Stephen Sondheim, Spoke to Piers Ford About the Mysterious Art of Songwriting
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Broadway's most cerebral composer, Stephen Sondheim, spoke to Piers Ford about the mysterious art of songwriting o composer in modern musical the- the extraordinary force of love (Passion, 1994). Bernadette Peters for a 1996 concert at atre has divided the opinions of his But to use them as grounds for divorcing Carnegie Hall, subsequently released on audience and critics as forcefully as Sondheim from mainstream popular culture is Compact Disc as Sondheim, etc. Stephen Sondheim. Ever since his superficial indeed. While he writes songs, he insists, specifi- lyrics for West Side Story brought Works like Pacific Overtures, Passion and cally for a character at a particular moment N— to prominence in 1957, Sondheim has suf- even Sweeney Todd, his thrilling 1979 within the play, it is the way in which he brings r'?d a tedious litany of complaints: he is too revenger's tragedy based on the bloody life universal themes and experiences to bear on -.. ?r by half, a cerebral producer of material and times of Fleet Street's legendary demon that character that make a Sondheim song a •- =n art form which should be frivolous and barber, may well be more operatic in style wholly accessible piece of work. Like the per- "-hearted, an inaccessible writer who and structure than the average modern stage former, the listener has simply to peel back :^~ands too much brain work from an audi- musical. But the implication that they are the layers until he or she finds common ~-:e which seeks simply to be entertained. somehow tuneless and lacking those 'hits ground with the character. ~3 the novice, his choices of subject might from the shows' qualities which should send 'What interests me is the complexity of r~=7i to lend weight to these sweeping judge- an audience wafting from the theatre on a human beings in situations', he says. 'That's -?"ts. In 40 years these have included cloud of swelling ballads is hardly sustainable. what interests any playwright, and I'm a play- ;-;".ese history (Pacific Overtures, 1976), the Sweeney Todcfs "Pretty Women", "Not While wright in song. I was trained that way by Oscar ;?;sssins of American presidents (Assassins, I'm Around" and "lohanna" have all been suc- [Hammerstein], who was also a playwright in ---':, the nature of madness (Anyone Can cessfully used in cabaret and revue, far- song, and subsequently by my collaborators •"f*/e, 1964), the reconciliation of past and removed from their original context. like Arthur Laurents, John Weidman and T"=snt (Follies, 1971), metropolitan angst "Happiness", the opening duet in Passion, George Furth, all of whom are writers of plays. I:~pany, 1970), the artistic process itself which becomes the show's quivering leitmotif, The realism in what I do has to do with the •.-day in the Park with George, 1984) and was adapted as an aria of rare beauty by fact that I come from a playwriting tradition 3 Gramophone-expbrations 19 rather than a songwriting tradition, and that's way. I think that expectation is changing grad- Recording Sondheim; Julia McKeruie and Maria Friedman the crucial difference. I was lucky enough to ually, but it certainly has been there. When I have as my mentor Oscar, who did start as a first started out, I was attacked by a well- struggled to find similar depth and dramatic playwright before he became a lyricist. And, known critic named Walter Kerr who believed potential in other modem composers and naTve as some people think his lyrics are, they that musicals should be mindless. It was actu- lyricists. In Britain, for example, actress Julia are essentially a playwright's lyrics. That's not ally a statement he made. I don't agree with McKenzie has been acknowledged as one true of his peers, people like Cole Porter or him. of the leading interpreters of his work. She Lorenz Hart, who came from a songwriting This has led to the perception which has was a definitive Sally in the 1986 London pro- background and were interested primarily in cropped up a number of times of my being too duction of Follies, the Witch in Into the Woods songs rather than story, character or plot.' clever by half. Again, I don't think that critics (1990) and a thrilling Mrs Lovett in the 1993 Sondheim's lyrics provide copious evidence like the idea that there is thought and word- National Theatre production of Sweeney Todd. of his love of the English language, word-play play going on although, incidentally, this is A cast member of the 1970 production of Company, she went on to star with Millicent Martin and David Kernan in the 1976 revue 'What interests me is the complexity Side by Side by Sondheim. The delight with which they seized the material and wove it of human beings in situations. I'm a into a witty, cohesive evening of entertain- ment marked a turning point in the attitudes playwright in song' of British audiences to the writer. Far from being inaccessible, these were songs which and alliteration. For his admirers, these are the not so true in Britain as it is in the United clearly reflected the variety of human very qualities which make his work so fibrous States. There's a tradition of language in Great experience in the same way as any much loved and substantial. He acknowledges, however, Britain which there is not in an immigrant standard. that they have also aroused resentment in country like the United States, and word-play 'He's a dramatist and a poet', says some critical circles. and the playfulness of the language, with its McKenzie, 'And to the performer, the rewards 'I think the reason I'm so often dubbed enormous variety and richness, are appreci- are tremendous because every song is "cerebral" or "inaccessible" is that audiences ated and enjoyed more by both British public like a one-act play or at least, a soliloquy. in musicals are just not used to using their and critics than by Americans.' "Losing my Mind" [Follies] is a soliloquy, even brains', he suggests. 'Most musicals don't There is no doubt that, as far as Sondheim's though in Sally's mind it is the epitome of a require that. People come to a musical expect- work is concerned, these elements have also torch song. You can see precisely how her day ing to be entertained in the most light-hearted been appreciated by performers who have progresses.' S 20 Gramophone-explorations RCA VICTOR Music and Lyrto b> Bookbv SlffHEN SONDHEIM JAMES LAPINE Sondheim side by side: just three recordings from the composer's Shop Boys and an uncharacteristically subdued, musical or lyrical liberties are taken. By that I extensive discography breathy vocal gave Liza Minnelli her first, mean the changing of notes or words rather belated pop hit with the quintessential Follies than phrasing, which is up to the individual. If So Julia McKenzie hits the nail on the head torch song "Losing My Mind". there have been lyric changes in a couple of when she describes a Sondheim composition as Ironically, "Send in the Clowns" (A Little recordings, it's because there's been a specific a one-act play. It is rarely a case of a Night Music, 1973), probably the greatest request. Streisand, for example, wanted simple song, simply sung. But this has been no Sondheim popular hit, has been less well- "Putting it Together" (Sunday in the Park with barrier to widespread popular success for indi- served in its commercial incarnation than any George) to be about the recording industry and vidual numbers. Numbers like the survival of his other songs. A staple of every hotel not about the making of visual art, so of course anthem from Follies, "I'm Still Here", virtually lobby pianist and lounge-bar singer, it was I changed the lyric for that. And I added a lyric anything from West Side Story and the Oscar taken into the charts by the American folk-rock for her "Send in the Clowns" to make the tran- winning "Sooner or Later", a bar-room ballad artist ]udy Collins and has been interpreted by sition between the first and second choruses sung by Madonna in the film Dick Trace/ (1990), every performer of note from Sinatra to Elaine which, on stage, is done through monologue. have all achieved huge popularity outside their Paige via Cleo Laine. In the show this song rep- There are occasional wild distortions of my original context. In 1989, a sophisticated elec- resents a moment of desolate self-realization original lyric intentions, particularly when they tronic Euro-beat backing courtesy of the Pet for the character, Desiree Armfeldt, and its are sung by pop and rock performers today, effect is dramatically because their ears and minds are focused on a weakened when it different goal which has less to do with the Suggested listening passes into the realms content of the song. But it doesn't irritate Anyone Can Whistle (1964/1997) of the all-purpose easy me and yes, it's a reasonable price to pay for Studio Cast TER © CD - due autumn listening ballad. In its commercial success.' 1998 time, it has been sung In fact, Sondheim's gift for pastiche is such by actresses of the cali- that the quality of his work is often consider- Assassins (1991) bre of Jean Simmonds, ably higher than the type of material which he New York Cast RCA Victor CD © RD6O737 Glynis Johns and, most imitates in so many of his shows. Any of the recently, Judi Dench.