Talk:Somewhere (song)

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Classical music

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I'm fairly sure that I heard Sondheim say on a documentary that he didn't rate this song very highly and thought of it as "The Schwa Song" because of the accents: "There's ə place for us / Somewhere ə place for us...". But I can't find any reference to this on the web. Maybe it wasn't Sondheim... anyway, if anyone can come up with a reference, it's a nice little snippet. --89.168.128.241 (talk) 20:22, 5 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Sondheim in Finishing the Hat (the book, not the song) says that his friend Burt Shevelove used to refer to "Somewhere" as "the 'a' song" (not "the schwa song") so as to mock Sondheim's lyrical setting of Bernstein's pre-existing music. Except for the unfortunate overemphasis on this word, Sondheim does not disparage the song in any way--at least not here. He does say the melody was "dear" to Bernstein. TheScotch (talk) 06:31, 14 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Would it be worth adding Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind’s theme as a popular culture reference? There are a few phrases referenced after a reference to Händel’s Sarabande Markcrossfield (talk) 00:44, 27 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Plagiarism?[edit]

Re: "The music is composed by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and takes a phrase from the slow movement of Beethoven's 'Emperor' Piano Concerto, which forms the start of the melody,[1] and also a longer phrase from the main theme of Pyotr Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake."

This is a rather provocative assertion, occurring very early in the article. There is a citation of sorts, but it refers to an entire book and doesn't specify a page number. I should think a page number is required--at the least. TheScotch (talk) 06:49, 14 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

In terms of "taking a phrase from" the Beethoven, we're only taking about 5 notes. Such things happen all the time, most often as coincidences. Are we really sure we can accuse Bernstein of "taking a theme" from Beethoven here, even if he was surely aware of the theme in question? Four notes. Really? (And just because Alex Ross says this in a book doesn't make it true.) 50.169.28.29 (talk) 04:43, 16 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Nine years later, and no one has defended the assertion here, a fortiori supplied evidence or actual argument that Berstein derived his tune from Beethoven. I just listened to the concerto while reading the score. You can't miss the resemblance if you're listening for it and looking for it, as I was, but that doesn't mean it's not a coincidence. Yes, Bernstein would have been familiar with the concerto, but that doesn't mean he was constantly thinking about it. I'm removing the assertion from the article. If someone wants to replace it with a milder version, merely noting the similarity, placing it later in the article, I will not object. TheScotch (talk) 14:48, 14 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

No description of the music[edit]

I am very much missing a description of the music of this song: key, tempo, overall musical structure, architecture, everything. The article doesn't even attempt to put into words why this song is so beautiful. Bernstein also put very deep thoughts into composing this song for this musical. What function does this song have in the musical? How does the song musically relate to the rest of the musical? And why didn't Bernstein write it for Maria, but for a girl? --Stilfehler (talk) 16:40, 10 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Reference to Romeo & Juliet song by Dire Straits?[edit]

https://jeremykahn.co.uk/2013/05/22/mark-knopflers-romeo-and-juliet-an-analysis/

Clever reference here to West Side Story, another reinterpretation of the Romeo and Juliet story. The character Romeo is referring to a play about himself. Slightly mind bending if you think about it.>
There’s a place for us you know the movie song
Clever reference here to West Side Story, another reinterpretation of the Romeo and Juliet story. The character Romeo is referring to a play about himself. Slightly mind bending if you think about it.

ExitFilm(For a Music) (talk) 04:54, 14 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I disagree with the random blogger that this is the slightest bit clever. In any case, clever or not, reference to it does not belong in the article--or even on this talk page. (By the way, it's NOT a "movie song"; it's a show tune.) TheScotch (talk) 14:42, 16 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]