Greatest love songs ever: #35 “Maria”
By Tom Quiner
This soulful aria is but one of the many dazzling songs from West Side Story, with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. “Maria” is a song about that first blush of young love. Our protagonist, Tony, sings with joy at learning the name of his love-interest. Watch Ansel Elgort sing it above from Steven Spielberg’s 2021 film remake of the original.
There’s power in a name. I have a friend who makes it a point to learn … and use … the name of everyone she meets, whether if it’s the cashier at the super market or the barista at the coffee shop. They in turn learn her name and suddenly there’s a bond.
When it comes to young lovers, the mere utterance of his or her name is like a rhapsody. To that end, Mr. Sondheim milks the power of a name by invoking Maria’s name not once, not twice, but thirty times in a song with but 123 words. That’s about a quarter of the entire lyric!
Richard Beymer sings “Maria” from the original 1961 movie
Interestingly, God told us via the prophet, Isaiah, that he knows us by name:
“I have called you by name, you are mine.” [Isaiah 43:1]
That’s pretty awesome considering there are 8 billion people in the world!
Even more, God knew us when we were yet unborn, as the Psalmist told us:
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.” [Psalm 139:13]
Even though the Jewish born Stephen Sondheim didn’t seem to practice his faith, he seemed to understand the biblical principal that if our name matters to God, who IS love, then our name matters very much to our lover who basks in the glow of its sheer beauty.
Sondheim’s relentless repetition of Maria’s name captures the primal desire of love, catapulting this powerful song to #35 on my list of Greatest Love Songs Ever. Imagine that: out of millions of songs written down through the ages, this one ranks thirty-fifth by invoking the beautiful name of the Mother of God 30 times (a very Trinitarian number, just to make small talk).
Leonard Bernstein does something interesting musically in the song. He opens it using a tritone.
If you listen to Tony sing Maria the first time, that’s a tritone interval. Common intervals are a 4th (C to F, for example) or a fifth (C to G). The tritone splits the difference (C to F#). Very cool.
Bernstein used the interval to great effect throughout West Side Story, and most notably on “Maria.”
Julian Ovenden of Downton Abbey fame sings “Maria”
In my previous entry (“Blue Moon”), I made a cryptic remark about a Broadway legend who is the ‘bizarro’ version of Oscar Hammerstein II. That legend, of course, is Stephen Sondheim.
The young Stephen Sondheim grew up living next store to the great Hammerstein. Hammerstein took Sondheim under his wing, mentoring him on how to write and produce a musical. Sondheim looked at him as something of a father figure.
Their lyrical styles were polar opposites. Where Hammerstein was sweet and sentimental, Sondheim was sardonic. Hammerstein lyrics tended to be sunny; Sondheim’s dark. What they had in common, though, was an ethic that fussed over every song, every lyric, every word, and even every syllable.
Sondheim could say a lot with few words, as this line from Maria shows:
“Maria, all the beautiful sounds of the world in a single word.”
Nice.
This is a love song that makes you feel young and alive. Kudos to the team of Bernstein and Sondheim.
I peeked ahead to next week and notice we have song that is one of the most contemporary ones on this list, and yet it was written 38 years ago! Perhaps this a reflection of your humble curator’s age! Whatever, check back in seven days. Spread the word to your friends, for love is the antidote for abortion. The world needs to take a slow breath and listen to more of these songs!
[If you are enjoying this series, support Pulse with your gift today to keep it going.]
