You might have heard the title of the 1961 musical West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein as it’s renowned for many things like its iconic song “Maria”, or perhaps you have been in a production of it. If you are interested in the music theory side of things, this musical holds a significant amount of tri-tones.
To fully understand Leonard Bernstein’s composition of the West Side Story, it is important that you understand what a tri-tone is. A tri-tone is an augmented fourth, an interval of two notes with three whole tones in between. When listening to music in general, our ears are taught to admire harmony in music. However the tri-tone is dissonant and unexpected, jumping up to the fifth usually. But Bernstein does something unexpected when composing this musical, he chooses to use the tri-tone over and over again. Why does he do this? Although harsh in leaping up to the tri-tone, it is resolved beautifully and with a sense of relief.
Even though the tri-tone is repeated throughout the musical, Bernstein incorporates it in different ways. He will resolve the tri-tone with the fifth, or leave it unresolved. When resolved, it is assumed that there are new characters or optimism. Bernstein uses the presence of the unresolved tri-tone to hint at violence or future dangers to come. Even in seemingly optimistic moments, Bernstein incorporates the tri-tone to remind the audience of darker things to come later on in the production. At the end of the musical, after meeting with the fate of Tony’s death, two tri-tones are left unresolved next to each other. The unresolved tri-tone sets the tone as a theme for the musical, an incompleteness, unresolved intervals striving to reach a resolution that never comes.
Like Leonard Bernstein, we strive to make an impact in our community through music at the Jerry Evans School of Music. Call us at (630) 359-7725, or email us admin@jeschoolofmusic..com to come in for a trial music lesson. We can’t wait to meet you!
