"One Hand, One Heart" is a song from the musical ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid ...

'' by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim. It is a duet sung between Maria and Tony while they have a make-believe wedding, as seen in the stage version and 1961 film, while in the 2021 film, they sing it as they pledge their love to one another inside a church at

The Cloisters The Cloisters, also known as the Met Cloisters, is a museum in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City. The museum, situated in Fort Tryon Park, specializes in European medieval art and architecture, with a fo ...

as part of their date.

Larry Kert Lawrence Frederick "Larry" Kert (December 5, 1930 – June 5, 1991) was an American actor, singer, and dancer. He is best known for his role of Tony in the original Broadway production of the musical ''West Side Story''. Early life Kert was ...

and

Carol Lawrence Carol Lawrence (born Carolina Maria Laraia; September 5, 1932) is an American actress, appearing in musical theatre and on television. She is known for creating the role of Maria on Broadway in the musical '' West Side Story'' (1957), receivin ...

introduced it in the 1957 Broadway production. __TOC__

Analysis

The tune was originally composed for an unused song in '' Candide'', called "One". The original tune comprised just a single

dotted note In Western musical notation, a dotted note is a note with a small dot written after it. In modern practice, the first dot increases the duration of the basic note by half (the original note with an extra beam) of its original value. This means ...

per bar, which Sondheim was loath to write lyrics for, as he would have to write all single syllable words, so he wrote lyrics making fun of the tune to persuade Bernstein to give him the extra notes. Sondheim later wrote of the final product: Philip Brophy analysis the song's context within the musical:

Notable recordings

and

– for the album ''

West Side Story (Original Broadway Cast) ''West Side Story (Original Broadway Cast)'' is the 1957 recording of a Broadway production of the musical ''West Side Story''. Recorded 3 days after the show opened at the Winter Garden Theatre, the recording was released in October 1957 in both ...

'' (1957) * Jim Bryant and

Marni Nixon Margaret Nixon McEathron (February 22, 1930 – July 24, 2016), known professionally as Marni Nixon, was an American soprano and ghost singer for featured actresses in musical films. She is now recognized as the singing voice of leading a ...

– '' West Side Story (Original Sound Track Recording)'' (1961). *

Vic Damone Vic Damone (born Vito Rocco Farinola; June 12, 1928 – February 11, 2018) was an American traditional 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 Heart", and ...

– a single release in 1963. * Dionne Warwick – included in her album ''

On Stage and in the Movies ''On Stage and in the Movies'' is Dionne Warwick's seventh album for Scepter Records, and was recorded and released on May 14, 1967. The LP was issued as number 559 in the Scepter Catalog. History The cover art for this LP was simple: Warwick in ...

'' (1967) *

Vince Hill Vincent Hill (born 16 April 1934) is an English traditional pop music singer and songwriter who is best known for his recording of the Rodgers and Hammerstein show tune "Edelweiss" (1967), which reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart (staying ...

– for his album ''Edelweiss'' (1967). * Kiri Te Kanawa and José Carreras – for the album ''Leonard Bernstein Conducts West Side Story'' (1985) * Neil Diamond – for his album '' Lovescape'' (1991) *

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

and Johnny Mathis – '' Back to Broadway'' (1993) *

Rickie Lee Jones Rickie Lee Jones (born November 8, 1954) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and author. Over the course of a career that spans five decades, she has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, pop, soul, and jazz. A two ...

(with Joe Jackson) – for her album ''

It's Like This ''It's Like This'' is an album by the American singer/songwriter Rickie Lee Jones, released in 2000. Like her 1991 album ''Pop Pop'', it is a covers record. The album was nominated for a 2001 Best Pop Traditional Record Grammy Award. Critical r ...

'' (2000) * Ansel Elgort and

Rachel Zegler Rachel Anne Zegler (; born May 3, 2001) is an American actress and singer. She made her film debut playing Maria Vasquez in the 2021 musical drama ''West Side Story'', for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Pictu ...

– '' West Side Story (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)'' (2021)

References

{{authority control Songs from West Side Story Songs with music by Leonard Bernstein Songs written by Stephen Sondheim 1957 songs