This is a connection which has stuck with me even though it's a fairly tenuous one. (I've yet to Google evidence that others have discussed it.) Of course, to some degree, once such a mental connection has been made, it perpetuates itself naturally, but I do think there's an affinity between these manically lighthearted works. For Bernstein's "Officer Krupke," the lightheartedness is meant to relieve the dramatic tension that has been building, with the harmonic instability underscoring how unsettled everything is for The Jets as misunderstood juvenile delinquents. (In the original stage version, the song comes after the disastrous and deadly rumble). For Bizet, a playful chase mood prevails, with surprising harmonic twists suggesting evasions and escapes.
First, if you don't know one or the other of these works, here's Bizet's Le bal, the "galop"-style finale of a 12-movement suite for duo pianists called Jeux d'enfants (Children's Games). [video should start at the 1:08 mark]
And you may head HERE to see and hear "Officer Krupke" as sung in the 1961 movie version of West Side Story.
The most obvious connections are:
each is in a fast-paced 2/4 time
each melody begins with an eighth-note pattern of Do-Ti-Do-Re-Mi (1-7-1-2-3) though with different kinds of upbeats. (This motif is used obsessively by Bernstein, helping our ears adjust to the tonal shifts.)
each features a fair amount of chromaticism caused by quickly shifting key centers mid-phrase. This happens through much of the Bernstein, but also a good bit in the middle of the Bizet.
Back in 2013, I made a slapdash little comparison audio which ends in a sort of sloppy back-and-forth between the two. You may hear that here.
I was a little dissatisfied on hearing that last night, so I threw the MIDI for both works into a DAW blender, tweaked a few things, and came up with this:
If I'm correct in referring to these works as "manically lighthearted," then this smash-up definitely up-ke's the ante on the manic - perhaps to maniacal. Because Bernstein's tune shifts key centers so quickly, there's a lot of incidental dissonance, but I find my ear can still follow both threads in a way that's satisfying. The "score" I created is pretty bare-bones and not really playable in places, but it's useful for giving your ears something to follow.
If you'd like to see scores for these two works, here's a fun "player-piano" style take on Krupke:
...and here's a recording of Bizet's entire two-piano suite with a score helpfully reduced to one piano. (The original duo-piano score has the two parts on separate pages, so it's a little harder to follow along with that.) This video should begin at the 21:06 mark where Le bal begins. The most harmonically adventurous section - which has a little of that Krupke spirit - starts around 21:40.
I've always loved "Officer Krupke," and have found that students really enjoy it as well. After showing the scene to 8th grade boys some years back, I was a little surprised that they wanted to sing it. Since the lyrics are intentionally a bit provocative, I made my own parody version (one less verse and no modulations between verses (because modulations are provocative?)) which I've used with multiple classes over the years. The character names are based on actual authority figures at my school, including the mysterious Mister Doctor Monroe, a reference to the fact that students love to correct each other about how they should address the music teacher (I honestly don't care). This resulted in the Mr./Dr. double-prefix becoming a thing. The lyrics also address the fact that I did my best to get the students to act out the song as a skit. (This tended to result in many overturned chairs; the rest is a blur.)
If you've followed this blog, you'll know I love mashing things up (as evidenced by this lengthy playlist), but there's a particular subset of mashup - into which today's exhibits fits - where two works are just smashed together with little or no effort put into making things fit. As I already suggested above, I find that my mind loves this kind of listening - it's an extreme kind of counterpoint in which the brain gets to try hearing two conflicting things at once. Here's a new playlist to celebrate such monstrosities.
LYRIC POET: Are we embarking on a study of the meaning of meaning? YOUNGER BROTHER: I sure hope not. (from Leonard Bernstein's The Joy of Music)
NOTE: There are more than 500 possible outcomes.
About Me
MICHAEL MONROE
I'm a pianist and college music professor in the Boston area. This is not me. Neither is this. Curiously, these most Googleable Michael Monroe's are each musicians. This IS me.
