Unusually for a theater composer, Schwartz has had pop hits. Both Day by Day and Corner of the Sky have been Top 20 pop hits, and it's pretty rare for songs that originated in a stage musical to be on the pop charts after the late 60s. He also was involved with the movie songs Colors of the Wind and When You Believe, which were also big pop hits.
So I think his songs are better known to the general public than those of many other predominantly-theater composers, although familiarity of course does not necessarily correlate with the merit of his output. (For example, although "When You Believe" was a worldwide hit and won the Oscar, I think it's a terrible song.) |
