Program Notes

Selections from West Side Story

Leonard Bernstein, composer

West Side Story has been characterized as America’s "Romeo and Juliet." With its romantic setting against a backdrop of social and racial strife, Bernstein’s music reflects the thousand and one moods which permeate Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics.

—WGM

West Side Story has been characterized as an American Romeo and Juliet. With its romantic setting against a background of social and racial strife, Bernstein’s music reflects the thousand and one moods which permeate Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics. From a basic mood of studied nonchalance and defiance by the juvenile set, the music is at times devout and tender, or in contrasting sections, dynamic in intensity. Duthoit’s arrangement includes "I Feel Pretty," "Maria," "Something’s Coming," "Tonight," "One Hand, One Heart," "Cool," and "America."

—Mark Hindsley, University of Illinois.

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