level 3 west side story

LEVEL 3 - WEST SIDE STORY

LEONARD BERNSTEINEXAMINE THE INFLUENCE OF CONTEXT ON A

SUBSTANTIAL MUSIC WORK

• BROADWAY VERSION 1957

• FILM VERSION 1961

• DIRECTOR- ROBERT WISE, JEROME ROBBINS

• SCRIPTWRITER- JEROME ROBBINS, ARTHUR LAURENTS

• MUSIC- LEONARD BERNSTEIN

• SET IN THE WEST SIDE, NEW YORK CITY, 1950S

• LOOSELY BASED ON SHAKESPEARE’S ‘ROMEO AND JULIET’

“SHAKESPEARE'S ROMEO AND JULIET IS TRANSPORTED TO MODERN-DAY NEW YORK CITY, AS TWO YOUNG IDEALISTIC LOVERS FIND THEMSELVES CAUGHT BETWEEN WARRING STREET GANGS, THE AMERICAN JETS AND THE PUERTO RICAN SHARKS. THEIR STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE IN A WORLD OF HATE, VIOLENCE AND PREJUDICE IS ONE OF THE MOST INNOVATIVE, HEART-WRENCHING AND RELEVANT MUSICAL DRAMAS OF OUR TIME.”

PLOT

ACT

I• IT IS SET IN THE WEST SIDE OF NEW YORK, IN THE LATE 1950S.

• THERE ARE TWO GANGS: 1) THE JETS—A TEENAGE GANG OF AMERICAN BOYS LED BY RIFF

2) THE SHARKS—A TEENAGE GANG OF PUERTO RICANS LED BY BERNADO.

• ACT I:

THE JETS WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE PUERTO RICAN BOYS DO NOT TAKE OVER THEIR PLACE. WHEN BOTH GANGS MEET THEY START AN ARGUMENT AND A FIGHT BREAKS OUT. THE POLICE COME ALONG AND TAKE THE PUERTO RICANS AWAY. AT THIS STAGE RIFF SAYS THAT HE IS GONG TO CHALLENGE BERNADO TO A FIGHT AT THE DANCE THAT EVENING.

RIFF WANT TONY TO HELP HIM. TONY HELPED SET UP THE GANG BUT IS NOW BEGINNING TO GROW AWAY FROM THEM. HE WORKS AT A LOCAL CHEMIST AND HAS LESS TIME FOR THE GANG. TONY AGREES TO GO TO THE DANCE AND HERE MEET MARIA, BERNADO’S SISTER. THEY FALL IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. WHILE THE FIGHT IS GOING ON TONY WALKS THROUGH THE STREETS THINKING ABOUT MARIA. HE LATER FINDS THE STREET WHERE SHE LIVE AND CLIMBS UP THE FIRE ESCAPE TO SING TO HER. THEY SING OF THEIR LOVE (TONIGHT). ON THE ROOFTOP MARIA’S FRIEND ANITA SING ABOUT THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR PUERTO RICANS IN NEW YORK. (AMERICA) MEANWHILE THE SHARKS AND THE JETS ARE ARRANGING TO MEET THE FOLLOWING DAY FOR A FIGHT.

AT THE BRIDAL SHOP, TONY MEETS MARIA AND MAKES A PROMISE TO STOP THE FIGHT. HERE THEY THINK OF THEIR WEDDING THAT CAN NEVER BE. BUT THE FIGHT HAS STARTED AND WHEN TONY TRIES TO STOP IT AND OFFER HIS FRIENDSHIP TO BERNADO, BERNADO INSULTS HIM AND PUSHES HIM AWAY. THE FIGHT THEN REALLY BEGINS! A KNIFE APPEARS AND TONY KILLS BERNADO AS HE HAD STABBED HIS FRIEND RIFF. BERNADO IS KILLED. THE POLICE COME ALONG LEAVING THE TWO DEAD LEADERS—RIFF AND BERNADO.

IN THE SECOND HALF MARIA IS WAITING TONY. SHE DOES NOT KNOW WHAT HAS HAPPENED. WHEN SHE DOES SHE HITS TONY AND THEY BOTH SEE THAT IT IS GOING TO BE DIFFICULT TO STAY TOGETHER.

MEANWHILE THE JETS ARE TRYING TO FORGET WHAT HAS HAPPENED.

ANITA ARRIVES AT THE APARTMENT NEEDING TO TALK TO MARIA. SHE TELLS MARIA NOT TO LOVE TONY AND THAT HE IS NO GOOD BUT MARIA TRIES TO EXPLAIN THAT SHE LOVES HIM.

MARIA CONVINCES ANITA TO TAKE A MESSAGE TO TONY THAT SHE WILL MEET HIM. ANITA ARRIVES AT THE CHEMIST WHERE HE WORKS TO DELIVER MARIA'S MESSAGE TO TONY. THE JETS ARE THERE AND ARE HORRIBLE TO ANITA. IN ANGER, RATHER THAN DELIVER MARIA'S MESSAGE SHE TELLS THE JETS THAT CHINO HAS SHOT MARIA.

TONY RUSHES INTO THE STREETS, WANTING CHINO TO KILL HIM TOO. IN THE SCHOOLYARD, TONY SEES MARIA AND THEY RUN TO EACH OTHER. AT THIS MOMENT CHINO STEPS OUT OF THE DARK AND SHOOTS TONY, WHO FALLS INTO MARIA'S ARMS. IN TONY'S DYING MOMENT, MARIA TRIES TO HELP HIM

REMEMBER THEIR DREAM AS THE OTHER GANG MEMBERS ARRIVE. SHE TAKES CHINO'S GUN AND CURSES BOTH GANGS FOR THEIR HATE, BUT FINDS SHE CANNOT HATE ENOUGH TO KILL.

THE JETS AND SHARKS COME TOGETHER TO LIFT UP TONY'S BODY AND CARRY HIM OFF IN A PROCESSION

AND MARIA, IN MOURNING BUT SOMEHOW PROUD AND TRIUMPHANT, FOLLOWS THEM OFF

PLOT

ACT

II

PARALLEL BETWEEN ROMEO AND JULIETROMEO AND JULIET STARTS OUT WITH A STREET FIGHT BETWEEN THE MONTAGUES AND CAPULETS, AS THE JETS AND THE SHARKS DO

THE BEGINNING FIGHT IS BROKEN UP BY KRUPKE AND SCHRANK, JUST AS PRINCE ESCALUS BREAKS UP THE MONTAGUE/CAPULET FIGHT

JULIET IS BETROTHED TO PARIS, AND MARIA HAS BEEN SET UP WITH CHINO (HOWEVER, THEIR CHARACTERS AREN’T VERY SIMILAR)

SOME MONTAGUE MEN CRASHED THE CAPULET PARTY IN WHICH ROMEO MEETS JULIET. IN WSS, MARIA AND TONY SEE EACH OTHER FROM OPPOSITE OF THE DANCE AND ARE IMMEDIATELY ATTRACTED TO EACH OTHER

ROMEO SEARCHES FOR JULIET AND FINDS HER AT HER BALCONY. AFTER THE DANCE, TONY FINDS MARIA AND USES THE FIRE ESCAPE

IN ROMEO AND JULIET THEY GO TO THE FRIAR TO GET MARRIED, MARIA AND TONY SET UP A FAKE WEDDING IN A BRIDAL SHOP

IN THE BIG FIGHT SCENE, BERNARDO KILLS RIFF LIKE TYBALT KILLS MERCUTIO. TONY AVENGES RIFF’S DEATH BY KILLING BERNARDO, JUST ROMEO KILLS TYBALT

BOTH STORIES FEATURE MARIA/JULIET’S FALSE DEATH. ANITA TELLS THE JETS THAT CHINO HAS KILLED MARIA. JULIET FAKES HER DEATH. TONY SEEKS OUT CHINO IN MISERY, WISHING FOR HIM TO DIE ALSO. ROMEO WISHES TO VISIT JULIET’S GRAVE TO TAKE POISON AND DIE WITH HER

THE NURSE IS PLAYED AROUND WITH AND DISGRACED BY MONTAGUES MEN. THE SAME WAS FOR ANITA BY THE JETS

BROADWAY

• OPENED 26/9/1957• CLOSED 27/6/1959• REVIVALS IN 1980 AND 2009• THE 2009 REVIVAL INTERWEAVED SPANISH DIALOGUE

FILM• CHANGES IN CHARACTER PLOTSEG. JETS WERE BEATEN UP BY THE SHARKS IN THE BEGINNING IS DIFFERENT FROM THE STAGE SHOW TO THE FILMEG. LYRIC CHANGES IN CERTAIN NUMBERSEG. SOME NUMBERS ARE SUNG AT DIFFERENT POINTS OF THE MUSICAL

CAST• Cast size: Large (over 20)

• Cast Type: Ethnic Roles, Showcases trained dancers, Showcases trained singers, Star Vehicle - Female, Star Vehicle - Male, Strong/Large Chorus, Teenage Roles

• Dance requirement: Heavy (Extensive Dance Sections/Solos)

• Casting notes: 4 Men, 2 Women, Large ethnically diverse ensemble.

Character Breakdown

• ANITA Maria's saucy older friend. Bernardo's girl. Mezzo-Soprano

• BERNARDO Maria's brother, leader of the Sharks.

• CHINO Maria's angry young suitor. Bernardo's friend.

• DETECTIVE SCHRANK DOC A weary old candy store owner

• GLAD HAND A fidgety chaperone

• MARIA Puerto Rican ingenue. Bernardo's sister. Soprano

• OFFICER KRUPKE A cop

• RIFF Quick-tempered leader of the Jets. Baritone

• THE JETS Action, A-Rab, Baby John, Snowboy, Big Deal, Diesel, Gee-Tar, Mouthpiece and Tiger

• THE JETS' GIRLS Graziella, Velma, Minnie, Clarice, Pauline, and Anybodys-a tagalong tomboy

• THE SHARKS Pepe, Indio, Luis, Anxious, Nibbles, Juano, Toro, Moose

• THE SHARKS' GIRLS Rosalia-Anita's foil in "America", Consuelo, Teresita, Francisca, Estella and Margarita

• TONY Former Jet leader gone straight. Tenor or Baritone

ORCH

ESTR

A• ORCHESTRA SIZE  LARGE

•  INSTRUMENTATION: DOUBLINGS:

• STRINGS- VIOLIN I, II, III, IV; CELLO I, II, III, IV, BASS

• WOODWIND-

REED 1  ALTO SAXOPHONE, BASS CLARINET, CLARINET, FLUTE, PICCOLO

REED 2  BB CLARINET, BASS CLARINET, EB CLARINET

REED 3  BB CLARINET, BARITONE SAXOPHONE, BASS CLARINET, ENGLISH HORN, FLUTE, OBOE, PICCOLO, TENOR SAXOPHONE

REED 4  BASS CLARINET, BASS SAXOPHONE, CLARINET, FLUTE, PICCOLO, SOPRANO SAX

REED 5  BASSOON

• BRASS:- TROMBONE 1   TROMBONE 2   TRUMPET 1   TRUMPET 2   TRUMPET 3  , HORN 1 & 2

•  DRUMS  TRAP SET

• GUITAR  CLASSICAL GUITAR, ELECTRIC GUITAR

•   KEYBOARD  

• PERCUSSION 1 (MALLETS)  CASTANETS, CHIMES, CLAVES, CONGA, FINGER CYMBALS, GLOCKENSPIEL, GOURD, GUIRO, MARACAS, POLICE WHISTLE, RATCHET, SLIDE WHISTLE, SMALL MARACAS, SNARE DRUM, TAM-TAM, TAMBOURINES, TEMPLE BLOCKS, TIMBALES, TRIANGLE, VIBRAPHONE, WOODBLOCK, XYLOPHONE, 2 SUSPENDED CYMBALS, 3 BONGOS, 3 COWBELLS, 4 PITCHED DRUMS

SET• URBAN

• NEED A RAISED PLATFORM FOR THE FIRE ESCAPE/BALCONY SCENE

• WILL FEATURE SOME TYPE OF SECOND STORY-THERE APPEARS TO BE FLEXIBILITY ABOUT HOW ONE DESIGNS THIS SECOND STORY.

WHAT IS CONTEXT?• CULTURAL• SOCIAL• HISTORICAL• AESTHETIC/INDIVIDUAL• GEOGRAPHICAL

HISTORICAL• WHEN WAS IT WRITTEN?• WHAT HISTORICAL EVENT/S HAVE

INFLUENCED THE MUSIC?• IS THERE A PARICULAR PERIOD THAT THE

MUSIC REPRESENTS?• WHAT ARE THE EVIDENCE?‘THAT'S THE 1950S FOR YOU. THERE WAS ALWAYS A LOT GOING ON UNDER THE SURFACE.’

CULTURAL• WHAT CULTURAL IS REPRESENTED IN THE

MUSIC?• DOES THE MUSIC HAVE A CULTURAL

FUNCTION OR PURPOSE?

SOCIAL

• WHAT OCCASION MIGHT THIS HAVE BEEN WRITTEN FOR?

AESTHETIC/INDIVIDUAL• IS THERE A PARTICULAR GROUP WHOSE TASTE IN

MUSIC THIS WOULD SUIT?• WHAT MIGHT THIS MEAN TO OTHER GROUPS?• HOW HAVE THE COMPOSER’S BACKGROUND AND

CHARACTERISTICS INFLUENCE THE WORK?

It was Robbins who dominated the production of West Side Story, which had been written in the mid-'50s by Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and a young Stephen Sondheim.

"West Side Story is 1957; we were really just coming out of the McCarthy era," says Gregg Lawrence, author of the Robbins biography Dance With Demons. "He was one of those who was terrorized and named names, and it really shaped him for the rest of his life.“

It had been Robbins who came up with the original idea of a modern, urban Romeo and Juliet; Bernstein and Laurents added the idea of warring street gangs in place of Shakespeare's feuding families. In the play, a Puerto Rican girl named Maria, whose brother is in one gang, loves Tony, who's in the opposing "American" gang."That kind of bigotry and prejudice was very much in the air," writer and co-creator Arthur Laurents says. "It's really, 'How can love survive in a violent world of prejudice?' That's what it's about."

West Side Story brought that tension inside, even within the constraints of a more repressive time.

"There are no four-letter words in it. You couldn't use 'em in those days," Laurents says. "A scene that I wrote ended with, 'Hey, Officer Krupke, krup you!' And they said 'brass ass.' Well, that was considered shocking and daring. It must have been 20 years later before they used four-letter words so freely.

"The idea was to do something good," he adds. "I think we were all in love with musical theater. I don't think any of us thought of the commercial possibilities of the show. I thought it would last, if we were lucky, three months.“

Consider this: It was ardently, feverishly heterosexual musical theater, created by four gay men at a time when it was even less acceptable to be gay than it was to be Leftist. But Arthur Laurents says that's beside the point.

"It's four Jews," Laurents says. "There's a big difference. It's true. I think being part of a minority... I know gays were a minority, but gays didn't figure much in the '50s. Jews figured then, now and always. But I think that was more what we had in common, what drove it — drove the feeling of injustice, at any rate."

GEOGRAPHICAL• WHERE WAS IT WRITTEN?• WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF MUSIC FROM THIS PART

OF THE WORLD?• WHAT PARTICULAR INFLUENCES DOES THE LOCATION BRING

TO THE MUSIC?• HOW MIGHT THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT AFFECT THE

MUSIC?• COULD THE SAME WORK HAVE BEEN CREATED AT ANOTHER

TIME IN THE SAME PLACE, OR AT THE DIFFERENCE PLACE AND AT DIFFERENT TIME IN HISTORY?

THE NAME ‘WEST SIDE STORY’• IN THE 1950S MANY PUERTO RICANS MOVED TO NEW YORK, CREATING TENSION

BETWEEN NATIVE NEW YORKERS AND THE IMMIGRANTS. THIS HOSTILITY THAT AFFECTED THE YOUNG EVEN MORE THAN IT DID THE OLD. PUERTO RICANS SETTLED FOR THE MOST PART, ON THE EXTREME WEST SIDE OF NEW YORK, HENCE THE NAME ‘WEST SIDE STORY’.

• WITHIN THE MUSICAL, FEATURES OF SOUTH AMERICAN MUSIC- DANCE, SWING AND SYNCOPATION WERE USED EXTENSIVELY IN THE SONGS AND AS BACKGROUND MUSIC. THIS IS GROUND BREAKING COMPARING TO THE MORE ‘TRADITIONAL’ WESTERN SOUNDS OF LOCAL AMERICAN THEATRE WRITING.

AESTHETIC REPRESENTATIONROMEO AND JULIET HAS BEEN A POPULAR SUBJECT FOR COMPOSERS SINCE SHAKESPEARE PENNED THE STORY

THE MOST POPULAR HAS BEEN TCHAIKOVSKY’S ROMEO AND JULIET FANTASY OVERTURE

THE CHARACTER REPRESENTATION (USING MUSICAL MOTIF AND THEMES) AND ITS CHANGES IS HEARD THROUGHOUT THE PIECE AS THE PLOT PROGRESS

THE SAME GOES FOR WSS. THE DISSONANCE IN HARMONY REPRESENTING TENSION, ESPECIALLY MENTAL AGGREVATION. THE FIGHTS ARE PERCUSSIVE AND YOUTHFUL IN RHYTHM.

THE USE OF TRITONE TO REPRESENT THE MAIN CHARACTERS IN WSS IS EVIDENT IN MANY OF THE SONGS.

THE USE OF SYNCOPATION, CROSS RHYTHM IN THE LATINO NUMBERS IN WSS TO REPRESENT THE PUERTO RICAN SHARKS

SOCIAL ISSUES AFFECTING WSSRACISM

PREJUDICE

WELFARE

CRIME

IMMIGRATION OF SOUTH AMERICANS

IN 1949 WHEN THE IDEA WAS FIRST DRAFTED, IT WAS FRONTED WITH JEW (WHO LIVED IN THE EAST SIDE) WITH THE CATHOLIC WITH RELIGION CONFRONTATION AS THE CENTRAL ISSUE. IT WAS LATER CHANGED WHEN THE FINAL SETTINGS WERE DECIDED- PUERTO RICANS AND AMERICANS. GANG WELFARE DURING THE PRODUCTION PERIOD KEPT THE SHOW’S PLOT TIMELY.

PERSONAL ISSUES AFFECTING WSSBOTH BERNSTEIN AND SONDHEIM ARE JEWISH, HENCE, THEY UNDERSTAND THE MINIORITY AND DISCRIMINATION AND WANTED TO VOICE WHAT THEY HAVE SEEN AND HEARD AROUND THEM IN A REALISTIC MANNER IN WSS

IN 1949 WHEN THE IDEA OF WSS FIRST CAME INTO MIND, IT WAS SET FOR THE EAST SIDE WITH JEW V.S. CATHOLIC AND

BERNSTEIN WAS CLASSICALLY TRAINED, AND THEREFORE, THE SYMPHONIC APPROACH IN COMPOSING WSS IS UNDERSTANDABLE

THE LYRICS FOR ‘SOMEWHERE’ IS YEARNING FOR A MORE ACCEPTING WORLD

STRUCTURAL AND COMMUNICATIVE

STRUCTURAL AND COMMUNICATIVE• WHAT ASPECTS OF THE PERFORMANCE ARE IMPORTANT?• WHAT IS THE USUAL WAY THIS MUSIC IS PERFORMED?• ARE THERE ANY SPECIAL TECHNIQUES NEEDED TO PERFORM IT?• MIGHT THERE BE DIFFERENCES IN INTERPRETATION OF THE PERFORMANCE?

How did a 1957 audience greet the spectacle of West Side Story?

"I think the innovation was having death, attempted rape, murder in a musical, in musical theater," Laurents says. "The subject matter — bigotry and violence and prejudice — and [the idea] that people would pay money to see that with an orchestra.“

"The opening night in Washington, D.C.," Carol Lawrence says, "when the curtain went up for our curtain calls, and they had just seen Tony's body taken over and the strain of 'Somewhere' and just a bell tolling -– still breaks me up — we ran to our spaces and faced the audience holding hands. And the curtain went up and we looked at the audience, and they looked at us, and we looked at them, and I thought, 'Oh, dear Lord, it's a bomb!' “

"We thought the thing was going down the drain," Laurents adds. "Oh, it was awful.""And then, as if Jerry had choreographed it," Lawrence says, "they jumped to their feet. I never saw people stamping and yelling, and by that time, Lenny had worked his way backstage, and he came at the final curtain and walked to me, put his arms around me, and we wept."Walter Kerr of the Herald Tribune opened his review with the classic and much-repeated line, "The radioactive fallout from West Side Story must still be descending on Broadway this morning."There's that '50s imagery, though neither on stage nor in life did West Side Story have a '50s-style Ozzie and Harriet ending.

EXPRESSIVE QUALITIES

EXPRESSIVE QUALITIES• DESCRIBE THE MUSIC FEATURES IN WEST SIDE STORY THAT MADE IT UNIQUE

IN THE MUSICAL REPERTOIRE

PROLOGUE

• INTRODUCTION: BARS 1 - 3• SECTION A: BARS 4 - 39• SECTION B: BARS 40 - 105• SECTION B1: BARS 106 - 140• SECTION A1: BARS 141 - 157• OUTRO: BAR 158 - FADES OUT

CROSS RHYTHMS:

different rhythms xworking

against each other

RIFFSShort riffs,

lots of ideas

SHORT PHRASES

AND SUSTAINED NOTES

TRITONE:Augmented 4th interval –

3 whole tones

PUSH RHYTHMSSyncopated

rhythms anticipating

the beat

JAZZ HARMONYBlues notes/ Blues scale

TRITONE:Augmented 4th interval –

3 whole tones

• WORD PAINTING IS WHERE THE MUSIC IS COMPOSED TO ‘SOUND LIKE’ THE WORD.

• E.G. THE WORD ‘FALLING’ MIGHT HAVE A DESCENDING NOTE PATTERN. THERE ARE MANY EXAMPLES OF WORD PAINTING IN THIS PIECE.

• CANN-ON-BALL-ING (CANNONBALLING) – BAR 22 – A POUNDING, REPEATED QUAVER PATTERN ON ONE NOTE.

• THE AIR IS HUMMING – BAR 136 – HIGH PITCHED, LONG SUSTAINED NOTES GIVE A LIGHT, AIRY FEEL.

• WHISTLING DOWN THE RIVER – BAR 82-88 – FULL OF LONG NOTES SUNG RELATIVELY LEGATO WITH A TRIPLET TO GIVE THE FEEL OF MOVING WATER.

Jazz-based harmony Bar 48

Push Rhythms (Syncopated rhythms) Bar 4

Tritone (devil in music) interval. G sharp to D Bar 17

Extensive use of short riffs Bars 13 - 14

Cross rhythms Bars 81 - 88

Layered textures of independent parts In the orchestration

Combination of snappy short phrases and long sustained notes

Bars 13 - 14

COMPLETE THE SENTENCES

• FRAGMENTS OF 4 SENTENCES ARE LISTED BELOW. MATCH THE FRAGMENTS TOGETHER AND REWRITE IN FULL:

• “SOMETHING’S COMING” HAS JAZZ-INSPIRED HARMONY, AS IT USES…• “SOMETHING’S COMING” HAS AN UNSETTLED FEEL, PARTLY BECAUSE IT

HAS…THE SONG HITS AT THE TRAGEDY TO COME, AS IT USES…

• THE MELODY LINE IS MADE UP OF…

…cross-rhythms and repeated modulations

…extensive use of the tritone in the melody line

…notes from the blues scale…a mixture of short snappy phrases and long held notes

The music written for ‘West Side Story’ was cutting edge up to this time:

The dark theme rooted in violence and tragedyThe use of long, extended dance scenes to convey the dramaThe sophisticated synthesis of jazz and classical musical idiomsThe focus on social problems and tensions of contemporary America

ANALYSIS – TONIGHT & MARIA• MELODY – MELODIC RANGE, USE OF TRITON AND INTERESTING INTERVALS• RHYTHM – RIFFS, SYNCOPATION, CROSS RHYTHM, OSTINATO, METRE CHANGES• HARMONY – JAZZ CHORDS, MODULATION• STRUCTURE• TIMBRE• TEXTURE• WORD-PAINTING

PERFORMANCE PRACTICE‘THE MECHANICS OF A PERFORMANCE THAT DEFINES ITS STYLE’

• THE FILM VERSION OF MARIA AND TONIGHT IS SUNG LESS ’OPERATICALLY’, WITHOUT VIBRATO, KEEPING THE POPULAR APPEAL OF MUSICAL FILM AND MUSICAL THEATRE. THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN SIMILAR WITH THE ACTUAL LIVE MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE, WHERE CAST WOULD HAVE TO MOVE/ACT/DANCE, SO THE SINGING WOULD BE CONSIDERED LESS IMPORTANT IN COMPARISON WITH THE ACTING/EXPRESSIVE QUALITIES OF THE VOCAL.

• IN THE RECORDING CONDUCTED BY BERNSTEIN, CLASSICALLY TRAINED MUSICAINS WERE EMPLOYED TO SING THE LEAD ROLES, THUS THE SINGING WERE MORE OPERATIC, AND THE BACKGROUND ACCOMPANIMENT WERE MORE ROBUST WITH THE SYMPHONIC QUALITY. SINGERS SUCH AS KIRI TE KANAWA AND JOSE CARRERAS EMPLOYED VARIOUS VIBRATO TECHNIQUES FOR THE SONG. BERNSTEIN PROBABLY WANTED OR PREFERRED THE MORE OPERATIC PERFORMANCE, SINCE BOTH SONGS ARE VOCALLY CHALLENGING TO SING

MATERIAL AND MECHANICAL PRODUCTION

MATERIAL AND MECHANICAL PRODUCTION

• WHAT TECHNOLOGIES (INSTRUMENTS AND EQUIPMENTS) ARE USED TO PERFORM THE MUSIC?

ACOUSTICAL CONTEXTS

ACOUSTICAL CONTEXTS• WHAT IS THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT USED TO PRODUCE AND CREATE

WEST SIDE STORY?• WHAT INSTRUMENTAL OR VOCAL QUALITIES AFFECT THE MUSIC?

CONCEPTION OF WEST SIDE STORY

INFLUENCE OF VARIOUS SOURCES

• OPERA• JAZZ• AMERICAN STAGE MUSICAL

OPERATIC INFLUENCE

• USE OF ORCHESTRA AND ITS SYMPHONIC SOUNDS• LEAD CHARACTERS REQUIRE TO SING MORE DIFFICULT MATERIALS THAT

NORMALLY APPEAR IN OPERAS RATHER THAN MUSICALS• ARIA, DUET, HYMN STYLES INCORPORATED IN THE SONGS• USE OF MUSICAL MOTIF TO LINK THE MUSIC AND SCORES TOGETHER

OPERATIC INFLUENCE EXAMPLES• MARIA – BALLAD, ARIA-LIKE SONG REQUIRED FOR ADVANCED VOCAL ABILITY.

THE EXTENSIVE USE OF ORCHESTRA AS ACCOMPANIMENT GIVES ITS OPERATIC FEEL

• ONE HAND, ONE HEART- HYMN-LIKE QUALITY, SLOW, GRAND GESTURES WITH ITS SYMPHONIC BACKING

• SOMEWHERE- ‘DEEP’ MESSAGE FOR YEARNING UNIVERSAL ACCEPTANCE. WIDER VOCAL RANGE REQUIRE SINGERS WITH MORE TRAINING FOR THE PART

IN GENERAL, THE LOVE THEMED SONGS HAVE STRONG OPERATIC CHARACTERISTICS, MEANING THE LEADS ARE REQUIRED TO POSSESS BETTER VOCAL/OPERATIC TRAINING WITH THE DIFFICULTY OF THE MATERIAL

DANCES

• I FEEL PRETTY- THE WALTZ-STYLED DANCE SONG ARE TYPICAL OF THE OPERA/OPERATTA FROM THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY

MUSICAL MOTIF• MUSICAL MOTIF ARE USED EXTENSIVELY IN WSS. • THE INTERVAL OF 4TH ARE USED IN MANY OF THE SONGSEG, TONIGHT (4TH), AMERICA (4TH)EG THE TRITON (AUGMENTED 4TH) IS USED IN ‘SOMETHING’S COMING’ AND ‘MARIA’THESE ARE FEATURES FROM THE OPERATIC WRITING STYLE

CINEMATIC INFLUENCES

• MUSIC IS ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE ACTION AND EMOTION HAPPENINGS ON STAGE

EG, ‘PROLOGUE’- THE DRUM BEATS AND PERCUSSION BUILDS UP THE TENSION AS BOTH THE RHYTHMIC AND TEXTURAL ELEMENT INTENSIFY. HARMONICALLY, THE USE OF DISSONANT CHORDS AIDS TO THE TENSION.

THEATRICAL INFLUENCES• BIG CHORUS SONGS, USE OF DANCE/ACTION SONGS, THE POP/CONTEMPORARY VOCAL

STYLE REQUIRED FROM THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS ADDS MANY INTERESTING LAYERS AND SIDE STORYLINES TO WSS, THUS DE-INTENSIFY THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE FORBIDDEN LOVE THEME BETWEEN THE OPERATIC SONGS FROM MARIA AND TONY.

• ‘JET SONG’ ‘AMERICA’ ‘GEE OFFICER KRUPKE’ INCORPORATED LARGE NUMBERS OF CAST AND CHORUS SINGING, WITH ITS SPEECH-LIKE SINGING BORROWED FROM THE AMERICAN MUSICAL STYLE.

• IN ‘AMERICA’, THE CHOREOGRAPHED DANCE ALONG WITH CALL AND RESPONSE MUSICAL STYLE THAT ARE UPBEAT AND ENGAGING, REFLECTING THE THEATRICAL INFLUENCE.

JAZZ INFLUENCE• THE LARGE NUMBER OF WOODWIND AND BRASS INSTRUMENTS, AS WELL AS

PERCUSSIONIST PERFORMS MANY NUMBERS WHERE CAST IS ENGAGED IN DANCE OR CHOREOGRAPHED ACTIONS, EG ‘THE DANCE AT THE GYM’, WHERE MUSICAL STYLES BEGINS IN BLUES. THEM INTO PROMENADE SQUARE DANCE, THEN INTO MAMBO (OFFBEAT AND SYNCOPATED), WHICH REFLECTS THE REAL LIFE MUSICAL/CULTURAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SHARKS AND THE JETS. THE TENSION IS THEN DIFFUSED WHEN THE CHA CHA TAKES OVER, WITH INTIMATE FLUTE AND UPPER WOODWIND PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND