Chapter 35: Broadway, and FilmMusic

Tin Pan Alley: Precursor of Broadway Center of music business in New York City Song pluggers peddled sheet music Irving Berlin – “God Bless America” – “White Christmas” – “There’s No Business Like Show Business”

The Broadway Musical Also known as the musical comedy Emerged shortly after 1900 Book: Libretto containing the lyrics American-born composers: – George M. Cohen: Little Johnny Jones (1906) “Give my regards to Broadway” – Jerome Kern: Showboat (1927) “Ol’ Man River”: Elements of blues, jazz, and the Negro spiritual – Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein: Golden Era for American musical theatre Oklahoma (1943), Carousel (1945), South Pacific (1949), The King and I (1951), The Sound of Music (1959)

Recent Musicals British megahits of Andrew Lloyd Webber – Evita, Cats, Phantom of the Opera Diversity of modern Broadway – Revivals of earlier musicals Anything Goes, Porgy and Bess – Long running traditional musicals Chicago, Wicked – Adaptations of popular movies Sister Act, The Lion King, Mary Poppins – Based on earlier popular music Jersey Boys, Memphis, Mamma Mia! – Religious Themes The Book of Mormon, Leap of Faith

Leonard Bernstein ( ) Great 20th century composer – conductor - interpreter Symphonies, ballets, a film score, four musicals Conductor of the New York Philharmonic for nearly half a century Dynamic musical leader Virtuoso pianist Educator and advocate for the arts West Side Story(1957) – Musical sensation on Broadway and as a movie – Mix of old and new: Standard Broadway numbers infused with Modernist music – Retelling of Romeo and Juliet

Stephen Sondheim (b.1930) Private student of both Broadway lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II and twelve-tone composer Milton Babbitt Lyricist for West Side Story Combined serious, complex musical techniques with witty, poetic lyrics Raised the quality of America musical theatre Variety of style: Gershwin-inspired jazz harmonies, Stravinsky-like dissonance, Viennese waltzes, standard Broadway fare

Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979) Musical masterpiece Three-hour long tragedy with very little spoken dialogue Monumental, dissonant, operatic score Technically demanding vocal music Dissonant, Modern music Grisly story Film adaptation in 2007 by Tim Burton, starring Johnny Depp

Film Music Music’s power can greatly affects our emotions more than images do Music is as key to a film as cinematography, acting, or editing Archetypal movie themes (such as John Williams’s Jaws and Bernard Herrmann’s Psycho) become musical symbols in popular culture Music can be the creative inspiration behind a film

Contemporary Diverse Styles Pendulum swings between “classical” and popular styles Popular example: Saturday Night Fever Balance between traditional orchestral writing and pop style in the scores by Danny Elfman, Thomas Newman, and Howard Shore John Williams: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) – Full orchestral sound; Certain instruments underscore dialogue – Themes represent dramatic forces, similar to Wagner’s leitmotifs – “Luke,” “Force,” and “Yoda” themes