Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘West Side Story’: Comparison Essay

Both Bernstein and Prokofiev share similarities in certain musical elements depicted in their unique compositional skills. Both these composers are of the 20th century, but as their history, purpose, and skills differed we see compositions of different qualities as well.

Structure & Form:

The structure and form of both Bernstein’s and Prokofiev’s compositions are similar in their utilization of leitmotifs. Bernstein incorporated leitmotifs for his main characters, Maria and The Jets in his ‘West Side Story. These leitmotifs are introduced in their main pieces very early on in the score so the viewer could become familiar with and identify these characters easier as the story progressed. We see this throughout both composers as echoes of leitmotifs are heard in the composition as characters return or develop. A major leitmotif we constantly hear throughout Prokofiev’s composition is Juliet’s iconic theme. This leitmotif is echoed throughout the whole ballet but particularly during the Balcony Scene and The Death Scene. In the score, the viewer can hear Prokofiev’s large treatment of compositional devices on these leitmotifs. His use of fragmentation, variation, and repetition are all evident in the echoes of these leitmotifs in the musical score. As Prokofiev was composing for a non-verbal piece he had to create a musical score that developed these characters and their emotions and that also reflected the storyline and its progression; this is perfectly demonstrated through his use of leitmotifs and treatment of them.

Instrumentation:

Prokofiev incorporated the somewhat standard instrumentation of a regular orchestra into his musical score but also included the unique sounds of the: tenor saxophone, the cornet, the mandolin, and the viola d’amore. Prokofiev added certain instruments to his composition to achieve different emotions and atmospheres for the overall score and scenes, for example, the viola d’amore was included to create a more Italian feel for the music. The instrumentation of Prokofiev’s score was predominantly polyphony. Likewise, Bernstein composed the score for ‘West Side Story’ using the entire orchestra while sounds of clicking and whistled created by characters also added to the overall composition. In Prokofiev’s score, the instrumentation works closely and drives the ballet's storytelling; for instance, in the scene of Tybalt’s death, we hear the drum beat 15 times, symbolizing his heartbeat as he dies.

Rhythm:

Bernstein composed pieces such as America and The Jets theme and Dance at the Gym, both incorporate an intricate and complicated rhythm; filled with syncopation, dotted rhythms, and a quick and constant pace. We also see a similar rhythm in Juliet’s theme. Prokofiev has created a theme for Juliet’s character with complicated and unpredictable rhythms and fast-paced rhythm from his stylistic element, the toccata as this aids the audience in visualizing her playful and youthful character.

Tempo:

Bernstein and Prokofiev organized their tempos using a largely differing and juxtaposing range. Bernstein’s large range of tempo is depicted when comparing fast-paced pieces like America to more fluid and calm pieces like Somewhere. Similarly, Prokofiev’s range is clearly evident throughout the ballet as Juliet’s quick and playful theme is juxtaposed with heavy and slow pieces like Dance of the Knights.

Structure of Melody:

Bernstein included both lyrical and nonlyrical pieces within his composition of ‘West Side Story.’ His more lyrical pieces in the production included: Maria, Tonight, and Somewhere. The lyrical qualities in these pieces are the simple and singable melody paired with the fluid rise and fall of the contour. In to contrast his lyrical pieces Bernstein also composed pieces that are considered non-lyrical, with complicated and unexpected melody lines; for example, The Rumble. Lyrical pieces are also evident in Prokofiev’s score for ‘Romeo and Juliet and particularly his composition for The Balcony scene and Romeo’s theme. Lyrical was another main stylistic element Prokofiev incorporated into his pieces and heard predominantly throughout this ballet. To juxtapose his lyrical pieces, Prokofiev also includes non-lyrical elements, such as difficult melodies with non-singable and disjunct qualities.

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Harmony:

Prokofiev’s musical score presents a large range of how cohesively the many voices of the orchestra work together. For example, pieces like Dance of the Knights have an evident example of dissonance, this discordance gave emphasis to the regal and imperious feeling of the knights and the overall scene. Whereas, a piece like The Balcony scene or Farewell Before Parting demonstrates instances of consonance, as the story is symbolizing Romeo and Juliet’s, harmonious love. Bernstein also utilizes consonance and dissonance in his score, although predominantly consonance. A depiction of harmony in his score can be spotlighted in pieces such as Somewhere, Cha Cha, and I Feel Pretty. Whereas discordance is evident in The Rumble scene; overall adding a sense of suspense and edge to the fight scene.

Texture:

The textures of the pieces vary throughout both Prokofiev’s and Bernstein’s scores. It is uncommon to find a homophonic texture within either score although the texture can become quite thin; contrasting the bold and thick textures predominantly depicted throughout both scores. A clear example of Prokofiev’s juxtaposition of textures is evident in Dance of the Knights. The piece begins strong, noble, and polyphonic, but as Romeo and Juliet meet, the texture thins out and then returns to the original texture as the scene progresses. Bernstein also incorporates these mixed textures in his score for ‘West Side Story.’ For instance, in Maria the texture is mostly thin as it’s singularly Tony singing but there are also moments in the song when his voice is stronger and accompanied by the orchestra, creating a thicker texture. There are occasional moments in this scene where the orchestra becomes almost homophonic (movement of accompanying parts in the same rhythm as the melody).

Timbre:

The timbre of the pieces is rather significant, particularly in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ the score needs to depict an emotional quality for the audience and progress the storyline. Bernstein and Prokofiev both included elements in their scores that present a very strong timbre. All of the pieces in both works demonstrate varying timbre, for example, ‘West Side Story, I Feel Pretty presents a cheeky and enthusiastic timbre whereas Somewhere is more of an innocent and romantic timbre. In ‘Romeo and Juliet’ young Juliet depicts innocence and youth whereas, a piece like Farewell Before Parting presents a timbre of longing and love.

Expressive Qualities:

The expressive qualities of Prokofiev’s and Bernstein’s musical scores refer to dynamics, articulation, and phrasing. Dynamics are utilized brilliantly by both composers to add to the motion and aid in telling the story of both ‘West Side Story and ‘Romeo and Juliet'. The immense use of crescendos and diminuendos in both scores adds to the raw emotion from the dancers and characters and also helps the audience connect with them and the storyline. Articulation is mostly depicted in the faster and lighter pieces, such as Young Juliet or I Feel Pretty. The composer's use of turns and trills creates the energetic and youthful energy that is prominent in Juliet and Maria’s characters. Finally, both composers use phrasing to add emotive qualities and create a phrase and scene that is not monotone but interesting for the listener. All of these elements aided both composers in creating musical scores with real and impactful emotion and expression.

Relationship Between Music & Choreography

Romeo & Juliet

When Prokofiev initially composed the musical score for Romeo and Juliet and proposed it to The Bolshoi Theatre the choreographers and dancers responded saying it was impossible to dance. They confronted Prokofiev with this issue as Prokofiev had composed an impractical and immensely difficult score to count to; overall creating choreography in relationship to this score was an immense challenge. Hearing this news Prokofiev refused to make any changes requested to his overall composition but he did rewrite sections so that the dancers were able to match their choreography with it. The leitmotifs and themes evident throughout Prokofiev’s score in the ballet is extremely important for the choreographer to build upon and create these characters while also assisting the portrayal of the storyline for the audience. The music gives the choreographer and dancer the guidelines and scaffolding to experiment and explore, for example, while Romeo only gets one theme, Juliet gets three. This makes her a multi-faceted character and helps present and portray the varied emotions and growth her character experiences throughout the whole ballet. “The Young Juliet” starts with light running lines suggesting her character's innocence and youth. A slower theme suggests her tenderness and warmth as she matures and meets Romeo. The relationship between music and choreography is vital in this work as the exclusion of dialogue can create a hard challenge to present across characters' development and emotion to the audience. Prokofiev’s score assists and makes up for dialogue as it harmoniously works with choreography to achieve character development and portrayal of emotions. For example, the sinister awe and power depicted in the choreography and musical composition of, “Dance of The Knights.”

Even though we have many variations of this ballet performed today, ultimately the choreography always matches the score; each adding to the other by highlighting and emphasizing key musical and emotive features.

West Side Story

The elements of a Broadway musical are very clear throughout the music of West Side Story. Bernstein combined both characteristics of musical theatre and jazz in his process of composing. Bernstein’s musical score integrates directly with the choreography of West Side Story done by Jerome Robbins. Even though the score and choreography complement and harmoniously work together throughout the storyline, similar to Romeo and Juliet when the dancers first heard the score they found it almost impossible to count Berstein’s unique and intricate rhythms + beats. As Bernstein’s loved using these syncopated rhythms, making it hard to hear the beat he had to cast the most skilled dancers for his production to reflect the same intricacy in the music. Features such as clicking, foot tapping, and whistling assimilate with both the choreography and music overall creating a realistic and cohesive production. These features also added different dimensions and realism to the score as they depicted natural character traits while also creating a sound that instruments can only imitate. It is clear the choreography of West Side Story is brilliantly matched to Bernstein’s unique score, for example in the song ‘America’ when we hear brisk or staccato notes in the music it is matched with a quicker and sharp movement in Robbin's choreography. Likewise, with softer movements depicted by Tony while singing ‘Maria’, it is matched and complemented by the delicate vocals of Stephen Sondheim and the stunning musical compositions of Leonard Berstein.