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Maria (West Side Story song)

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"Maria"
Song
Published1956
Genrepopular song/operatic recitative and aria[1]
Composer(s)Leonard Bernstein
Lyricist(s)Stephen Sondheim

"Maria" is a song from the 1957 Broadway musical West Side Story, sung by the lead character Tony. The music was written by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The song was published in 1956.

"Maria" is sung by the male lead Tony when he learns the name of the girl he has fallen in love with at the dance in act 1, and who has been pulled away from him by her protective brother Bernardo, is "Maria".[2] The name "Maria" is spoken or sung in the song 30 times. The musical motif is announced frequently in the latter part of the preceding dance scene[3] and is continued in the ontroduction of the following balcony scene. The song was originally composed in E-flat major (following an 8-bar introduction in B major).[1] In the 1961 and 2021 film adaptations, both introduction and chorus were lowered by a whole step.[citation needed]

After Tony speaks her name once, the song opens with a recitative ("The most beautiful sound I ever heard") of eight bars which repeats her name ten times, before an aria begins after a key and tempo change. The tessitura of the aria rises slowly from the initial B2–G♯3 culminating in a B♭4 (with an ossia on G4). The aria ends on a sustained G4.

The song is widely known for its use of the melodic interval of a tritone in the main theme. This is also a major motif throughout the other songs in the musical. The song is an example of the use of Lydian mode, which is the same as the major scale but with an augmented fourth.

Bernstein used "Maria" for his 1992 Concert Suite No. 1 from West Side Story.[4]

Lin-Manuel Miranda used a line from its text and that line's melody for the 2017 song "Almost Like Praying" to support relief efforts in Puerto Rico in response to Hurricane Maria.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b Schmid, Rebecca (2023). Weill, Blitzstein, and Bernstein: A Study of Influence. Boydell & Brewer. p. 130. ISBN 978-1648250606.
  2. ^ Robert Cummings. Maria, song (from West Side Story) at AllMusic
  3. ^ Simeone, Nigel (2009). Leonard Bernstein: West Side Story. Ashgate. p. 74. ISBN 978-1351560375.
  4. ^ "Works – Stage – West Side Story (1957)", leonardbernstein.com
  5. ^ Diaz, Thatiana (4 October 2017). "Lin-Manuel Miranda Remaking West Side Story's 'Maria' for Puerto Rico". People. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
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