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Leonard Bernstein: West Side Story (Landmarks in Music Since 1950) 1st Edition

by Nigel Simeone (Author)
5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 6 ratings
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One of the Broadway musicals that can genuinely claim to have transformed the genre, West Side Story has been featured in many books on Broadway, but it has yet to be the focus of a scholarly monograph. Nigel Simeone begins by exploring the long process of creating West Side Story, including a discussion of Bernstein's sketches, early drafts of the score and script, as well as cut songs. The core of the book is a commentary on the music itself. West Side Story is one of the very few Broadway musicals for which there is a complete published orchestral score, as well as two different editions of the piano-vocal score. The survival of the original copied orchestral score, and the reminiscences of Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal, reveal details of the orchestration process, and the extent to which Bernstein was involved in this. Simeone's commentary considers: musical characteristics and compositional techniques used to mirror the drama (for example, the various uses of the tritone), motivic development, the use and reinvention of Broadway and other conventions, the creation of dramatic continuity in the score through the use of motifs and other devices, the unusual degree of dissonance and rhythmic complexity (at least for the time), and the integration of Latin-American dance forms (Mambo, Huapango and so on). Simeone also considers the reception of West Side Story in the contemporary press. The stir the show caused included the response that it was the angular, edgy score that made it a remarkable achievement. Not all reviews were uncritical. Finally, the book looks in detail at the making of the original Broadway cast recording, made in just one day, included on the accompanying downloadable resources.
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  1. ISBN-10
    0754664848
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0754664840
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publisher
    Routledge
  5. Publication date
    December 25, 2009
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    6.25 x 1 x 8.75 inches
  8. Print length
    192 pages
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Nigel Simeone's new book, Leonard Bernstein: West Side Story, offers a behind the scenes, intimate and illuminating insight into the genesis and creation of one of America's landmark musical achievements. This is a book that will appeal to the West Side Story enthusiast as well as those curious about the collaborative creative process. Marin Alsop, Music Director Baltimore Symphony Orchestra 'Musicologists are finding the Broadway musical a rich field for study after long experience writing about more hallowed areas. Nigel Simeone is the latest and one of the most exciting of these, and his West Side Storyis as richly rewarding as his earlier and ongoing work on French music. Because he has researched the show's genesis, history, musical manuscripts, structure, meaning and reception so extensively, probing a great deal further than previous scholarship, and yet writes it all up so simply and approachably, his book will be welcomed equally by scholars, students and general readers devoted (and who isn't?) to this epoch-making show.' Stephen Banfield, Stanley Hugh Badock Professor of Music, University of Bristol, UK ’As an aside, let us mention that the original cast album is discussed in detail ” along with various stages of the creation of the show ... the book includes a full copy of the 1998 remastering of the original Broadway cast album, complete with liner note booklet. We come across so many "new" books about old musicals which seem to recycle what we've already read. This one tells us things we didn't know, which makes for fascinating reading.’ Steven Suskin, on playbill.com ’... offers a fascinating glimpse into the greatest musical of all, drawing on letters between its creators to put it in context and to show why, half a century on, it endures.’ The Independent ’Simeone has created an excellent reference for future researchers or musical aficionados in terms of listing sources, collating information, creating an overall sense of order out

About the Author

Nigel Simeone is Professor of Historical Musicology at the Department of Music, University of Sheffield, UK.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Routledge; 1st edition (December 25, 2009)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0754664848
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0754664840
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1 x 8.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 6 ratings

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Nigel Simeone

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Customer reviews

5 out of 5 stars
5 out of 5
6 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

W. Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars A treasure trove
Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2010
Verified Purchase
For anyone deeply interested in musicals or interested (especially) in writing them, this is an invaluable peek into the creative process of what is (in my opinion) the best musical of the 20th century (with Sweeney Todd running a close second). The way the chapters are organized is both helpful and comprehensive. It's the kind of book I'll read over and over again, and I'd recommend many others to do the same.
3 people found this helpful
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Muco
5.0 out of 5 stars Full of valuable insights
Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2020
This is a great treatise on the show, which is a masterpiece of musical theater. Well researched, intelligent discussion, and highly informative. Many insights into the score with lots of tidbits of information about the creative process. Despite this, I feel that the price is rather high. I bought the Kindle edition, which is in a “Print Replica” format, unlike most Kindle books. I don’t like this format at all. It’s hard to read, I had to keep zooming in and out, and index pages kept popping up and causing it to scroll to the next page when I was’t finished with the page I was on. Amazon needs to abandon this format. The book itself, however, was superb. It makes me anxious to purchase the study score of the orchestration from Boosey and Hawkes.
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Top reviews from other countries

M. E. Gosano
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating new research on West Side Story
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 10, 2010
Verified Purchase
The author has had access to the Leonard Bernstein Collection at the Library of Congress and given us some interesting new information on the genesis of the musical. The most interesting chapters are on the Musical Manuscripts and the Score with fascinating documentation on the cut songs. New interviews with Stephen Sondheim, Arthur Laurents and Sid Ramin and research into the Jerome Robbins Foundation also have yielded new aspects of the show. A CD of the Original Broadway Cast is included and a chapter analyses this recording and what has been edited. This book goes well with and clarifies the items in the new Finishing The Hat book by Sondheim which includes the cut lyrics from West Side Story for the first time. An indispensable addition of new material for fans of the musical.
3 people found this helpful
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