On Fri May 28, at FridayMay 28 9:10 PM, Andrew Stiller wrote:
On May 27, 2010, at 6:06 PM, Christopher Smith wrote:
Now, the fugue from "Cool" in West Side Story, I would have to
check it again, but I think I remember that it is actually 12
tone. I might be wrong, or maybe it just isn't strict, but I seem
to have a memory...
Christopher
I'm not sure about that, but there *is* a 12-pitch theme (yes, I've
seen the score) at the beginning of "Quiet" from *Candide*. To get
the full set you have to start on the second note of the song. It
is presented in full three times, and also provides the wavering
minor-second motif that dominates the whole song.
--Andrew
That's great about Candide, though I don't have the score close to
see it for myself. I thought that up until West Side Story, Bernstein
had written some marvelous music to some very mediocre properties,
and Candide was one of them, in my opinion.
Yup about Cool, I just checked. The whole note fugue theme that
starts after the voice stops is three 4-note phrases that are a 12-
tone row. And it is actually atonal too, by any convenient definition.
The countertheme (in 8th notes, actually dotted-eighth/sixteenth in
the score) is 24 notes that use every pitch twice, though not twice
in the same order, with the exception of G that only shows up once,
and Eb which shows up three times. So it isn't strict, but it
certainly uses the idea...
The other thing that is structurally very cool (hah!) about West Side
Story is that the whole thing is based around the tritone interval,
which is exactly on opposite sides of the circle of fifths when you
write it like a clock face. The last chord is a C triad with an F# in
the bass. The Jets whistle call is a tritone. Many of the tunes use
the tritone melodically in prominent position. Much of the Jets/
Sharks rumble songs are in C or Gb/F# (exactly opposed!), much of
Tony and Maria's music is in Eb and A (also exactly opposed, but
between the Jets/Sharks keys). Now, Bernstein had to change some of
the keys, though he was extremely resistant, because he had cast a
baritone as Tony instead of the tenor he had written it for, so you
see some Bb instead of C. Many of the keys' juxtaposed are far away
from each other on the circle of 5ths, so you kind of get a
subconscious feeling of separation.
Very neat.
Christopher
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