Bernstein: Something’s Coming (1957)

Texture:

• Homophonic
• 3 different accompaniment styles: syncopated ostinato at beginning, loud syncopated chords, and um-cha accompaniment
• Change in dynamics to represent different moods: excitement and anticipation
• Piano dynamic under “who knows?”
• Forte dynamic under “it may come cannon balling down through the sky”

Harmony:

• Diatonic in D
• Contrasting sections are in C
• Frequent use of sharpened 4th (tritone), to highlight foreboding idea within the song
• Frequent use of flattened 7th (blue note) to highlight unsettled mood
• Heavily influenced by jazz harmonies
• Harmony used to wordpaint: flattened note 7th in final note to reinforce idea of “maybe tonight”

Instrumentation:

• Large selection of instruments for a “pit” orchestra
• Doubling used (players playing more than 1 instrument)
• Special effects for soft timbres: muted trumpets and pizzicato strings
• Wordpainting

Rhythm:

• Alternates between 3/4 and 2/4 time signuature
• Marked fast to maintain a sense of anticipation
• Frequent syncopation

Melody:

• Almost entirely syllabic
• 3 main themes: quiet opening, loud, strident theme and lyrical, slow moving theme

Form:

• Doesn’t follow A,B,A,B structure
• 3 main themes as highlighted above