| re: A number of questions about '1776' the movie | |
| Posted by: peter3053 05:54 pm EDT 07/05/21 | |
| In reply to: re: A number of questions about '1776' the movie - ryhog 09:34 am EDT 07/05/21 | |
|
|
|
| I think Craig Carnelia says it best re lyric writing standards, as quoted in one of the essay introductions ("Rhyme and its Reasons") to Sondheim's "Finishing the Hat" lyric collection: "True rhyming is a necessity in the theater....Our language is so complex ... that it's confusing enough without using near rhymes that only acquaint the ear with a vowel....(A near rhyme) ... teaches the ear to not trust or to disregard a lyric, to not listen, to simply let the music wash over you ..." On that matter, of course, the whole of the Sondheim essay is a treasurable pleasure, and much of it responding to the drop of standards to those of pop. I'd also suggest that pop song writers also tend not to have much skill at wit or the dramatic precision needed in theater music, either. Of course, taste in scores is diverse. I happen to find "Hamilton" a bore, but entirely accept that I'm in a grumpy minority over it, and am happy others relish it - chacun a son gout. But as objectively as possible, I'd cite the following from "1776" (together with its jaunty, comic musical arrangement) as one of the golden high points of the Broadway tradition, blending character, plot, humor, felicity with words and theatrical relish: Mr Adams, But Mr Adams, The things I write Are only light Extemporaneia. I won't put politics on paper - It's a mania. So I refuse To use The pen In Penn- Sylvania." It's Ben Franklin speaking, so the playfulness with language comes from the supposed intelligence of the character. The entire song/scene is an example of music and lyrics working perfectly in the service of both drama and theatre, as the music reflects a certain privileged insouciance of the men singing as well - until of course, it changes when Jefferson is cornered and the glee-club feeling is momentarily shut off. Character in music and word - thrilling. Sherman deserves high praise. (And remember how the insouciance of the privileged political figures is later given tearingly painful context by the messenger boy's song of battlefield hopelessness, "Momma Look Sharp" - in quite a different level of diction and with an much more (seemingly) simplified musical atmosphere. In the same score, there is beautiful romantic material as well, such as in the epistolary love songs between Adams and his wife, "I live like a nun in a cloister. Solitary, Celibate. I hate it. I live like a monk in an abbey. Ditto. Ditto. I hate it. ...Write to me With sentimental effusion! Let me revel In Romantic illusion!" The "ditto, ditto" is perhaps the most brilliant of the choices here, perfectly apt to the situation of the letter writing that is actually going on in the song - because it delicately interrupts the subtextual yearning, instantly dramatizing the sexual constraints placed on John and Martha by their distance. "Molasses to Rum" as well as "Is Anybody There?" (overheard by a man who then changes his vote) are also some of the greatest examples of songs which drive the story and come perfectly out of the situation and characters, while sustaining the highest standards of rhyme and musical theatricality. (And of course, the letter song is also driving the story - and leads indirectly to the arrival of saltpeter later, which prompts John to keep on fighting politically - a fine example of the finest level of integration by composer-lyricist and book writer. Sherman and Stone are to be praised. Coming back to the original point: several critics were quoted as dismissing the score of "1776". I thought it worthy of defense. |
|
| reply | |
|
|
|
| Previous: | re: A number of questions about '1776' the movie - ryhog 09:34 am EDT 07/05/21 |
| Next: | re: A number of questions about '1776' the movie - ryhog 08:54 pm EDT 07/05/21 |
| Thread: |
|
Time to render: 0.059024 seconds.