Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)

THE STORY

Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story (1957)—with choreography by Jerome Robbins, book by Arthur Laurents, and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim—stands as one of the 20th century’s great artistic collaborations. Reimagining Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in New York City, West Side Story revolves around the love story of Maria and Tony and their ties to rival street gangs: the Sharks (from Puerto Rico) and the Jets (Bronx natives). The musical promoted a message of peace and mutual understanding—a poignant message for Cold War America. Bernstein’s score characterizes the gangs by incorporating elements of Latin music, such as extensive percussion and dance rhythms, as well as the swinging rhythms of the American jazz tradition.

In 1960, Bernstein began to reimagine the music to West Side Story scored for full orchestra rather than the limited forces of a Broadway pit orchestra. The result was the Symphonic Dances, which unifies the dissimilar musical numbers into a definitive and convincing whole.

LISTEN FOR

• The way Bernstein incorporates elements of the musical’s distinctive feel, such as the finger snaps by the orchestra members in the “Prologue” and the chants of “Mambo!” in the dance movement of the same name
• The recurrent use of the tritone—one of the most dissonant intervals in Western music—symbolizing the conflict inherent in the plot of the musical
• Bernstein’s dynamic pacing, bookending the piece with the memorable love songs from the musical—“Somewhere” at the beginning of the work, and “I Have a Love” in the Finale

INSTRUMENTATION

Piccolo, three flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, alto saxophone, bass clarinet, E-flat clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, piano, celesta, harp, strings

Notes on the music by Andrew Moenning