Leonard Bernstein was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, on August 25, 1918, and died in New York on October 14, 1990. The first performance of the Symphonic Dances from West Side Story took place at Carnegie Hall in New York on February 13, 1961, with Lukas Foss conducting the New York Philharmonic.
The Symphonic Dances from West Side Story are scored for three flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), two oboes, English horn, E-flat clarinet, two clarinets, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, vibraphone, timbales, congas, bass drum, tom-tom, drum set, cymbals, tambourine, woodblock, triangle, tam-tam, xylophone, glockenspiel, chimes, tenor drum, four pitched drums, two snare drums, finger cymbals, two pairs of maracas, three cowbells, police whistle, three bongos, two suspended cymbals, guiro, harp, piano/celesta, and strings. Approximate performance time is twenty-two minutes.
West Side Story premiered on August 19, 1957, at the National Theater in Washington, DC. The production featured one of the most remarkable collaborative teams in the history of musical theater; the book by Arthur Laurents, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, music by Leonard Bernstein, and the entire production directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins.
After stagings in Washington, DC, and Philadelphia, West Side Story opened at the Winter Garden in New York City on September 26, 1957. The production finally closed on June 27, 1959, after 734 performances. A tour followed, as well as a Hollywood movie in 1961. West Side Story has remained in the repertoire ever since.
West Side Story, one of the miracles of American musical theater, is a remarkable fusion of drama, music, and dance, all placed at the service of a powerful and timeless story. It also represents an amazing synthesis of popular and classical elements, a sublime marriage of the Broadway stage with the opera and ballet houses. As Bernstein wrote after the premiere:
"I am now convinced that what we dreamed all these years is possible; because there stands that tragic story, with a theme as profound as love versus hate, with all the theatrical risks of death and racial issues and young performers and “serious” music and complicated balletics – and it all added up for the audiences and critics."
In West Side Story, the setting of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet shifts from Verona to New York City. The Capulets are now the Puerto Rican gang, the Sharks. The Montagues become the Jets, a gang of “self-styled Americans." Tony, a member of the Jets, and Maria, the sister of the leader of the Sharks, are the modern-day “star-crossed lovers.”
In 1960, Bernstein fashioned an orchestral work from the original Broadway score. Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal assisted Bernstein in orchestrating the Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, which premiered at New York’s Carnegie Hall on February 13, 1961. Lukas Foss conducted the New York Philharmonic.
The Symphonic Dances from West Side Story comprise the following sections, played without pause:
Prologue. Allegro moderato
Somewhere. Adagio
Scherzo. Vivace leggiero
Mambo. Presto
Cha-Cha. Andantino con grazia
Meeting Scene. Meno mosso
Cool, Fugue. Allegretto
Rumble. Molto allegro
Finale. Adagio