Leonard Bernstein's Symphony No. 3 'Kaddish' was composed in 1963 and premiered that same year in Tel Aviv. The work is dedicated to the memory of President John F. Kennedy, assassinated shortly before the premiere, and uses texts from the Jewish Kaddish prayer, combined with poems by Bernstein himself.
The symphony is a dramatic work for soprano, narrator, mixed choir and orchestra. Bernstein explores themes of faith, doubt and the relationship between God and humanity, with a musical language that mixes atonalism with lyrical passages and rhythms inspired by Jewish liturgical music.
The 1963 recording was made by the New York Philharmonic, with soprano Jennie Tourel and Bernstein himself as narrator. The work was controversial for its emotional intensity and its criticism of God, but over time it has become one of Bernstein's most personal and powerful symphonies.