Sweeney Todd (musical)

Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler.

Music

Sondheim's score to Sweeney is one of his most complex to date. He relies heavily on counterpoint and rich, "angular" harmonies in the show. The compositional style of Sweeney has been compared to that of Maurice Ravel, Sergei Prokofiev, and Bernard Herrmann. Sondheim also quotes the ancient Dies Irae Gregorian chant, both as part of the eponymous ballad that runs throughout the score ("Swing your razor wide, Sweeney!") and in an inversion later on ("These are my friends..."). Sondheim also relies heavily on leitmotif - at least twenty distinct ones can be identified throughout the score, identified here by their first appearance in the libretto:

Related Topics:
Score - Counterpoint - Harmonies - Maurice Ravel - Sergei Prokofiev - Bernard Herrmann - Dies Irae - Gregorian chant - Eponymous - Inversion - Leitmotif - Libretto

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• The Ballad of Sweeney Todd
• No Place Like London
• "Alms! Alms! For a miserable woman..."
• "'Ow would you like a little squiff, dear..." (reappears in Poor Thing)
• "There was a barber and his wife..."
• "There's a hole in the world like a big black pit..."
• The Worst Pies in London
• "City on Fire"
• Poor Thing
• My Friends
• Green Finch and Linnet Bird
• Johanna (Anthony)
• "Ladies and gentlemen! May I have your attention, perlease?..."
• Wait
• "He means to marry me Monday..."
• "Excuse me, my lord. May I request, my lord..."
• Pretty Women
• "And I'll never see Johanna..."
• A Little Priest
• Not While I'm Around