Stephen Sondheim

Stephen Joshua Sondheim (born March 22, 1930) is an American musical theater lyricist and composer.

Career

At about the age of ten, around the time of his parents' divorce, Sondheim became friends with Jimmy Hammerstein. Jimmy's father was the well-known lyricist and playwright Oscar Hammerstein II. Hammerstein became something of a surrogate father to Sondheim, as the young man (for obvious reasons) attempted to stay away from home as much as possible. To say that Hammerstein was an influence on Sondheim is to make a gross understatement; if Oscar had been a geologist, Sondheim observed later in life, he probably would have become one too. During high school, Sondheim had the chance to write and see performed a farcical musical he wrote based on the goings-on of his school, entitled By George. It was a major popular success among his peers, and it inflated the young songwriter's ego considerably; he took it to Hammerstein, and asked him to evaluate it as though he had no knowledge of its author. The next day Sondheim came back. Hammerstein hated it. "But if you want to know why it's terrible," Hammerstein consoled the young man, "I'll tell you."

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Thus began one of the most famous apprenticeships in the musical theatre, as Hammerstein designed a kind of course for Sondheim to take, on the construction of a musical. This training centered around four assignments, which Sondheim was to write. These were:

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• A musical based on a play he admired (which became All That Glitters)
• A musical based on a play he thought was flawed (which became High Tor)
• A musical based on an existing novel or short story not previously dramatized (which became the unfinished Mary Poppins)
• An original musical (which became Climb High)

None of these "assignment" musicals were produced professionally. High Tor and Mary Poppins have never been produced at all, because the rights holders for the original works refused to grant permission for a musical to be made -- besides, Mary Poppins was never even finished.

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Sondheim went on to study composition with the composer Milton Babbitt, though he would not allow this famous atonal composer to teach him the twelve-tone system, perhaps deciding there was no place for it in contemporary musical theatre. In 1954, he wrote both music and lyrics for Saturday Night, which was never produced on Broadway and was shelved until a 1997 production at London's Bridewell Theatre.

Related Topics:
Milton Babbitt - 1954 - Saturday Night - 1997 - London - Bridewell Theatre

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At the age of 25, Sondheim wrote the lyrics to West Side Story, accompanying Leonard Bernstein's music and Arthur Laurents's book. In 1959 he wrote the lyrics to the musical ', with music by Jule Styne and a book again by Laurents. Finally in 1962 Sondheim saw a musical for which he wrote both the music and lyrics, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, open on Broadway. His next musical, Anyone Can Whistle, was a financial failure, though it has developed a cult following and is currently being revived in a series of high-profile concerts. He donned his lyricist-for-hire hat for one last show, Do I Hear a Waltz?, with music by Richard Rodgers -- the one project he claims he regrets doing -- and since then has devoted himself to both composing and writing lyrics for a series of critically acclaimed musicals.

Related Topics:
West Side Story - Leonard Bernstein - Arthur Laurents - 1959 - Jule Styne - 1962 - A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum - Broadway - Anyone Can Whistle - Do I Hear a Waltz? - Richard Rodgers

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Sondheim's work is most notable for his use of complex polyphony in the vocal parts, such as the chorus of five minor characters who function as a sort of "Greek Chorus" in A Little Night Music. He also displays a penchant for angular harmonies and intricate melodies reminiscent of his hero, Bach (he once claimed that he listens to no one else). To aficionados, Sondheim's musical sophistication is considered to be greater than that of many of his musical theater peers, and his lyrics are likewise renowned for their ambiguity ("Send In The Clowns"), wit ("Buddy's Blues") and urbanity ("The Little Things You Do Together"); he employs various literary techniques and devices that make his writing more akin to poetry than Tin Pan Alley.

Related Topics:
Polyphony - A Little Night Music - Bach - Ambiguity - "Send In The Clowns" - Poetry - Tin Pan Alley

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Indeed, in 1968 and 1969, Sondheim published an astonishingly inventive series of word puzzles in New York magazine. These are sometimes inadequately referred to as mere crosswords; in fact, the form and construction of the puzzles was every bit as creative and diabolical as the clues.

Related Topics:
1968 - 1969 - ''New York'' magazine - Crosswords

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Regarded by some as the anti-Andrew Lloyd Webber (though Lloyd Webber composed the distinctly Sondheimesque Tell Me On A Sunday), Sondheim is nevertheless no stranger to popular as well as critical success. In 1985, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Sunday in the Park with George, one of the few times that a musical has taken the award.

Related Topics:
Andrew Lloyd Webber - Tell Me On A Sunday - 1985 - Pulitzer Prize for Drama - Sunday in the Park with George

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He came out as gay around 2000. http://www.nndb.com/people/325/000023256/

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