Fancy Free
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)

THE STORY

In the early fall of 1943, the twenty-five-year-old Leonard Bernstein answered a knock at the door of his Carnegie Hall apartment only to be greeted by a stranger: the dancer Jerome Robbins of Ballet Theatre (now American Ballet Theatre). Robbins had recently developed a ballet scenario he felt required a jazzy score to complement its distinctively American setting. Bernstein welcomed Robbins inside, heard his pitch for what would become Fancy Free, and immediately presented Robbins with musical themes, eager for their collaboration—the first of many, including the Broadway musicals On the Town (1944) and West Side Story (1957).

Despite the electricity of their first meeting, the duo was presented with a fair share of obstacles in the completion of the ballet. Bernstein’s budding conducting career took him all around the country with engagements, and Robbins was constantly touring with Ballet Theatre—the two were rarely together during the creation of Fancy Free. Consequently, the bulk of Fancy Free was composed and choreographed via letters and tape recordings between the two men. When Bernstein finished composing a section, he would record a four-hand piano arrangement (with none other than Aaron Copland playing second piano) and send it off to Robbins for approval and edits. The challenges of such a situation are summarized well by Bernstein in a letter to Robbins only one month before the premiere on April 18, 1944, “These [musical edits] are really impossible to discuss like this…get home! I need you!”

The whimsical plot of Fancy Free involves three Navy sailors on 24 hours of shore leave. After a few drinks, the sailors wander outside the bar and notice a captivating woman. Two of the sailors dance after her in hot pursuit, while the third finds himself a partner of his own with whom he dances a passionate pas de deux. When the first woman returns with the two sailors, everyone realizes that there are three men but only two women! A contest ensues for who will win the affection of the women, each sailor dancing a solo variation (a waltz, a galop, and a danzón). Ultimately, the women cannot declare a winner, leading to a fistfight between the men while the women scurry off. The ballet ends with a new woman captivating the sailor’s attention, presumably ending the scene where it began.

With World War II still raging, the lighthearted scenario and American imagery presented in Fancy Free enlivened the spirits of all who listened—it was performed over 160 times in its opening year alone—an effect owed in no small part to Bernstein’s playful and jazz-infused score.

LISTEN FOR

• The central role of the piano, which Bernstein called the “auditory key to the ballet”—the solo in the Finale is a highlight
• Rhythmic vitality and innovation throughout the piece, featured foremost in the first movement—each new phrase propels forward with a jaunty, syncopated thrust
• The “popular song style” of the pas de deux, featuring blue notes, slick glissandos, and a passionate string section

INSTRUMENTATION

Two flutes (one doubling piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, piano, strings

© Andrew Moenning