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Creation, Orchestration, Unification, and Analysis
from Part II - The Work Itself and Its Context
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 January 2025
A principal reason for the continuing significance of West Side Story in the musical theatre repertory is the quality of the score, with memorable songs and dance music that are intimately tied to the plot. This chapter opens with brief consideration of significant matters for Bernstein and Sondheim as they created the score. Description of the orchestration, which Bernstein accomplished with the assistance of Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal, includes the process and a description of the show’s three major soundscapes and how they interact in the score. Bernstein’s unification of the score involves shared melodic and rhythmic motives, identified here and documented through musical examples. The approach to individual numbers involves important material concerning their composition and significant aspects of lyrics and music, documented with many references to the 1957 and 2009 original cast recordings and Bernstein’s 1984 studio recording of the score.
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