| re: Can SUTTON sing THE MUSIC MAN as written? | |
| Last Edit: Chromolume 04:08 pm EST 02/13/20 | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 04:02 pm EST 02/13/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Can SUTTON sing THE MUSIC MAN as written? - Michael_Portantiere 03:41 pm EST 02/13/20 | |
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| but still, I think it's common to use the phrase "as written" in referring to the way a song is written in the show's vocal score, in terms of both the arrangement and the key. The published or leased vocal score is usually the standard by default, because that's what's available. However, vocal scores may often be the product of changes made on tour, etc - they don't always reflect the keys sung by the original cast. Gypsy is a good example - the score does not use Merman's keys. (I didn't really thoroughly understand this process until reading the Suskin orchestration book, but he made it clear.) I don't know the evolution of the score vs. casting in Music Man, but "Lida Rose" could have easily been arranged/voiced differently to work in another key, so that may not actually be an issue with "Will I Ever Tell You." We're just so used to hearing the original cast key that it would seem odd to conceive of a different arrangement. I understand that Sondheim first heard Fosca in his head as a soprano, and began writing with that in mind. Then he heard Donna Murphy, and everything changed. ;-) And yes, though most of the time I support transposing when necessary. sometimes the results are unfortunately awkward. The original version of "Will-A-Mania" in The Will Rogers Follies is in a bright D major/B minor (as recorded on the OBCR), but the available rental version takes it down a major third to Bb major/G minor - I am thinking this was done when Marla Maples took over the role, and then that key was also used on tour. Not only does the key not sound as bright, but the orchestrations and choral voicings (including the quartet) were drastically changed to work better in the new key. I can't tell you how much I hate the way it sounds. (Even the intro to the song was awkwardly changed because the clarinets can't go as low as would be necessary - and it always sounds weird to me.) When I did the show back in 2003 I took on the burden of transposing the song back up - all parts by hand - just because I hated the new key so much. I'll step off my soapbox now, lol. |
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