Leonard Berstein Flashcards
1
Q
His Style and Contributions
A
- combined American, Hispanic, and Jewish styles
- trained at Harvard and the Curtis Institute
- used popular jazz and theater music
- was a brilliant orchestrator and conductor
- his rhythms are from dance and jazz styles
- his work was neo-Classical but his harmony is sometimes dissonant
- musicals: On the Town, Wonderful Town, West Side Story, Candide
- operas: Trouble in Tahiti, A Quiet Place
- ballets: Fancy Free, Facsimile, Dybbuk
- film music: On the Waterfront
- chorus and orchestra: Songfest, Mass, Chichester Psalms
- chamber music: Prelude, Fugue and Riffs (one title)
- song cycle: I Hate Music
- orchestra works:
- Serenade
- symphonies: “Jeremiah,” “The Age of Anxiety,”
“Kaddish”
2
Q
Important Work: West Side Story
A
- musical theater
- 1957
- based on Romeo and Juliet
- librettists: Arthur Laurents (playwright) and Stephen Sondheim (lyricist)
- choreographer: Jerome Robbins
- film: directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins
3
Q
Characters of West Side Story
A
- Maria (soprano; sister of the leader of the Sharks)
- Tony (tenor; member of the Jets)
- Bernardo (baritone; leader of the Sharks and the brother of Maria)
- Riff (baritone; leader of the Jets)
- Anita (mezzo soprano; Bernardo’s girlfriend)
4
Q
Plot of West Side Story
A
- similar to the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
- two rival street gangs
- Maria and Tony fall in love at a dance
- large gang fight at the end of the play
- Bernardo stabs Riff
- Tony stabs Bernardo
- another member of the Sharks kills Tony
- Maria arrives to see her brother and boyfriend dead
5
Q
Music of West Side Story
A
- “Maria”
- sung by Tony after he has met Maria and fallen in love with her
- in 4/4 time
- keys: B major and E-flat major
- melody opens with a repeated note chant of her name in free rhythm
- verse continues with the tritone interval to suggest yearning
- melody follows a broad arc and then returns to the chant-like opening
- timpani are used
- “America”
- sung by Anita, Rosalia, and other Puerto Rican girls
- they are in an alley behind Bernardo and Maria’s house expressing their homesickness for their native country
- begins with an introduction, then continues with verse-chorus structure
- introduction:
- uses claves (wood blocs) and guira (ribbed gourd) for cross-rhythms and ostinato
- Spanish guitar and celesta move in parallel 3rds
- verse:
- Rosalia sings about her yearning for her homeland while Anita expresses her love of her new home in Manhattan
- word painting on the word “breezes” using a whole-tone scale and glissando
- chorus:
- repeats the word “America”
- alternates between a 6/8 and 3/4 pattern, establishing the hemiola effect
- syncopations
- Latin flavour achieved through use of guitar, claves, and maracas
- colourful orchestrations
