America from "West Side Story"

Leonard Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein (arr. Michael Brown)

General Info

Year: 1957 / 2005
Duration: c. 4:00
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Hal Leonard
Cost: Score and Parts - $50.00   |   Score Only - $7.50

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute
Oboe
Bassoon
Bb Clarinet I-II-III
Eb Alto Clarinet
Bb Bass Clarinet
Alto Saxophone I-II
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone
Trumpet (in Bb) I-II-III
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II
Baritone (Bass Clef & Treble Clef)
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion, including:

• Bells
• Castanets
• Claves
• Cowbell
• Drum set
• Guiro
• Maracas
• Tambourine
• Temple blocks
• Triangle
• Vibraphone
• Wood block
• Xylophone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

West Side Story is an American musical with a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and conception and choreography by Jerome Robbins. It was inspired by William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet. Of all Bernstein’s music, his most endearing is what he composed for a most unusual musical, first conceived in 1949. It must have seemed crazy to stage Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet as a Broadway musical, presenting the Montagues and Capulets four centuries later in the slums of New York as teen gangs of white American ne’er-do-wells and tough Puerto Rican immigrants.

Its opening in 1957 brought social issues to American musical theater with greater immediacy than Broadway audiences were prepared for, not to mention a show that seemed more like ballet or opera than a musical. First reviews were mixed. But over sixty years since its opening, West Side Story continues to captivate, intoxicate, jolt, and compel one to dance.

America is a high-energy challenge dance between Puerto Rican girls, set on a tenement rooftop.

- Program note by San Luis Obispo Wind Orchestra concert program, 12 May 2012

Commercial Discography

None discovered thus far.

Audio Links

Sample download; ensemble and conductor unknown

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

• Humboldt State University (Arcata, Calif.) Wind Ensemble (Paul Cummings, conductor) – 8 November 2018
• Austin (Tx.) Symphonic Band (Richard Floyd, conductor) – 18 November 2018
• Western Reserve Community Band (Hudson, Ohio) (Ralph Meyer, conductor) - 19 August 2018
• Oakland (Calif.) Municipal Band (Troy Davis, conductor) – 4 July 2016
• San Luis Obispo Wind Orchestra (William V. Johnson, conductor) - 12 May 2012
• Prairie Ridge Band (Illinois) - 22 May 2012

Works for Winds by this Composer

Adaptable Music

• Cool (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Murtha) (1957/2018)
• West Side Story (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Sweeney) (1957/2015)

All Wind Works

• Almighty Father (arr. Hunsberger) (1971/1974)
• America (arr. Vinson) (1963/2018)
• America from "West Side Story" (arr. Brown)
• A Bernstein Tribute (adapt. Grundman) (1991)
• Candide Suite (arr. Grundman) (1956/1993)
• Cool (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Murtha) (1957/2018)
• Dance Suite (1990)
• Danzón (arr. Bocook) (1944/1990)
• Danzón (arr. Krance) (1944)
• Divertimento (arr. Grundman) (1980/1984)
  • BSO Forever, The
• Fanfare for the 25th Anniversary of the High School of the Arts (orch. Ramin)
• Fanfare for the Inauguration of John F. Kennedy (orch. Ramin) (1961/1995)
• Fanfare from "Dance Suite"
• Four Dances from "West Side Story" (tr. Polster) (1957/1980)
• Gee, Officer Krupke (arr. Murtha) (1957/2015)
• Glitter and Be Gay (arr. Frenkel) (1956/)
• Glitter and be Gay from "Candide" (tr. Davis)
• Highlights from "West Side Story" (arr. Ingram) (1963)
• I Hate Music! (arr. Nowlin) (1943/)
• Make Our Garden Grow (arr. Kreines) (1956/2017)
• Make Our Garden Grow (arr. John Gibson) (1956/)
• Mambo from "West Side Story" (arr. Sweeney) (1957/2013?)
• Maria from "West Side Story" (arr. McCoy) (1957)
• Meditation No. 2 from "Mass" (arr. Hunsberger)
• A Musical Toast (tr. Grundman) (1982)
• Overture to Candide (trans. Beeler)
• Overture to Candide (tr. Grundman) (1955/1986)
• Overture to Candide (tr Hunsberger)
• Prelude, Fugue and Riffs (1974/1991)
• Presto Barbaro from "On the Waterfront" (arr. Erickson)
• Prologue from "West Side Story" (arr. Gilmore) (1962)
• Selections from "Wonderful Town" (arr. Saurer) (1953)
• Shivaree (1970)
• A Simple Song (arr. Sweeney) (1971/2010)
• Slava! (tr. Grundman) (1977)
• Slava! (arr. Linden) (1977/2011)
• Slava! (tr. Longfield) (1977/)
• Somewhere from "West Side Story" (arr. Bocook)
• Suite from "MASS" (arr. Sweeney) (1971/2009 )
• Suite from "On the Town" (arr. Higgins) (1944)
• Suite from "West Side Story" (arr. Davis)
• Symphonic Dance Music from "West Side Story" (arr. Polster) (1980)
• Symphonic Dances from "West Side Story" (tr. Lavender) (1967/2008)
• Symphonic Suite from "On the Waterfront" (arr. Bocook) (1954/2011)
• Symphony No. 1 (tr. Bencriscutto)
  • Profanation from "Symphony No. 1"
  • Lamentation from "Symphony No. 1"
• Three Dance Episodes from "On The Town" (arr. Lavender) (1944/2016)
• Three Dance Episodes from "On The Town" (tr. Stith) (1944/1972)
• West Side Story: Highlights (tr. Ingram)
• West Side Story: Medley (arr. Bocook) (1957/1991)
• West Side Story: Selection (arr. Duthoit) (1957/1959)
• West Side Story (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Sweeney) (1957/2015)
• West Side Story (arr. Norris)
• A White House Cantata (tr. Nowlin) (1997/)
• Wrong Note Rag (arr. Ricketts) (1953/2005)

References

• Bernstein, L.; Sondheim, S.; Brown, M. (2005). America : From West Side Story [score]. Hal Leonard: Milwaukee, Wisc.