American conductor and composer who straddled the divide between serious classical music and 'show bizz'.
A huge energy kept him not only to the fore as the first American-born conductor of stature and international acclaim but as a composer both for Broadway and the concert hall. West Side Story and Candide are his most successful and best-known musicals.
Alongside three symphonies are The Chichester Psalms, a cantata for chorus and orchestra.
