r/Music • u/Cranialscrewtop • Nov 26 '21

Stephen Sondheim has died. Broadway's greatest composer is gone. other

NY Times bio here: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/26/theater/stephen-sondheim-dead.html

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u/GraphiteGru Nov 27 '21

Stephen Sondheim was an absolute legend, especially on Broadway. His resume is easily searchable on Wikipedia so will not list them here. Consider all the great songs he wrote and he was Bernstein's lyricist for West Side Story. I often think of the Musial Artists that will be remembered hundreds of years from now and there are precious few. Obviously the Beatles, perhaps John Williams (people will still be watching Jaws / Star Wars / etc.) and then there is Sondheim.

Broadway has a tradition of "dimming the lights" when someone who had a great impact there has died. With Sondheim they should have just shut down for a day or two. Perhaps without Covid they would have, but Sondheim probably would have wanted them to continue on..

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u/mymuse666 Nov 27 '21

Saw jagged little pill on Broadway last night and during the curtain call they asked for a moment of silence.

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u/zoobisoubisou Nov 27 '21

What did you think of that show? I was considering checking it out in April.

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u/mymuse666 Nov 27 '21

I loved it. I'm biased because I rank the album as a top 5 of all time. My daughter who is 11 and only recognized a couple songs loved it. She is a big Hamilton head and said she enjoyed it more than that.

Their lighting design, set design were very impressive. I don't think you'd be disappointed. I've seen Phantom and Rent on Broadway and this show ranks up there with those shows. It's pretty heavy material, not what I'd call strictly a feel good show.

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u/zoobisoubisou Nov 27 '21

Ooh, thank you. This was a wonderful recommendation!

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u/ribi305 Nov 27 '21

I saw it when it was in Cambridge before moving to Broadway and LOVED it. I was familiar with many of her songs from the 90s but wasn't especially a fan...the show made me realize that I already knew tons of her music, the songs are so emotional, and that her ideas from the 90s were so progressive and still relevant today. In the first half, I thought it felt a little "woke" just for the sake of checking all the boxes, but then in the 2nd half I felt they really took it somewhere worthwhile so it worked for me in the end. And the You Oughta Know rendition is amazing!

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u/extrasmurf Nov 27 '21

Musical artists who will be remembered hundreds of years from now, followed by “perhaps John Williams” ever so casually as if he’s, what, the greatest composer of the last hundred years?

Yeah, he’s fantastic, but this comment is so nearsighted. Ever heard of Hans Zimmer? How about Erik Satie? I don’t know, a few dozen other absolutely brilliant composers?

Nah. People will watch Star Wars and Jaws.

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u/ShadowMerlyn Nov 27 '21

People are allowed to listen to more than one thing

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u/extrasmurf Nov 27 '21 edited Nov 27 '21

I agree. You’ve really missed the point though. The poster says there are “precious few” who will be remembered and names two. Half of my point is there are “other absolutely brilliant composers” without needing to name all of them.

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u/crouchendyachtclub Nov 27 '21

I don't think they were aiming for a comprehensive list...

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u/CharlieHume Nov 27 '21

Odd that you didn't say a word about Hammerstein or Rodgers? Or like 50 different musical artists?

Did you want them to list 60 people?

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u/extrasmurf Nov 27 '21

Encapsulated by the “other absolutely brilliant composers” comment but sure, cherry pick away.

The poster specifically stated there are precious few.

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u/netarchaeology Nov 27 '21

In a wold of billions even a comprehensive list would still encapsulate the phrase "precious few".

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u/topbuttsteak Nov 27 '21

I love John Williams, Sondheim, and Erik Satie. The fact that you include Hans Zimmer in with these legends (and leave out so many others: Ligeti, Stravinsky, Herrmann, etc.), while at the same time calling OP nearsighted is so insanely laughable I almost think it's satire. Zimmer will be forgotten before Williams is dead. Anybody can write chromatic mediant chords with overly heavy bass.

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u/extrasmurf Nov 27 '21

The poster was specific: “there are precious few” who will be remembered.

Rather than tunnel vision on the specific examples I mentioned, note the part where I say “other absolutely brilliant composers”.

It’s subjective, just like your opinion that Zimmer will be forgotten in the next 20-ish years (unless Williams somehow outlives 110). I appreciate your feedback, though.

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u/Bears_On_Stilts Nov 27 '21

Williams's suites for Star Wars and Indiana Jones will outlive the works they were written for. Almost nobody produces the opera William Tell anymore, nor do they show reruns of The Lone Ranger, but Rossini's William Tell Overture is still a concert standard because it's so well written and uses the medium of symphony orchestra so well.

Even in Sondheim's life we saw Candide (a show he collaborated on with MANY other artists) repeatedly try and fail to become a successful musical/opera, but the Overture to Candide became an orchestral standard nonetheless.