fugue for the five saxophones, and then riffs for everybody. In one way or another, it uses all the elements we have been discussing during this time. I hope you will feel in it some of the special beauty of jazz that I felt when I was writing the piece. And I hope that our investigation of jazz today will help you see a little more clearly why I think of this piece as a serious piece of American music.”

Though Bernstein had dedicated the piece to Benny Goodman, Al Gallodoro, a former member of Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra and NBC Symphony, debuted the featured clarinet part, which announces the raucous “Riffs” section.

—Amanda Angel