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Sondheim, Stephen and Herbert, Trevor
(1989).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07494468900640641
Abstract
This article is primarily made up of an edited transcript of an interview which Stephen Sondheim gave in 1985 for a BBC/Open University television programme. In it the composer discusses his compositional processes and the relationship between text (lyrics) and music. He also discusses issues relating to performance practice of his work, in particular idioms (musical theatres, opera houses) inasmuch as they influence his compositional method. The idiom of performances are further dealt with in respect of the nature of audiences. The examples that Sondheim draws on are "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" from Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979) and "Send in the Clowns" from A Little Night Music (1973).
A note on the editing of the transcript
My questions are précised but retain their original sense. I have edited out obvious superfluities in Sondheim's responses and the order of the various sections of the interview have been modestly rearranged, but not to the extent that they alter the original sense. The music illustrations are those which Sondheim played at the piano, the single exception being the first, which was illustrated in the programme by a film extract.
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About
- Item ORO ID
- 36054
- Item Type
- Journal Item
- ISSN
- 1477-2256
- Extra Information
-
Special issue: Music and Text
Notes:
"The transcript is of an interview which Sondheim granted me on 19 September 1985, for a BBC Television programme (Composers and Audiences: Tippett and Sondheim) which forms part of the A102 Arts Foundation Course at the Open University of Great Britain. It was produced by Tony Coe, and recorded at Michael Bennett's studios in New York City." - Keywords
- Broadway; musical theatre
- Academic Unit or School
-
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) > Arts and Humanities > Music
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) > Arts and Humanities
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) - Copyright Holders
- © Stephen Sondheim and The Open University in Wales
- Depositing User
- Trevor Herbert