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Bernstein (Something's Coming) (Instrumentation (3 Trumpets, 2…
Bernstein (Something's Coming)
Instrumentation
3 Trumpets
2 Trombones
2 French horns
Five woodwind players
Seven violins
Four Cellos
Two double basses
Drum kit
Piano
Guitar (acoustic & electric)
Solo singer (male tenor) and large orchestra. The orchestra includes:
Clarinets
Structure
Intro
A
B
B1 (shorter version of section B)
A1 (shorter version of section A)
Outro
Background
Composed in 1958
West Side Story based on Romeo and Juliet
Melody
Music is made up of short riffs (lots of small ideas)
The song opens with an instrumental riff which has a 3 note ostinato in the bass. This riff is heard throughout
In bar 13 Tony picks up this riff singing the melody closely based on the opening riff.
It is syllabic and has a range of a 4th
Tonality and Harmony
Key: D maj changes to Cmaj
Frequent use of tritone- known as a diminished 5th or augmented 4th
Blue notes used - dissonance (clash)
Accidental - pitch of a note changed away from the key signature - sharps and flats
Largely jazz based
Added notes to his chord to spice up the harmony - bar 21 has added 7th note to make it a G7 chord
Rhythm and Metre
Lots of syncopation (off the beat rhythm) where the word 'could' begins halfway through beat 2
This type of syncopation is also known as 'push'' rhythm - Anticipates beat (just before the beat starts)
Tempo - very fast - 176 BPM
Cross rhythms - when 2 different rhythms are played together (accents in different places)
Texture
Homophonic - Song with accompaniment/melody and accompaniment
Layered textures and frequent use of changes these layers (amount and instrument). Fluid constant changes --- Vocal part is often doubled by an orchestral part
The accompaniment changes to an ‘oom pa’ type accompaniment from bar 32
Dynamics
Interesting - begins pianissimo (pp) in a hushed way giving a sense of anticipation
Use of crescendos on long sustained notes e.g in vocal part