Leonard Bernstein: West Side Story
- ISBN-10
- 1351560379
- ISBN-13
- 9781351560375
- Series
- Leonard Bernstein
- Category
- Music
- Pages
- 245
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2017-07-05
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Author
- Nigel Simeone
Description
One of the Broadway musicals that can genuinely claim to have transformed the genre, West Side Story has been featured in many books on Broadway, but it has yet to be the focus of a scholarly monograph. Nigel Simeone begins by exploring the long process of creating West Side Story, including a discussion of Bernstein's sketches, early drafts of the score and script, as well as cut songs. The core of the book is a commentary on the music itself. West Side Story is one of the very few Broadway musicals for which there is a complete published orchestral score, as well as two different editions of the piano-vocal score. The survival of the original copied orchestral score, and the reminiscences of Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal, reveal details of the orchestration process, and the extent to which Bernstein was involved in this. Simeone's commentary considers: musical characteristics and compositional techniques used to mirror the drama (for example, the various uses of the tritone), motivic development, the use and reinvention of Broadway and other conventions, the creation of dramatic continuity in the score through the use of motifs and other devices, the unusual degree of dissonance and rhythmic complexity (at least for the time), and the integration of Latin-American dance forms (Mambo, Huapango and so on). Simeone also considers the reception of West Side Story in the contemporary press. The stir the show caused included the response that it was the angular, edgy score that made it a remarkable achievement. Not all reviews were uncritical. Finally, the book looks in detail at the making of the original Broadway cast recording, made in just one day, included on the accompanying CD.
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
The Disciplines of Vocal Pedagogy: Towards an Holistic Approach
By Karen Sell... Luisa 74,123, 124 Thom, Paul 2 Thomas, Amboise 29 Thompson, Gordon 95 Thurman, Leon 66, 68, 88 Timberlake, Craig 9, 23, 37 Tinctoris, 165 Titze, ...
-
Mind-Body Awareness for Singers: Unleashing Optimal Performance
By Karen Leigh-Post... by a full cycle per second, from 6.5 Hz (e.g., Enrico Caruso [Dejonckere et al., 1995]) to 5.5 Hz (e.g., Luciano Pavarotti [Keidar, Titze, & Timberlake ...
-
So You Want to Sing Music Theater: A Guide for Professionals
By Karen HallTimberlake, C. (1986). The 'pop' singer and the voice teacher (From the American Academy of Teachers of Singing). The NATSJournal, September/October, 21, ...
-
The Disciplines of Vocal Pedagogy: Towards an Holistic Approach
By Karen Sell... Joseph C.95 Stendhal (Beyle, Henri) 31 Steptoe, Andrew 3, 175 Stevens, ... Gordon 95 Thurman, Leon 66, 68,88 Timberlake, Craig 9, 23, 37 Tinctoris, ...
-
Loving Music Till It Hurts
By William Cheng... Camp Aesthetic: Advancing New Perspectives, edited by Bruce E. Drushel ... “Our Icons: Ourselves; Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Kevin Federline, ...
-
A Christmas Carol: Preview Packchoral Score & Cd
By Anna Laura Page, Jean Anne ShaffermanA Christmas Carol in Bethlehem is an adaptation of Dickens' classic 19th century English tale that places Scrooge in Bethlehem at the birth of Christ.
-
Justin Timberlake - Man of the Woods Songbook
By Justin Timberlake(Piano/Vocal/Guitar Artist Songbook). 16 tracks from Timberlake's 2018 album which debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 charts, including: Breeze off the Pond * Filthy * Flannel * The Hard Stuff * Hers * Higher Higher * Livin' off the ...
-
Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience Songbook
By Justin Timberlake(Piano/Vocal/Guitar Artist Songbook).
-
Trolls: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack
By Justin Timberlake, Anna Kendrick(Piano/Vocal/Guitar Songbook). Matching folio to the infectious soundtrack of the 2016 DreamWorks film featuring songs by Justin Timberlake; Anna Kendrick; Zooey Deschanel; Gwen Stefani; Ariana Grande; Earth, Wind & Fire; and more!
-
Our Ancient National Airs: Scottish Song Collecting from the Enlightenment to the Romantic Era
By Karen McAulay2, footnote cites uvedale Price, An Essay on the Picturesque, as compared with the sublime and the beautiful, and, on the use of studying pictures for the purpose of improving real landscape (London: printed for J. Robson, 1794), p.