Meeting the Scherzo

Of course, I had no idea it was called a scherzo. I’m still not sure I could identify a scherzo if I heard one. But they are often called “Scherzo…something” so that’s how I know. Later in life I ran into John Williams’ “Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra” from Indiana and the Last Crusade.

But I digress…

Bernstein’s scherzo in the “Somewhere” ballet from the original Broadway cast recording of West Side Story stopped me in my tracks. I was eight.

Following “I will take you away, take you far, far away on a pier…” the music reaches a crescendo and you hear a vast horizon. Everything is peaceful. The music lilts and dances and then, little pitter-patter of scherzo, mini see-saws of harmonics. Delightful. Easy.

I had been playing the piano for a few years already. Taking lessons, eschewing my studies, and tinkering with chords and harmonies instead. My lessons weren’t teaching me anything like what I heard that day. Over the years I tried to duplicate that simple complexity of sound.

I’m still working on it over 50 years later.