Notes on the Program By James M. Keller, Program Annotator, The Leni and Peter May Chair Celebrating Sondheim tephen Sondheim has towered over his had nourished aspirations for popular music S era of American musical theater as both a early in his career, and he supported Sond- lyricist and a composer — very often as both heim’s interest in musical theater while helping at once. His career so far has encompassed a fine-tune his ability as a composer. “I am his string of 15 full-scale musicals plus a handful maverick,” Sondheim would later say, “his one of “anthology shows” built on numbers cut student who went into the popular arts armed from shows; a stack of scores for film, televi- with all his serious artillery.” sion, and theater productions; a body of stand- Sondheim was well prepared when opportu- alone songs and instrumental pieces; and a nity knocked. Following some work on Holly- portfolio of librettos and lyrics matched by wood film and television projects, he got a big none of his contemporaries. His principal break in 1957, when he was invited to serve as contributions to musical theater now stretch lyricist for Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Sto- back 65 years, and yet they seem for the most ry. He confirmed his place among Broadway’s part fresh and still young. Each of his major elect two years later when he triumphed as works has been groundbreaking in its way, the wordsmith for Jule Styne’s Gypsy. With- each unique; yet most exude a universality in a few years, Sondheim launched a series of that makes them seem up to date. Broadway shows for which he both authored Sondheim is a New Yorker born and bred, the words and composed the music, in every an only child who lived his early years at the case infusing sophistication into language that San Remo on Central Park West. But his family could be embraced by general theatergoers. unraveled when he was ten, and a few years lat- er he entered the orbit of what would become a surrogate family, that of the distinguished In Short lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. Hammerstein provided Sondheim an entrée to Broadway Stephen Sondheim by hiring him as an assistant for the premiere Born: March 22, 1930, in New York City production of Allegro, which opened in 1947. Resides: in New York City By that time, however, Sondheim was already deeply engaged in musical studies. In 1950 he graduated from Williams College, where he was encouraged by one of his teachers, the composer Joaquín Nin-Culmell, to pursue further studies as a private pupil of Milton Babbitt. In Babbitt’s studio, Sondheim worked his way through scores by such composers as Mozart, Beetho- ven, Copland, and Ravel. (In 1952 he even com- posed a piano concerto, the first movement of which he titled Letters from Aaron Copland to Maurice Ravel.) Although Babbitt was famous Taking a bow at the New York Philharmonic’s for a rigorous brand of serial composition, he Sondheim: The Birthday Concert, March 2010 DECEMBER 2019 | 25 Following the first two of his shows to reach reiterating a familiar plot, never retracing a con- the Great White Way — the ever-delightful A ceptual formula he had already plumbed. Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the These characteristics have carried through Forum (1962, an original riposte to Roman Clas- works produced in the decades since: Sunday sical comedies), and subtly constructed Anyone in the Park with George (1984), which brings Can Whistle (1964) — Sondheim arrived at the the act of artistic creativity radiantly alive; Into six works he developed in association with pro- the Woods (1986), which delves into children’s ducer and director Harold Prince: Company fables, and beyond them deep into the human (1970), a commentary on the foibles of human psyche; Assassins (1990), a startling show fo- relationships); Follies (1971), a hugely inventive cusing on a slender niche of criminality — nine study of aspiration and disappointment in show successful or unsuccessful murderers of Unit- business and personal life; A Little Night Mu- ed States presidents; Passion (1994), the love sic (1973), a charmed but bittersweet glimpse of story of a soldier and his commander’s sickly midsummer romance; Pacific Overtures (1976), cousin; and the show that so far has developed a Zen-infused masterpiece on the unlikely sub- through three separate identities as Wise Guys, ject of Japanese-American political relations; Bounce, and Roadshow (a meditation on gam- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet bling, business speculation, and the reversal of Street (1979), a macabre “musical thriller”; and fortune). Rounding out the roster of Sondheim Merrily We Roll Along (1981), a daring explora- musicals are the two that achieved their fame tion of how the idealism of youth yields to the belatedly: The Frogs (a musical version of Aris- cynicism of adulthood — told in reverse. Merely tophanes’s comedy; it was first heard at Yale in naming these shows underscores how the com- 1974 and reached Lincoln Center three decades poser was given to perpetual exploration, never later), and Saturday Night (a tale of aspiring Overture to A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum Suite from Into the Woods Suite from Assassins Multitudes of Amys, from Company Works composed and premiered: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, composed 1962; premiered May 8, 1962, at the Alvin Theatre in New Martha Plimpton, Stephen Colbert, and Neil Patrick Harris in York. Into the Woods, composed 1986–87; the New York Philharmonic’s production of Company, 2011 premiered December 4, 1986, at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California, and opened on Broadway November 5, 1987, at the Martin Beck Theatre. Assassins, composed in 1990; premiered Off-Broadway on December 18, 1990, at Playwrights Horizons. Company, composed in 1970; premiered April 26, 1970, at the Alvin Theatre in New York; Multitudes of Amys, intended as the finale, was replaced prior to rehearsals. New York Philharmonic premieres and most recent performances: This performance marks the first of this Overture to A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; Multitudes of Amys, from Company; and the Suite from Assassins. Suite from Into the Woods, most recently performed in its Philharmonic premiere, January 29, 2013, Andrew Litton, conductor. 26 | NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC young men on “date night,” written in 1954 but arranger, and conductor, Sebesky’s credits not produced until 1997). include many notable theater productions This festive program opens with an orches- in London’s West End and on Broadway, tral overture that sets the stage for A Funny among them the 2000 revival of Kiss Me, Kate, Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. which earned him a Tony Award for Best The show had already gone through two dif- Orchestrations, and the 2015 An American in ferent opening numbers as it was developed. Paris (for which he shared a Tony Award for Choreographer and director Jerome Robbins Best Orchestrations). His work has figured in was called in as a consultant and, according numerous film and television productions, to Sondheim, “his first piece of advice was to commercials, and a host of recordings, includ- change the opening number,” which he ended ing the 1991 Symphonic Sondheim (in which he up staging. Sondheim continued: “The result, conducted the London Symphony Orchestra). Comedy Tonight, which I wrote over the week- Sebesky is also the arranger for Multitudes end, changed what had been a catastrophe in of Amys, from Company. The song, heard New Haven and Washington into a three-year here in an instrumental version, was original- hit on Broadway.” ly intended for the central character, Robert The suites from Into the Woods and Swee- (Bobby to his friends), to sing as the finale, but ney Todd performed in this concert have it was replaced early in the show’s develop- been arranged by Don Sebesky. A composer, ment when a change in the narrative rendered Suite from Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Bows from A Little Night Music Selections from Follies Suite from Sunday in the Park with George Works composed and premiered: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, composed 1978–79; premiered March 1, 1979, at the Uris The- atre in New York. A Little Night Music, composed 1972; premiered February 25, 1973, at the Shubert Theatre in New York. Follies, composed in 1971; premiered April 4, 1971, at the Winter Garden The- atre in New York. Sunday in the Park with George, Bryn Terfel and Emma Thompson in the composed 1983–84; premiered Off-Broadway on Philharmonic’s 2014 production of Sweeney Todd July 6, 1983, at Playwrights Horizons; opened on Broadway May 2, 1984 at the Booth Theatre. New York Philharmonic premieres and most recent performances: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street premiered in a staged version May 4, 2000, Andrew Litton, conductor; most recently performed in a staged version March 8, 2014, Alan Gilbert, conductor. This performance marks the premieres of the Bows from A Little Night Music, and the Suite from Sunday in the Park with George. Selections from Follies, premiered September 6, 1985, as part of a concert performance of the complete show, Paul Gemignani, conductor, Barbara Cook (Losing My Mind) and Lee Remick (Could I Leave You?), vocalists; Losing My Mind, most recently performed March 15, 2010, as part of Sondheim: The Birthday Concert, Paul Gemignani, conductor, Marin Mazzie, vocalist; Could I Leave You?, most recently performed February 14, 2015, Ted Sperling, conductor, Laura Osnes, vocalist. DECEMBER 2019 | 27 The New York Philharmonic Connection Along with numerous performances of indi- vidual songs and suites from his musicals, the New York Philharmonic has mounted complete performances of three of Ste- phen Sondheim’s greatest works: Follies (in 1985), Sweeney Todd (twice, in 2000 and 2014), and Company (2011).