Overture from West Side Story

As a music major, I enjoy listening to a wide variety of music. This has led me to discover the music of West Side Story, which premiered on Broadway in 1957 and was followed by a movie version in 1961. The music was composed by Leonard Bernstein, a prominent twentieth-century American composer. For this project, I have chosen to focus on the Overture from West Side Story. The Overture is instrumental and features selections from several of the show’s songs. My presentation features a recording from the movie version of West Side Story. This performance is conducted by Johnny Green. I will be focusing on the structure, instrumentation, and melodic content of this piece.