America from "West Side Story"

Leonard Bernstein

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
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II
Euphonium
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

Media

Sample download; ensemble and conductor unknown

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Lowcountry Wind Symphony (Beaufort, S.C.) (Donald F. Jemella, conductor) - 1 May 2022
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
Windham (NH) Concert Band (Spencer Aston, conductor) – 7 April 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 (arr. Murtha) (1957/2003)
Maria from "West Side Story" (arr. McCoy) (1957)
Meditation No. 2 (arr. Hunsberger) (1971/1973)
A Musical Toast (tr. Grundman) (1982)
Overture to "Candide" (trans. Beeler)
Overture to "Candide" (tr. Grundman) (1955/1986)
Overture to "Candide" (arr. Howell) (1955/2020)
Overture to "Candide" (tr. Hunsberger) (1955/)
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 (arr. Brown) (1957/2012)
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" (arr. Leon) (1967/2007)
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) (1942/1952)
- 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)

Resources

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