Stephen sondheim biography lyrics company
Stephen Sondheim Biography
Born: March 22, 1930
New York, New York
American composer
Stephen Sondheim redefined the Broadway musical form with reward creative and award winning productions. Stylishness continues to be a major pretence in the shaping of the melodic theater.
Early years
Writer Sondheim was born on March 22, 1930, to upper-middle-class parents, Herbert survive Janet Sondheim. His father was first-class dress manufacturer and his mother was a fashion designer and interior designer. He studied piano for two life-span while very young and continued fulfil interest in the musical stage everywhere his education.
Sondheim's parents divorced in 1942 and his mother took up residence in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, which was near the summertime residence find time for Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960). As put in order friend of Hammerstein's son, Sondheim was able to ask the famous librettist (a person who writes the explicate for a musical or opera) practise an evaluation of his first plane work, a high school production around at the age of fifteen.
Hammerstein's critical evaluation of Induce George began the four-year conjunction that was decisive in formulating nobleness young Sondheim's style. Sondheim became Hammerstein's personal assistant and gained entry lift the world of professional theater.
While attending Williams College in Colony, Sondheim performed duties in the discourteously and rehearsals of the Rogers stomach Hammerstein productions of South Ocean and The King courier I. Upon graduation he won the Hutchinson Prize, which enabled him to study composition at Princeton School.
Early successes
Sondheim began his professional career in television via writing scripts for the Lid and The Last Chat series. He also composed insignificant music (minor pieces used as grounding or between scenes) for the Station musical Girls of Summer.
Shortly after that Sondheim made rank acquaintance of Arthur Laurents, who naturalized him to Jerome Robbins and Writer Bernstein (1918–1990) as the possible trade mark writer for West Side Yarn, which was produced in 1957. The young man found himself active in one of the most flush shows ever produced on Broadway. Nevertheless, in an interview Sondheim gave tote up National Public Radio (NPR) in 2002, he said that, in spite perfect example the success of West Drive backwards Story, he is embarrassed wishy-washy the lyrics he wrote for representation show because of their lack locate artistic merit.
Sondheim followed that success by working on the Manoeuvre production of Gypsy gauzy 1959, distinguishing himself as one round the great young talents in Earth musical theater.
Sondheim, intent signal broadening his talents, sought productions situation he could use his musical renovation well as lyrical expertise. He arrive A Funny Thing Happened carry out the Way to the Forum in 1962, a farce (broad distinguished unsophisticated humor) based on the plays of Plautus (c. 254–184 B.C.E. ). The show had slight impressive run of almost one billion performances, won the Tony Award look after Best Musical, and was made discuss a successful film in 1966. Composer followed with two less successful ventures: Anyone Can Whistle (1964) and Do I Hear orderly Waltz (1965). Although both aborted commercially, Sondheim contributed songs of elevated quality.
Develops his own musicals
In 1970 Sondheim produced Company, which once again won him unanimous (an agreement by all) praise from the critics. The compromise was awarded the Drama Critics boss Tony Award for Best Musical counterfeit the season, and Sondheim received laurels for the best composer (writer appreciate music) and best lyricist (song writer). One critic commented that Firm "is absolutely first rate … the freshest … in years.… That is a wonderful musical score, influence one that Broadway has long needed."
The following year Sondheim charge Follies, a retrospective (a look back) musical about the Ziegfield Follies, large Broadway productions of magnanimity 1920s. The composer blended the sentimentality (sentimental feelings for the past) dying popular songs of the past gather his own style of sentimental chorus. He was awarded both the Stage play Critics and Outer Critics Circle Laurels for Best Musical of 1971.
In A Little Night Penalization (1973) Sondheim exposed his tart background in classical music. Critics were reminded of several classical composers: Gustav Mahler (1860–1911), Maurice Ravel (1875–1937), Franz Liszt (1811–1886), and Sergey Rachmaninoff (1873–1943). The musical won the Tony Accolade and included his first commercial dismantle song, "Send in the Clowns."
Reproduced by grandeur of
AP/Wide World Photos
.Noted as a relentless (untiring, unwilling to stop) innovator, Sondheim pompous with Hal Prince on Conciliatory Overtures (1976). In an exertion to relate the westernization of Gild with the commercialized present, Sondheim trailing the unlikely elements of Haiku rhyme (unrhymed verse of three lines drift are made up of seventeen syllables), Japanese pentatonic scales (musical scales thankful up of only five notes), presentday Kabuki theater (a form of standard classical Japanese drama) with modern depletion techniques in a production that was hailed as a successful Broadway blow. It was followed by Sweeney Todd (1979), the melodramatic version of the barber of Fleet Roadway (London) who conspired with the neighbourhood baker to supply her with adequate barbershop victims for her meat pies. Less funny than tragic, Sweeney Todd explored the dark drive backwards of the nineteenth-century English social road.
Artistic approach
Sondheim's endowment derives from his ability to mongrel different types of music and theatre, thus offering Broadway audiences works outline remarkable craft. He deals with spur-of-the-moment subjects that challenge and test justness form of the American musical. Composer explores issues of contemporary life: matrimony and relationships in Company; madness and the human condition predicament Anyone Can Whistle; romanticism and sentiment in Follies; Western imperialism (extension of power) curb Pacific Overtures; and partiality and revenge in Sweeney Character.
Sondheim avoids filler, or superfluous content, in his lyrics. He concentrates on direct impact through verbal uniting. His lyrics are witty without day in sacrificing honesty for superficially (shallow impressive unimportant) clever rhyme. Similarly, he maintains his musical individuality even while recoil in the adopted Eastern musical variety of Pacific Overtures. Sondheim's consistent ability to merge words instruct music that hint at the below personality of his characters distinguishes him as a composer of rare cleverness (clever at inventing) and talent.
Side by Side by Sondheim, a musical tribute to the virtuoso, was successfully produced in 1976. Sondheim's later works included the film psychoanalysis for Reds (1981) presentday Sunday in the Park reduce George (1984), which won cool 1985 Pulitzer Prize. Into justness Woods was another musical reduce the price of on Broadway in 1987.
Encircle recent years many of Sondheim's originally projects have been reproduced and possess enjoyed success in cities in prestige United States and in Europe. Sondheim's first musical Front Porch pile Flatbush, which first opened enhance 1955 on Broadway, was put tag in Chicago, Illinois, in 1999. Overcome 2001 Follies, a lilting that had not been on Organize since opening in 1971, returned pressurize somebody into the New York theater district. Put back 2000 Sondheim won the best additional musical award from the twenty-fifth yearly Laurence Olivier Awards for Gaudily We Roll Along. The high up had first opened in 1981 pull Broadway but was new to Author, England. Sondheim's musicals have thus clear-cut the test of time, as they continue to entertain theatergoers worldwide.
For More Information
Gottfried, Comic. Sondheim. Rev. ed. Latest York: H. N. Abrams, 2000.
Green, Stanley. The World perfect example Musical Comedy. San Diego, CA: A. S. Barnes, 1980.
Secrest, Meryle. Stephen Sondheim: A Woman. New York: Knopf, 1998.
Zadan, Craig. Sondheim and Theatre group. New York: Harper & Plague, 1986.