Bernstein, Leonard: Fancy Free (1944) 27'
Ballet
Scoring
2(II=picc).2.2.2-4.3.3.1-timp.perc(2-3):SD/BD/susp.cym/wdbl/tgl/ cowbell(ad lib)-pft-strings
Programme Note
This vibrant, jazz-tinged score was Bernstein’s first collaboration with choreographer Jerome Robbins. Its patriotic high spirits affirm the energy and vitality of a great city – Bernstein’s beloved New York – during the anxious years of World War II. Bernstein describes the scenario: “Three sailors explode on the stage. They are on a 24-hour shore leave in the city and on the prowl for girls. The tale of how they first meet one, then a second girl, and how they fight over them, lose them, and in the end take off after a third, is the story of the ballet.” Robbins sought to create a quintessentially American ballet; Bernstein obliged him with a score that was kinetic and tuneful, refracting popular dance music styles through a prism of angular melodies and syncopated rhythms. The resulting ballet was a huge success, drawing sold-out crowds to the Metropolitan Opera House.
Recommended Recording
Mel Ulrich, baritone / Mark Risinger, bass
Nashville Symphony Orchestra / Andrew Mogrelia
Naxos 8.559280
Ballet
Scoring
2(II=picc).2.2.2-4.3.3.1-timp.perc(2-3):SD/BD/susp.cym/wdbl/tgl/ cowbell(ad lib)-pft-strings
Programme Note
This vibrant, jazz-tinged score was Bernstein’s first collaboration with choreographer Jerome Robbins. Its patriotic high spirits affirm the energy and vitality of a great city – Bernstein’s beloved New York – during the anxious years of World War II. Bernstein describes the scenario: “Three sailors explode on the stage. They are on a 24-hour shore leave in the city and on the prowl for girls. The tale of how they first meet one, then a second girl, and how they fight over them, lose them, and in the end take off after a third, is the story of the ballet.” Robbins sought to create a quintessentially American ballet; Bernstein obliged him with a score that was kinetic and tuneful, refracting popular dance music styles through a prism of angular melodies and syncopated rhythms. The resulting ballet was a huge success, drawing sold-out crowds to the Metropolitan Opera House.
Recommended Recording
Mel Ulrich, baritone / Mark Risinger, bass
Nashville Symphony Orchestra / Andrew Mogrelia
Naxos 8.559280
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Leonard Bernstein: Orchestral Masterworks
Two anthologies of Bernstein favourites are in the Masterworks series of full scores: Volume One contains music from West Side Story and On the Town, and Volume Two includes the Candide Overture, On the Waterfront and Prelude, Fugue & Riffs.
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