On The Waterfront

By Leonard Bernstein

On the Waterfront - Trailer [1954] [27th Oscar Best Picture] - YouTube

• On the Waterfront was made in 1954. It’s a gritty drama dealing with union corruption in New York’s docklands.

• The score was written by Leonard Bernstein and is his only original film score.

• In 1955, Bernstein arranged a selection of the film music as an orchestral suite – our piece is the opening section of this suite.

PERFORMING FORCES AND THEIR HANDLING

In the 50’s, budgets for film scores were high and they often used a full symphony orchestra.

Bernstein’s choice of instruments is quite conventional – large string section and a standard brass sectionAre there any instrument choices that you would class as unusual?

Use of Eb Clarinet – small & high pitched

Use of alto saxophone

Large, varied percussion section

Which instruments show Bernstein’s jazz influence?Bernstein uses some ‘special effects’ – can you see/hear any unusual use of the instruments?

6 bar opening section for horn – high register

Muted trombone (b7) and trumpets (b13)

Use of rim shot on snare drum Una corda on piano (b20)

Flutter-tonguing on trumpets and upper woodwind (105)

Sul ponticello (b108)

Timpani glissando (b24)

TEXTURE

Describe the texture in the following bars:

1 - 6 Monophonic

7 - 12 2-part canon

From bar 20 Fugal – unusually for percussion

78 Homorhythmic tutti

85 Homophonic

STRUCTURE

There are 3 sections in the extract:

1. Opening section – Andante (b1-19)

2. Presto barbaro (b20-105)

3. Adagio Coda (106 -)

Fill in the table you have been given, describing the music in each of the sub-sections

TONALITY

This varies from section to section• The opening horn solo is in simple pentatonic – write out the

scale.• The Gb in bar 5 (sounding Cb) transforms the music into a 6

note blues scale with the standard flattened 3rd, 5th and 7th.

• When the second timpanist enters at bar 26, there is a clear suggestion of bi-tonality (G and C# tonal centres). Bar 78 is it’s most forceful

• At other times, the music can be described as atonal (from 72)

HARMONY

Think of one word that would describe the harmony of this piece…..

DISSONANCE

Examples could be:• Bar 16 – clash of Fb in trumpet with pedal F in bass• Use of augmented 5th between timpani notes F# and Bb in

bar 26• In the coda, 2 triads of F major and Bb major are played at

the same time by the strings. (bars 108-110)

MELODY

What were the 2 scales used in the melody?

Prominent use of the interval of the minor 3rd both rising and falling – find some examples.

Diminished 5th interval used in bar 14

Bar 88 – opening 2 notes taken from saxophone solo played on their own - distinctive minor 2nd.

RHYTHM & METRE

Extensive use of syncopation – rhythm parts

Lots of use of short note on beat one, followed by a long note on beats 2 & 3. ie sax solo bar 42 and opening horn solo

Triplets and time signature changes

2 possible questions:

How is the music for On The Waterfront typical of its time?

Answers to this question can range from comment on aspects that are particularly twentieth century, such as the dissonance and the emphasis on rhythm, but also on the influence of jazz on this 1950s score.

How is the music for On The Waterfront influenced by jazz styles?

Answers here should refer, again, to rhythm, and also to the use of the blues scale in the melody writing. The use of saxophone, brass and percussion is, of course, a big feature.

3 more possible questions…

How did Bernstein create a sense of a bleak, dockland landscape in his music for On The Waterfront?

How does Bernstein create tension in this music?

Why is the music of On The Waterfront obviously film music?