Bernadette Peters approached to discuss recording the album “Sunday in the Park with George” with Stephen Sondheim and producer Thomas Z. Shepard in June 1984.
Marty Reichenthal / Associated Press
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Marty Reichenthal / Associated Press
Bernadette Peters approached to discuss recording the album “Sunday in the Park with George” with Stephen Sondheim and producer Thomas Z. Shepard in June 1984.
Marty Reichenthal / Associated Press
On the day Stephen Sondheim died, creating a playlist of his songs that you’ll never stop playing was to invite a debate – and I do.
Sondheim Dies at 91, and I Encourage You read all obits, every excerpt of historical context. I can only point to the fact that, almost always, to some extent, there is Sondheim music in my head; I barely need to move it out of my sleep and have it tripping over my lips when I’m washing dishes or driving my car.
I’m not much Sweeney Todd people – it freaked me out. I was a lot The company people. I watched a VHS tape about Go to the forest when I was babysitting in high school, and I never stopped loving it. A close friend brought me here Follies. I sent another friend a clip from Sunday in the park with George after he had a professional disappointment.
I invite you to listen to my, but your favorites, whether you’re hearing them for the first time.
1. “Getting married today”, from The company
I don’t remember why, but the day before we were all still in person at the NPR office, Ari Shapiro came to my desk when I wasn’t there and left me a note. It says: I came up here to rip the lyrics of “I’m not married” to you from memory, and you’ve decided to go. I ask you what could be more important than this? – Guess (this is also the last word of another Sondheim song. Know which one?)
“Getting Married Today” is a song in which a woman expresses her unusual anxiety on her wedding day, she repeatedly declares the fact that she won’t get married later on. (Finally, before you change your mind.) This is a song that’s also a sporting event, because – as this note suggests – the quick lyric series gives you bragging rights. But lest you think that means only one when Beth Howland overcame it like a champ in the DA Pennebaker documentary Original Actor Album: Company, Sondheim told her, “I don’t want to upset you, but I want the tunes.”
2. “Nobody is lonely,” Go to the forest
This innocuous title belongs to a song that, as it seems, speaks to the fact that we are rarely as isolated as we feel. But because Sondheim is Sondheim, it comes in a moment of profound grief, and it sees this fact as part consolation and part warning. You are not alone, it says, because everyone will be there with you, to love you. And you’re not alone, it says, so be mindful of the consequences of your actions. “You only move a finger / say the smallest word / something is bound to linger – listen.”
3. “Forward”, Sunday in the park with George
The appearance of a woman frustrates an artist and prompts him to continue with his art. It would have been easy for this song to turn into a short talk, but one of Sondheim’s gifts was his understanding of creation itself – that’s part of why he created it. such an interesting character in the newly released movie Bookmark Mark… Boom.
Not only does George need encouragement, he needs to be told that there are no guarantees in trying to build beauty, and that an artist continues to be an artist no matter what. An original soaring duet bringing together Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters, two musing Sondheimers, it speaks to the character of creative insecurity: “Don’t worry if your vision is new/let it be other people make that decision, they usually do.”
4. “Living,” The company
Many Sondheim followers consider themselves followers of one program above all others: they are a Sweeney Todd person, one Sunday person, one Follies people. I, more than anything, a The company people.
The story of Bobby, a man surrounded by couples and deeply skeptical of marriage, ends with the climactic admission that the scary thing about intimacy is also the precious thing about it. . “Someone needs you too much / someone who knows you too well / someone to pull you up / take you through hell.” Although it does have a bridge, this song mostly repeats and builds as Bobby is urged on by his friends – unlike many Sondheim songs weave and change. Along the way, it delivers little surprises like “someone who makes you swoon.” And about that bridge? “Make me confused / mock me with praise / let me be used / change my date”? It’s a particularly effective combination between a big, big moment in a song and a superficially mundane sentiment like “change my date”.
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5. “Sent In Clowns,” Some night songs
I’ll Die On This Hill: Few songs get an unfair deal like “Sent in Clowns.” In some ways, the combination of the fact that it was a Judy Collins pop hit and the fact that it had “clowns” in the title made people think it was an easy tune to listen to, in when reality – like so many Sondheim – is quietly, memorably devastating. Look for one of the performances by Dame Judi Dench, who delivers tragedy in this tale of two people who fear they’ve missed their moment. Clowns talk about stupidity, stupidity, and repetitive, devastating images: “I’m finally here on the ground / you’re in the air.”
6. “Can I Leave You?,” Follies
At #1, when Ari’s note indicates that “guess” is the last line in another Sondheim song, he’s talking about “Could I Leave You?” Follies is a great one if you like your musicals… well, angry, both in anger and, at times, in frenzied energy.
This particular number allows a woman for a while to finally be able to tell her husband how much she doesn’t love him, but perhaps because it’s too much. Follies is about theatrical, it starts out as a much more conventional love song on the subject of reminiscent of, of course, “If Ever I I’ll Leave You” from Camelot. It doesn’t end in the same emotional place, let us say.
7. “Standing together / What would we do without you?,” The company
Yes, I told you that I love The company. And one of the things I especially love is that while Bobby ultimately seems to see the value of marriage through the eyes of his friends, his friends don’t overlook the way they treat others. their “excess” single friends.
Sondheim always hides a knife in a cupcake, so of course you’ll find Bobby singing this very cheerful “port in the storm/comfort and cozy” business about how close they are, and then they joined in and sang about how much they loved him. , and right then we come: “Who flirts, but never threatens / Reminds us of our birthdays we always forget?” Bobby is praised for helping with the dishes, never complaining, listening to them complain, keeping their secrets from each other – his friends are discussing his singleness even when they wonder about it and try to change him.
8. “Forever After,” Go to the forest
Genius of Go to the forest is the first act like a regular fairy tale with a happy ending, and the second act complicates it all: people become unfaithful and get killed and stop loving each other in the same way. . “Ever After” is the bridge between these seasons, coming right at the end of the first act, and if you’re not paying too much attention to it, it really seems to be a conclusion of sorts. In fact, it’s been made clear on this point: “The journey is over, it’s all healed, and it’s not just for today / but for tomorrow and on, forever after.”
Unfortunately, you start to feel that something is wrong. But what I like about it in part is that Sondheim had a way of writing completely demonic, almost jumbled tunes that I think of as Bernadettes – as in, “I’m pretty sure only Bernadette Peters could sing like that. so.” And “Ever After” has a bunch of them, mixed in with the playful tune I thought of when I first saw it. Hamilton. “I am perfect,” sang the witch, “I have everything but beauty, I have power, and a daughter like a flower in the tower.”
9. “Jet Song,” West story
I know, I know – he just wrote the lyrics. Leonard Bernstein writes music. And I know he sometimes talks about don’t even like the lyrics. But it was long before I was ready for the emotional notes of The company or the second act of Go to the forest, I listened to the actor’s album West story stay at home non-stop, non-stop.
Obviously, as a child, I wasn’t prepared for the themes of resentment and intimacy in his other work, but murder, I handled it well. I will always credit my attachment to musical theater in general with the actor albums I listened to as a child, long before I knew anything about composers – this, Annie, A chorus (obviously those themes are good too?). And while I will never stop appreciating the tragedy and reach of some of these from an adult perspective, this is music for kids for me.
10. “Finishing the Hat,” Sunday in the park with George
How not to end with Sondheim’s own song about the power and cost of being creative? He ordered two books of lyrics on his coffee table Finish the hat and Look, I made a hat. There are a few great video of Sondheim teaches young musicians who aired on television years ago and see how he fixes the best breathing or pronunciation points – gentle, kind, but resolute – driving home how serious he was about what he did.
“Finishing the Hat” is a song that showcases some of his favorite moves, including the little bauble that repeats when George sings “win-down”. But more than anything, I think this song is the work of a writer who is incredibly impressive and incredibly precise, and sees creativity as something completely absorbing, whether it’s creating a song or a picture or a hat.
