GLOSSARY OF
MUSICAL TERMS






Here are some musical terms that are directly or indirectly connected to West Side Story.

Your suggestions for additional entries can be sent via e-mail and are welcome as always.





Adumbration
The term used to describe a passage in a song that foreshadows or pre-figures a later song in the same score.

There exist in the score at least four examples of adumbration. Other more subtle examples may be found, but the four at hand are:

  • The Cha-Cha, which unmistakably foreshadows "Maria."


  • The closing passage of "Tonight," which is the "Somewhere" theme prominent in Act Two.


  • The Procession of the Dream Ballet, which contains the music of the still-unheard "I Have a Love."


  • A lesser-known portion of the Jet Song ("Oh when the Jets fall in...") is sung to the music of the forthcoming Dance at the Gym. (Cut during rehearsals or previews and thus omitted from both the Broadway cast album and the soundtrack, this passage was re-instated for the Bernstein-conducted Deutsche Grammophon recording and can also be heard on the highly-recommended Leicester Haymarket 1993 cast recording.)

Thanks to John M.





Alto

See "Voices"  





Baritone

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Bass

See "Voices"  





Cha-Cha
This ballroom dance was very popular at the time West Side Story was written and it is usually performed with more energy and gusto than is shown in this work. Here it is a quiet and romantic interlude for the first meeting of the lovers, and the execution is much more subdued than the standard performances on the dance floors of the day. Compare this to the more spirited Cha-Cha from Bells Are Ringing, directed by Jerome Robbins, choreographed by Jerome Robbins and Bob Fosse and performed by Judy Holliday and Peter Gennaro.





Entr'acte
Similar to the Overture, the Entr’acte (literally, the interval between the acts of a musical play or opera) is a suite of music played before the beginning of the second act of the work (and before subsequent acts if any). In the Broadway tradition, an Entr’acte almost invariably is made up of excerpts of songs the audience has already heard—that is, from the act or acts previously seen. But West Side Story has an unusual distinction in this regard. At the end of the sole intermission, the music heard in a live presentation of the show is from the still-unseen second act, and thus is new to the audience. The song is "I Feel Pretty." A chorus of the unexpectedly merry tune is played with the curtain down, another chorus continues as the curtain rises and under the opening dialogue, and proceeds uninterrupted to accompany Maria as she sings the song. Thus the mood of the second act opening is ingeniously set even before the curtain rises, in yet another original and innovative presentation of the creative team.





Finale
The Finale of a standard Broadway musical is usually sung after the stage action has drawn to a close, with the cast performing this "cap" as a signal that the show is over. The vocal presentation may consist of excerpts of one or two songs from the score as they apply to the closing moment, or it may be completely new (though "Finale" more often suggests a medley of song clips that were already presented in their entirety). The Finale of West Side Story does not "cap" the show but is in fact an integral part of it. The Finale is the somber procession music played after Tony’s death until the curtain comes down. The music, made up of segments of "Somewhere" and "I Have a Love" repeats a similar (but more affirmative) processional scene included in the "Somewhere" Ballet. In the film version, the music continues directly into the closing-credit sequence, which naturally is unique to the film and strictly speaking is a separate presentation and not a part of the Finale.






Fugue
A composition or passage in which one or more themes are developed by imitative counterpoint. After the theme is established, other voices or instruments will follow either in succession or by overlapping the previous expression. The subsequent additions may imitate the primary theme exactly or be variations on it.

The first part of the "Cool" dance, immediately following the vocal portion, is the beginning of an extended Fugue.





Hemiola (Gr: hemiolios "one and a half")
1. The rhythmic relation of three notes in the time of two.

2. A passage wherein a melody set in duple time is played or sung against an accompaniment in triple time (or triple against duple, or against quadruple, etc.).

3. A passage that alternates between a 3/4 rhythm and a 6/8 rhythm.

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Maestro
This Italian word translates as "master" or "teacher" (i.e. schoolmaster). This definition relates to the identity of the Orchestra Conductor as the Master, but "Maestro" generally indicates a person who is an expert or highly skilled at an art, and as it relates to music the term can refer to a composer as well as a conductor or music teacher. In the various biographies and theater histories, Leonard Bernstein is invariably called "Maestro," whether he is actually conducting the work at hand or not. "Maestro" can be used as a form of address (a member of the orchestra may seek the conductor's attention with a polite "Excuse me, Maestro") and also as a noun ("The Maestro is in top form today.")





Mambo
A popular dance of the 1940s and 1950s, of Cuban-African origin. The Mambo in West Side Story is presented as a challenge dance, first between the gangs in general and then between the two leaders and their partners. This is a theatrical device employed for this scene; the Mambo is ordinarily danced no differently than ballroom dances are generally performed, with couples paired off and dancing independently of other couples.






Mezzo-Soprano

See "Voices"  





Overture
Most Broadway musicals are introduced with an instrumental medley of the songs in the score, called the Overture. Overtures can also be found in other musical works such as opera and ballet. Most film musicals contain Overtures, sometimes played under the credits, sometimes preceding the credits. The Overture in the film version of West Side Story is played under the abstract graphic of vertical lines that later prove to represent downtown Manhattan. In accordance with the wishes of the composer, the original Broadway production did not use this music, but instead the curtain rose immediately on the stage action. Some later productions, including the 1960 Broadway Return Engagement and the 1964 City Center Revival, did avail themselves of this composition.

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Prologue
A Prologue is the introductory passage or chapter of a novel, the introductory scene of a play or opera, the introductory stanza to an epic poem, etc. In theory a Prologue covers the background of a story, or events that happen before the actual start of the main work (the Prologue of a book will precede Chapter One, which by definition is the beginning of the story). In West Side Story both play and film begin with a musical number called a Prologue. This is the extended dance sequence that opens the work. The reason it is called a Prologue is this: Though not plainly stated in either version, all the events (except one) that take place during the Prologue (tripping, spitting, paint-dumping, garbage-throwing) are assumed to be taking place over the course of several months preceding the main action. The Sharks’ ambush of one of the Jets and the cutting of his ear signal the first event that is understood to take place on the same day as the scenes that immediately follow.





Soprano

See "Voices"  





Tenor

See "Voices"  





Tritone
The interval to the augmented fourth (thus, literally, three full tones), such as C to F#, often used to denote malevolence, temptation, or any similar expression of evil.

A tritone can travel in either direction. An interval from C to the F# above it and one from C to the F# below it would both be tritones.

Because of its harsh and unexpected dissonance, the tritone was known in medieval times as diabolus in musica, or "the devil in music," and was forbidden to be played in the music of the church of Rome.

Though hardly the work of the devil, the tritone appears in the score of West Side Story in many roles, thanks to the apparently limitless expertise of its composer: the restless anticipating "Something’s Coming," the brassy opening of The Dance at the Gym, the richly romantic "Maria," and the jumpy "Cool," to name but a few.

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Voices
Professional singers usually are identified by the range within which they sing.

  • Soprano is the highest female voice. The role of Maria calls for a Soprano.


  • Tenor is the highest male voice. The role of Tony is normally assigned to a Tenor, though Larry Kert, the original Tony, identified himself as a Baritone. José Carreras, singing the role on Leonard Bernstein's Deutsche Grammophon recording, is a Tenor.


  • Mezzo-Soprano The middle range of the female voice. Though originally sung by Soprano Reri Grist, "Somewhere" was sung on the Deutsche Grammophon recording by Mezzo Marilyn Horne. The title role of the opera Carmen is sung by a Mezzo-Soprano.


  • Baritone The middle range of the male voice. Except for Tony, the male voices in West Side Story are Baritones. In the original cast, the Sharks include the lower-voiced Bass-Baritones.


  • Alto The lowest female voice. The role of Anita normally calls for an Alto, though for the Deutsche Grammophon recording the part was sung by Mezzo-Soprano Tatiana Troyanos.


  • Bass is the lowest male voice. This voice is not required in the score at hand.








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