Program Notes
a sonic bridge to the entry of the cow horn, which functions
as an ur from the German for ‘source’ or ‘primitive’ brass
instrument from a lost age.
“The second and larger of the two aerial views, entitled
Gone Dancing, provides an energetic contrast, with glimpses
of two exuberant examples of ‘light’ music at its best, but
heard as if from another planet — our world is empty of
human life, but a lone sign bears the words ‘Gone Dancing.’
The movement opens in the West in the 1940s with Fred
and Ginger creating a toe-tapping dance dialogue, and this
moves into outdoor folk music of a distinctly Eastern hue
with the soloist progressively assuming the role of leader of
the village band.”
PETER ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
ROMEO AND JULIET, FANTASY-OVERTURE
Duration: ca. 20 minutes
Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet is in a carefully constructed
sonata form, with introduction and coda. The slow opening
section, in chorale style, depicts Friar Lawrence. The
exposition (Allegro giusto) begins with a vigorous, syncopated
theme depicting the conflict between the Montagues and
the Capulets. The contrapuntal interworkings and the
rising intensity of the theme in this section suggest the
fury and confusion of a fight. The conflict subsides and the
well-known love theme (used here as a contrasting second
theme) is sung by the English horn to represent Romeo’s
passion; a tender, sighing phrase for muted violins suggests
Juliet’s response. A stormy development section utilizing the
driving main theme and the theme from the introduction
denotes the continuing feud between the families and Friar
Lawrence’s urgent pleas for peace. The crest of the fight
ushers in the recapitulation, in which the thematic material
from the exposition is considerably compressed. Juliet’s
sighs again provoke the ardor of Romeo, whose motive is
here given a grand, emotional setting that marks the work’s
emotional high point. The tempo slows, the mood darkens,
and the coda emerges with a sense of impending doom. The
themes of the conflict and of Friar Lawrence’s entreaties
sound again, but a funereal drum beats out the cadence of
the lovers’ fatal pact. Romeo’s theme appears for a final time
in a poignant transformation before the closing woodwind
THE FLORIDA OR 38 CHESTRA | 2017-2018
chords evoke visions of the flight to celestial regions
LEONARD BERNSTEIN
SYMPHONIC DANCES FROM WEST SIDE STORY
Duration: ca. 24 minutes
West Side Story was one of the first musicals to explore a
serious subject with wide social implications. More than just
the story of the tragic lives of ordinary people in a grubby
section of New York, it was concerned with urban violence,
juvenile delinquency, clan hatred and young love. The show
was criticized as harshly realistic by some who advocated an
entirely escapist function for the musical, depicting things
that were not appropriately shown on the Broadway stage.
Most, however, recognized that it expanded the scope of
the musical through references both to classical literature
(Romeo and Juliet) and to the pressing problems of modern
society. Brooks Atkinson, former critic of The New York Times,
noted in his book Broadway that West Side Story was “a harsh
ballad of the city, taut, nervous and flaring, the melodies
choked apprehensively, the rhythms wild, swift and deadly.”
Much of the show’s electric atmosphere was generated by
its brilliant dance sequences, for which Jerome Robbins
won the 1957-1958 Tony Award for choreography. In 1961,
Bernstein chose a sequence of dance music from West Side
Story to assemble as a concert work, and Sid Ramin and
Irwin Kostal executed the orchestration of these “Symphonic
Dances” under the composer’s direction. Bernstein said that
he called these excerpts “symphonic” not because they
were arranged for full orchestra but because many of them
grew, like a classical symphony, from a few basic themes
transformed into a variety of moods to fit the play’s action
and emotions. West Side Story, like a very few other musicals
— Show Boat, Oklahoma, Pal Joey, A Chorus Line, Sunday in
the Park with George, Rent, Hamilton — provides more than
just an evening’s pleasant diversion. It is a work that gave an
entirely new vision and direction to the American musical
theater.
© 2018 Dr. Richard E. Rodda
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