Maria from "West Side Story"

Leonard Bernstein

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General Info

Year: 1957 /
Duration:
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: U.S. Army Band
Cost: Score and Parts - Unknown

Instrumentation

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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.

Maria is sung by the male lead Tony when he learns the name of the girl he's fallen in love with is "Maria". The name "Maria" is spoken or sung in the song 27 times. It begins in B major and then modulates to E-flat major.

The song is widely known for its use of the melodic interval of a tritone in the main theme. The song is an example of the use of Lydian mode, which is the same as the major scale but with a raised 4th, giving the tritone characteristic of this piece.

- Program note by San Luis Obispo Wind Orchestra and Wikipedia

Media

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State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

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United States Army Band (Ft. Myer, Va.) (Richard K. Henebry, conductor; Pamela Terry, vocalist) – 16 June 2016

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

Maria (West Side Story song), Wikipedia Accessed 1 July 2016