Joe Thomas

Set Works - Essay Question

Choose two contrasting passages from the musicals you have studied and
explain how the music is used in each to portray different moods
The two pieces that I have chosen to talk about today are The Surrey With The Fringe On
The Top from Oklahoma and America from West Side Story. The first piece I have
chosen is a solo song where as America is a a chorus and dance number. Both portray
different moods throughout, in various ways.
The piece is to be played brightly which means that it is played quickly which reflects
Curlys intention which is to persuade Laurey to come to the dance with him. If the song
was played quite slowly then she would lose interest and wont want to go to the dance
with him. Also the piece is in a major key, G major, which makes the piece more exciting
and appealing for Laurey and might persuade her to go with him. Also, this shows his
enthusiasm about what he is trying to do and how excited he is to be taking her to the
dance in a cart. In the first section there is a repeated line. The chords in these phrases
are all chord 1 to chord 5 then after 2 of these there is an interrupted cadence from chord
5 to chord 6 to a different key, which gives the piece an element of surprise to keep her
interested and also the audience interested in the piece and not get bored of the repeated
melodies and chord structures. On the line Snow white horses there is a rit which
emphasises the meaning of the line and what he is trying to convey which is that the
journey will be like a fairy tale and will be as glamorous as something you would read
about in a book. In the refrain there is a repeated G chord for 6 bars. To make it more
interesting, Rogers incorporates major 7th and 6th inner harmonies to make it more
interesting for the audience and the character or Laurey. These inner harmonies also make
the harmonic rate feel faster which could represent the dance but also the increase in
speed in the cart on the way to the dance. In the refrain there is a repeated phrase
repeated 3 times. Each time the last note of the phrase rises by a tone which could depict
his rising excitement about the possible opportunity of taking Laurey out to a dance. The
last repeat of the refrain is significantly slower which could depict that he is really trying to
persuade her or he could be portraying how they would be feeling by the end of the night
after all the dancing they will be doing. In bar 10 of the refrain there is an auxiliary note on
C# which illustrates his cheeky personality and that he is ready to have some fun at the
dance. From bar 16 of the refrain there is a repeated 2 bar sequence which ascends each
time which could represent a rise in the excitement in Curlys mood about taking her to the
dance but also a rise of tension as Curly is desperately trying to convince her to go to the
dance with him. The third time the refrain is repeated, it is not only slower it has also
lowered in pitch by a semi-tone. This creates a feel of slowing down and tiredness after the
night they will have at the dance if she goes with him. The use of pauses and free time
emphasises a peaceful feel. All these 3 aspects of the last repeat creates a lullaby feel and
it has a warmer timbre, something you could fall asleep to.
America portrays both contrasting moods and similar moods as The Surrey With The
Fringe On Top. In the song America, there is a mix of dancing and singing, which is
reflected in the music. It is performed by the Puerto Ricans, and as such is greatly
influenced by Cuban and tropical dance styles. This is a very energetic dance,
orchestrated mainly for brass, wind and percussion, and based around the huapango
rhythm and cuban son clave. It is written in an alternating time signature of 6/8 3/4,
which leads to a hemiola effect as accents appear to fall on different beats of the bar. In

Joe Thomas
actual fact, quaver beats remain constant, but the accented notes alternate, as is the case
with the 2 3 son clave. The instrumentation is strongly influenced by the cuban carnival
style in this type of music, the percussion section plays a key role, and brass instruments
are utilised to not only hammer out the harmonic progression, but to play extrovert,
improvisational melodies. The mood of the piece is conveyed by the fast tempo and major
key, and the dance moves reflect this exuberance; high leaps and stamps coincide with
the strongly accented rhythms. Towards the end of the piece, as the dance becomes more
intense, the rhythm is occasionally altered, and the alternating 6/8 3/4 pattern is
disrupted. This corresponds to the increasingly showy choreography, and reflects the
extrovert and argumentative lyrics. The melody is largely based on repetition, allowing for
a call and response pattern within sections of the orchestra, as reflected in the vocal line. It
is orchestrated chordally, creating a rich texture in the choruses however, in the verses,
the vocal line is more prominent so the bass line has greater importance. Bernstein
includes a technique called word painting to directly reflect what is happening in the lyrics.
for example at bar 9 when Rosalia is exclaiming how lovely the island is there is a rising
and falling pattern in the accompaniment. This portrays a sense of loving and excite
because she wants to go back to puerto rico. The disjunct and dramatic phrases used
sounds quite alien and unexpected. This gives a feeling of the characters being on edge
because they do not know what is going to happen next.
In conclusion, both composers portray different moods through various techniques like
word painting, hemiola and inner harmonies.