"Something's Coming" is a song from the 1957 musical ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

''. It was composed by

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

with lyrics by

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March22, 1930November26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. He received Lis ...

and is sung solo by the male lead character and tenor 'Tony'. The part of Tony was played by Larry Kert in the original Broadway production,

Richard Beymer George Richard Beymer Jr. (born February 20, 1938) is an American actor, filmmaker and artist who played the roles of Tony in the 1961 film adaptation of ''West Side Story'', Peter van Daan in '' The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959), and Ben Horn ...

(voiced by Jimmy Bryant) in the 1961 film and

Ansel Elgort Ansel Elgort (born March 14, 1994) is an American actor and singer. He began his acting career with a supporting role in the horror film '' Carrie'' (2013). He gained wider recognition for starring as a teenage cancer patient in the romantic d ...

in the 2021 film.

Production

In his work ''Leonard Bernstein'', Humphrey Burton explained: "When it was decided to add Tony’s first-act song "Something’s Coming," Bernstein and Sondheim raided the scene-setting page in Laurents's outline. "something’s coming," Laurents had written: "it may be around the corner, whistling down the river, twitching at the dance – who knows?" The lines were incorporated in the lyrics. "We raped Arthur’s play-writing," Bernstein said. "I’ve never seen anyone so encouraging, let alone generous, urging us, ‘Yes, take it, take it, make it a song.’"" Bernstein reported on the last minute change thus:

Synopsis

BBC.com explains:

Composition

BBC.com explains "The song opens and closes in D major. It modulates to C major for two contrasting sections of the song...The song opens with a syncopated accompaniment figure in 3/4 time. A similar repeated pattern is heard throughout. The pitches change to fit the harmony. The accompaniment stays in the background throughout so that the singer can be heard clearly. The opening accompaniment is played by clarinets (including bass), pizzicato (plucked) strings, drum kit (snare drum and hi-hat cymbal, played with wire brushes)". The site also noted "the same bar of accompaniment is repeated several times... sthis gives time for the actors to move across the stage and is a device often used in musicals. It noted that the song alternates between 2/4 and 3/4 time signatures, the word-setting is mostly syllabic (one word to a syllable), and that the song includes many examples of triplets. It also explains "'Something's Coming' does not follow a standard song structure such as verse and chorus. Instead it is held together by three ideas or themes which are heard throughout the song and presented in different ways." The first theme has a "tritone between the bass note C and the F sharp in the vocal line. The F sharp resolves onto a G.", the second has "declamatory repeated notes and the use of accents", and the third has "long sustained notes, legato phrases and rising intervals".

Critical reception

Chichester.col.uk noted the song is meant to "capture...a sense of hope". AllMusic wrote of the Oscar Peterson Trio jazz version of the song "''Something's Coming'' seems like a series of vignettes, constantly shifting its mood, as if moving from one scene to the next. "

Use in Exams

In 2008, the English exam board Edexcel added 'Something's Coming' to their Music GCSE syllabus, and is now used as one of the 12 set works covered in the course, under '20th Century Music'.

Selected recordings

* Larry Kert - on the Broadway cast album (1957) * Jimmy Bryant - on the 1961 film soundtrack album (1961) * Sammy Davis Jr. - on the album '' Sammy Davis Jr. Belts the Best of Broadway'' (1962) *

Vic Damone Vic Damone (born Vito Rocco Farinola; June 12, 1928 – February 11, 2018) was an American traditional pop music, pop and big band singer and actor. He was best known for his performances of songs such as the number one hit "You're Breaking My ...

- on the album ''On the Street Where You Live'' (1964) *

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer. Starting his 69-year career with singles of standard (music), standard music, Mathis is one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century and became highly popular as ...

- on the album '' The Shadow of Your Smile'' (1966) *

Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the James Bond music, theme songs to three James Bond films - the only artist to officially perform more than o ...

- on the album '' 12 of Those Songs'' (1968) *

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...

- non-album single B side for "Sweetness" (1969), later included on the 2004 reissue of their self-titled debut album * Todd Rundgren's Utopia - on the album '' Another Live'' (1975) *

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...

- on the albums ''

The Broadway Album ''The Broadway Album'' is the twenty-fourth studio album by American singer Barbra Streisand, released by Columbia Records on November 4, 1985. Consisting mainly of classic show tunes, the album marked a major shift in Streisand's career. She ha ...

'' (1985) and '' One Voice'' (1987) * Cécile McLorin Salvant - on the album '' For One to Love'' (2015) *

- on the 2021 film soundtrack album (2021)

References

External links

Further analysis of the Something's Coming
{{authority control Songs from West Side Story Songs with music by Leonard Bernstein 1957 songs Shirley Bassey songs Vic Damone songs Sammy Davis Jr. songs Johnny Mathis songs Barbra Streisand songs Utopia (band) songs Yes (band) songs Songs written by Stephen Sondheim