SOMEWHERE from West Side Story

Leonard Bernstein, Original Cast Recording

Melody
• Opening statement has arch-like form, rising minor 7th then down a minor triad
• Minor tonality reflects the sadness and poignancy of the melody, but opening leap is
hopeful
• Ascending passages in voice, flutes and basses into chorus
• Chorus – ascending major 2nds (some-how, some-day, some-where). Interval is repeated
but with different harmonization each time.
• Sung with a very clear, precise, classically trained voice
• Chorus – countermelodies alternate between cellos and horns

Tone Colour
• Constantly changing due to different combinations of instruments – gradual thickening
throughout the piece
• Warm horn ‘announces’ the piece
• Bright, clean voice mixes with low, warm cello, providing simple rhythmic support.
• Then voice with violins – similar tone colours, provide harmonic support, doubling
melody in part
• 2nd verse – voice, basses (harmonic support) & flutes (counter melodies)
• Chorus – voice soars over a full orchestra of thick high strings, with low strings and horns
pedal notes emphasizing key words (‘somehow, someday, somewhere’). Then
Countermelodies alternating between cello and horns.

Articulation
• Voice – relatively legato. All words given equal emphasis
• Cellos – legato but quite defined attack of each note
• Violins – much smoother

Duration
• Very steady beat – emphasised by cellos
• Straight rhythms, mostly crotchet and quaver based. Little syncopation
• Triplet rhythm in vocals in chorus ‘we’’ find a way of forgiving’

Dynamics
• Generally created more through fuller orchestration than individual dynamics
• Quiet for verses – as there are often only two or three instruments
• Builds to chorus (with the ascending passages)
• Chorus has large crescendo – due to the very thick texture
Key Instruments

Voice
• Has a bright, clear timbre
• Sings melody very metrically, cleanly articulated

Cello
• Provides steady, warm, deep countermelodies
• Symbolic of Tony, in supporting Maria’s singing

Violins
• Bright timbre
• Provides harmonic support, countermelodies or doubles the melody
• Symbolic of Maria

Meaning

• A song of hope between two star-crossed lovers.

• In the face of adversity, so represents a yearning for ‘somewhere’ they can be together

How is this achieved?

• Classically trained voice – givers the melody extreme clarity for the emotional impact of
the lyrics to be felt – it is truly expressing a message not just a group of notes
• The opening minor 7th leap is a hopefully reach, with a sense of fullness and expectancy
• Followed by falling minor thirds, with a dark tonality that emphasises this hope is in the
face of great adversity
• Strong vibrato in vocals adds to the feeling of passion and poignancy
• All notes are evenly placed and paced, giving a sense of calm and deep-seated yearning.
• Cello may be heard to represent Tony, ‘supporting’ Maria’s soaring vocals. YET, despite
this, the difference in register shows that they are ultimately separate
SOMEWHERE from West Side Story

Tom Waits

Melody
• Maj. 2nd ‘somewhere’ interval is used by strings in introduction
• Waits sings it with harsh, gravelly timbre. His pitches are not precise.
• Opening statement has arch-like form, rising m7 followed by falling m3rds
• Swirling strings provide harmonic support. Ascend, w/ vocals, to chorus
• Trumpet enters 2nd chorus with improvised countermelody
• Waits sings with freedom, both rhythmically and with his phrasing
• Waits puts more emphasis on main words ‘someWHERE, a PLACE for US’
• Waits plays with the melody, adding an intimate quality to the piece

Tone Colour
• Waits has a harsh, gravelly timbre EXCEPT for ‘someday, somehow, somewhere’ where
he uses his head voice – very bright, thin and fragile.
• Waits exacerbates this by singing ‘somehow, someplace, somewhere’ SOLO – thin tone
colour overall
• Strings – very lush wash of sound. Except for intro, simply ‘swirling’ without any
definite melodic/strict harmonic ideas.
• Trumpet is bright and piercing.

Articulation
• Swirling strings are extremely legato
• Voice presents broken phrases. Not staccato but detached
• Emphasis on important words/syllables ‘someWHERE, a PLACE for US’
• Trumpet uses legato, slurs, held notes.

Duration
• Free metre
• No beat
• Consistant use of rubato. Rhythms as a result are very free.
• Allows waits to put emphasis on words, resulting in ‘lilting’ rhythm.
Key Instruments

Voice
• Gravelly, Rough tone except for use of frail, bright head voice for chorus – emphasises a
feeling of human imperfection
• Freely phrases, with lots of rubato used. Allows for emphasis of important words.
• Sings over the top of swirling strings, except for chorus – strings drop out and he sings
‘somehow, someplace, somewhere’ solo

Strings
• Intro – M2nd ‘somewhere’ interval, with different harmonization’s.
• When under Waits, they provide a lush, swirling wash of sound
• No particular melodic ideas, and only a loose harmonic structure.

Trumpet
• Enters in 2nd chorus. Provides improvised countermelody until end, responding to vocals.
• Improvises lyrically, using leaps and holding notes.
• ‘Breathy’ tone again emphasises the intimate mood of the piece – not a ‘pure’ tone,
accentuating the mood of human imperfection in Wait’s voice

Meaning

• A love song, longing for his loved one.

How is this achieved?

• Lack of melodic interest in strings puts focus squarely on Waits as he sings the melody –
he is alone and longing for love
• Similarly, when he sings ‘somehow, someplace, somewhere’ completely unaccompanied,
it creates a feeling of isolation, and he is yearning for somewhere else
• ‘raw’ timbre of Waits voice helps us to feel that he is communicating his ‘raw’ emotions
of longing
• Similary, trumpet tone is quite ‘breathy’, emphasizing the sense of fragility apparent in
Waits vocals.
• Extemporised vocals of Waits and improvised trumpet help us to feel intimacy, evoking
images of a smoky bar late at night.
Specific Similarities
• Both employ the warm, lush tone colour of strings, both high and low
• Despite this lushness, the shared melody holds a minor tonality – all is not right
• Both are sung by a single person – while the orchestra supports the vocalist in the
Bernstein interpretation, suggesting she is singing to someone in particular, Waits sits
above his swirling accompaniment, evoking a feeling of loneliness and longing.
• Both employ rising passages in strings & vocals to chorus

Specific Differences
• In chorus (somehow, someday, somewhere), Bernstein features vocalist soaring over full
orchestra, punctuated by pedals from low brass and low strings, at the highpoint of a
crescendo and rising passages to chorus
• Waits sings the words in head voice, with strings filling in between the words – evoking
the feeling of loneliness apparent through by unexpectedly bringing the dynamic down
after the rising passages. – also sings them solo at the end of the piece
• Bernstein’s is very metric, straight, even rhythms whereas Waits has no obvious beat, with
very free rhythms and lots of pushing and pulling

Contextual Issues
• Bernstein’s interpretation is in the setting of the musical, ‘West Side Story’. As such, in
arranging and conducting the work he had to consider the unamplified projection of a
female voice over a whole orchestra. This possibly accounts for many of his arranging
decisions – for instance, often only having two instruments (voice and cello, or voice and
violins) playing at a time. Also, this probably also accounts for the fact that most of the
dynamics performed are more as a result of a thickening texture with more instruments
playing, than any large individual dynamic range (although this is still apparent,
particularly in the vocals).
• In contrast, Waits work is recorded in a studio. The better recording quality allows for a
much warmer, thicker texture even at lower volumes. Waits sings quietly for the most
part yet his voice still has more presence than the vocalist in Bernstein’s interpretation.
He does use personal dynamics to great effect, for instance in the 3rd verse (‘a time and a
place for us’). Also, when the trumpet enters, it has a softer, more fragile quality (breathy
tone) which would not have been picked up in an orchestral setting.