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| re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) | |
| Posted by: kdw111 06:57 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
| In reply to: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) - WWriter 06:54 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| It's just my opinion, but I can't think of any choral piece more stirring than Make our Garden Grow. I'm moved every time I hear it, and even got to sing it once with a mixed chorus. But to play the Devil's Advocate... Is it the right ending for the show? |
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| re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) | |
| Posted by: Circlevet 10:54 pm EDT 07/04/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) - kdw111 06:57 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| Can we just simply agree that Bernstein was a spectacularly gifted composer? | |
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| re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) | |
| Posted by: Delvino 08:57 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) - kdw111 06:57 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| Ah, thank you. I've often thought it's just too beautiful for the end of an adaptation of Voltaire. Its heartfelt, earnest entreaty, the engendered emotion. The tears that it wrings from me -- are they part of the grand plan for this piece of musical theater? Maybe. I remain on the fence. | |
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| re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) | |
| Posted by: WWriter 04:10 pm EDT 07/05/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) - Delvino 08:57 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| I haven't read Voltaire's version in 40 years, so I can't really say how the ending matches his work. But I agree with others here that for the Bernstein-Hellman-Wilbur version, it's just right. It's such an uneven show, and I've always found the 2nd act to get a bit tedious, and I love that they actually learn something from all their adventures, which would otherwise be pointless. And it's so gorgeous, I wouldn't mind if it was the end of Billy Elliott or Two Gentlemen of Verona. I'm just grateful for its existence. |
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| re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) | |
| Posted by: Snowysdad 11:24 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) - Delvino 08:57 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| Yes it is the right ending for the show. All through it Candide, Cunegonde, and the others have gone through a tortuous series of cataclysmic events that FINALLY shows them the way forward which is to settle down, take care of each other and "Make Our Garden Grow." Also, if you study the score carefully, each of Candide's solos uses his motif and alters it just a little. Finally it comes into harmonic focus as the opening of Garden. BTW, part of this comes from appearing in the first NYC revival (1970) of the original version, but with much music restored and mostly conducted by Leonard Bernstein. |
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| re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) | |
| Posted by: WWriter 04:17 pm EDT 07/05/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) - Snowysdad 11:24 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| Thanks for this explanation. I'm close to musically illiterate, and I love when ATC people share this sort of insight. | |
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| re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 02:06 pm EDT 07/04/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) - Snowysdad 11:24 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| Do you mean the 1968 New York Philharmonic concert in honor of Bernstein's 50th birthday, which was conducted by Maurice Peress? The cast was headed by Alan Arkin as Pangloss, Martin and the narrator, David Watson as Candide, Madeline Kahn as Cunegonde, Irra Petina as the Old Lady, and William Lewis as the Governor of Buenos Aires and a bunch of other roles. If not, I'm not sure which production you mean. | |
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| re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 09:27 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) - Delvino 08:57 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| I think that, after all the craziness of Act II especially (even with Bernstein's music setting a wonderfully dignified tone throughout), "Garden" is exactly that big, lush, emotionally real moment that we all need. Voltaire be damned - that music really does represent the best of all possible endings. ;-) | |
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| re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) | |
| Posted by: WWriter 04:12 pm EDT 07/05/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) - Chromolume 09:27 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| I see what you did there! Nice! |
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| re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) | |
| Posted by: Delvino 09:30 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) - Chromolume 09:27 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| I think you're right. Voltaire ultimately doesn't get the win, Leonard Bernstein does. In my book (too), he gets the last vote. Whenever I see the show, and I've seen every NYC iteration but the first (I was a child), I duly note the roof being taken off. Through my tears. | |
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| re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 09:36 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) - Delvino 09:30 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| Yup. And the thing is that it's not just the song itself (which is gorgeous) but it's that arrangement. When they get to the last refrain, and it becomes a cappella, you know something special is happening - all the way through that high C climax on "grow." And then, when the orchestra comes back in for the last line, it just amps the whole thing up even more. So perfect. | |
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| re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) | |
| Posted by: WWriter 07:03 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) - kdw111 06:57 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| Hmmmm. I've always thought so. Do you have reservations? | |
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| re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) | |
| Posted by: BruceinIthaca 07:36 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) - WWriter 07:03 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| I think it is one of the most gorgeous pieces of music, and when I need an encounter with the sublime (in Longinus' sense), I listen to the OBC version--the swelling chorus, the solo voices of Cook and Rounseville. I would argue that it is the right end for the show for which it was written--if not quite the off-hand ending of Voltaire's novella. The Bernstein score is an enlargement of the Voltaire original, so this anthem fits his transformation of it. I've often thought it is what I would want played at a memorial for myself--though I suspect my life has not earned the dimensions the song achieves. But it's a lovely dream. |
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| re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 08:42 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) - BruceinIthaca 07:36 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| I'm a huge fan of the Danieley/Blackwell recording. I saw that '97 revival a thoroughly absurd three times, in order to hear this song, in that theater, with those voices. I've been surprised that more people haven't been writing about the finale of "The Great Comet" as Dave Molloy's version of this song. He uses a similar musical profile, and the dramatic moment is the same: Pierre decides to plant a seed, gain maturity, and grow towards a new moment in their maturity. (I also saw that "Candide" so many times because I had a crush on Jason Danieley. I still get chills when he sings. For me, "The Visit" is a musical about a guy who has to deliver his friend's death sentence, and attempts to do it in a way that assuages his guilt and leaves his hand clean. And yellow shoes. :-) ) |
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| I like the late Jerry Hadley's version. | |
| Posted by: Delvino 09:08 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) - Singapore/Fling 08:42 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| It's full-throated and gorgeous in its formal setting. But in truth? I've never heard a bad version. I've been to high school concerts and graduations where it's sung, and I weep. |
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| re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) | |
| Posted by: AC126748 08:53 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) - Singapore/Fling 08:42 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| For me, "The Visit" is a musical about a guy who has to deliver his friend's death sentence, and attempts to do it in a way that assuages his guilt and leaves his hand clean. The night I saw The Visit (which I think is one of the most brilliant and underrated musicals of the last quarter-century, but that's for another thread), the rather tepid audience burst into adoring cheers after Danieley's solo. And I remember just sitting there thinking my God, this voice hasn't aged a day in twenty years. But I digress... |
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| seconded! | |
| Posted by: Glitter 03:09 am EDT 07/04/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) - AC126748 08:53 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| at the closing performance in Williamstown, his solo got not one, but two rounds of applause. Great show. |
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| re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) | |
| Posted by: Delvino 11:21 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) - AC126748 08:53 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| With you there. Saw a "Visit" matinee preview and was transported by Mr. D. | |
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| re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 09:14 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) - AC126748 08:53 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| I don't think "The Visit" is any great shakes in terms of the writing, but I thought that production was stunning from beginning to end, even while I felt like it was doing all the heavy lifting. Who says threads have to be orderly? ;-) |
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| re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) | |
| Last Edit: AC126748 09:20 am EDT 07/04/17 | |
| Posted by: AC126748 09:19 am EDT 07/04/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) - Singapore/Fling 09:14 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| Stunning production, but I also felt the musical captured the brilliant dark comedy, tonal dissonance, moral ambiguity, and social commentary of Durrenmatt's still somewhat shocking play. It's one of the few shows in recent memory that made my skin crawl (in a good way). To my mind, it's the strongest work of Kander and Ebb's late career. And I'm glad I was able to see the show when Rees was still in it. He was extraordinary. |
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| re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) | |
| Posted by: bmc 07:35 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) - WWriter 07:03 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| I have most of the recordings, but the lyrics might be too hopeful for Voltaire I dinna care aboot Mr V. I've heard two performances: in'76, Barbara Cook was on tour, following her Carnegie Hall concert (Released on Columbia records) An encore brought students from U Of Mich school of Music;to sing Make our Garden Grow. Even more amazing was an anniversary (for the school of music/theater): as more and more students joined the alumni on stage, it was filled to overflowing; It was glorious | |
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| re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) | |
| Posted by: pfolson 08:32 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) - bmc 07:35 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| I saw that anniversary concert at the Hill Auditorium. Glorious doesn't begin to describe it. It's been quite a few years since that special night, but that finale has stayed with me -- and will be with me forever. | |
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| re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) | |
| Posted by: BruceinIthaca 07:38 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) - bmc 07:35 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| There is a lovely version of it combined with One Hand, One Heart sung by Laurie Beechman and Sam Harris on her No One is Alone album. Given Ms. Beechman's own narrative at the time, the hopefulness yet knowing sadness is poignant, and proves (to me) that the song can have many renditions that do it proud. | |
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| re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) | |
| Posted by: Snowgrace 07:34 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Make Our Garden Grow Is One of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Music Ever Written. Just Saying. (nm) - WWriter 07:03 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| Will take that &&& the final, choral movement of Bernstein's CHICHESTER PSALMS anywhere, any time!! ❤ | |
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