Selections from "Wonderful Town"

Leonard Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein (arr. Marcel Saurer)

General Info

Year: 1953
Duration: c. 9:20
Difficulty: IV+ (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Editions Marc Reift
Cost: Score and Parts (print) – CHF 265.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo/Flute
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Cornet/Trumpet I-II-III
E-flat Horn or Alto I-II-III-IV
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
Bass Guitar (optional)
Piano/Guitar (optional)
Percussion, including:

• Conga
• Crash Cymbals
• Drum Set
• Tambourine
• Wood Block

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Wonderful Town is a 1953 musical with book written by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and music by Leonard Bernstein. The musical tells the story of two sisters who aspire to be a writer and actress, respectively, seeking success from their basement apartment in New York City's Greenwich Village. It is based on Fields and Chodorov's 1940 play My Sister Eileen, which in turn originated from autobiographical short stories by Ruth McKenney first published in The New Yorker in the late 1930s and later published in book form as My Sister Eileen.

Wonderful Town premiered on Broadway in 1953, starring Rosalind Russell in the role of Ruth Sherwood, Edie Adams as Eileen Sherwood, and George Gaynes as Robert Baker. It won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Actress. It is a lighter piece than Bernstein's later works, West Side Story and Candide, but none of the songs have become as popular.

- Program Note from Wikipedia

This medley by Marcel Saurer includes the tunes Overture, Ballet At The Village Vortex, Swing, and Conga.

Media

• Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project The Ohio State University (Columbus) Wind Symphony (Russell C. Mikkelson, conductor) – 17 April 2018

• Ohio State University (Columbus) Wind Symphony (Russel C. Mikkelson, conductor) – 7 February 2018

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"
• Symphony No. 1 (tr. Lebrias) (1942/2023)
• 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

• Perusal score
• Wonderful Town, Wikipedia Accessed 8 February 2018