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| The Quintet from WEST SIDE STORY / One Day More from LES MIZ / We Don't Talk about Bruno from "Encanto" -- what are their musical historical roots? | |
| Posted by: GrumpyMorningBoy 12:27 am EST 01/06/22 | |
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| I went to school for this. i should know this. I don't know this. With all the recent talk about WEST SIDE STORY, and with Lin-Manuel Miranda's "We Don't Talk About Bruno" from Disney's newest film "Encanto" flying up the Spotify charts, I started thinking about the big counterpoint songs we've come to expect (and cherish) within a musical. You know the ones I'm talking about. "The Quintet" is probably the perfect example, but "One Day More" is probably how more recent musical theater audiences came to love this type of song. Characters each have the chance to sing unique melodies & lyrics, which then combine and overlap in a thrilling kaleidoscopic counterpoint. It's now become a genre song so popular that we expect it. "Non-Stop" from HAMILTON carries things even further than others, by pulling musical fragments from all across Act 1. Here's my main question: in terms of musical theater history, what did Bernstein & Sondheim's Quintet build on? Are there examples from earlier Broadway musicals that aimed for something similar? I can think of duets that Berlin wrote, like "An Old Fashioned Wedding" / "Play a Simple Melody" from ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (1946), and a number of other early musical duets that combined in counterpoint, but are there examples (from the Golden Age or before) that wove together three or more voices & melodies? More than anything, for those of you who know opera and operetta better than I, I'd love to know what kinds of precursors might have been known to Bernstein. An awful lot of musical theater history that I don't know! Humbling. And if any of you are up for sharing, are there any counterpoint musical theater songs that you really really love and think deserve extra attention? And are you listening to "We Don't Talk about Bruno" non-stop? - GMB |
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| re: The Quintet from WEST SIDE STORY / One Day More from LES MIZ / We Don't Talk about Bruno from "Encanto" -- what are their musical historical roots? | |
| Posted by: BHandshy 12:02 am EST 01/07/22 | |
| In reply to: The Quintet from WEST SIDE STORY / One Day More from LES MIZ / We Don't Talk about Bruno from "Encanto" -- what are their musical historical roots? - GrumpyMorningBoy 12:27 am EST 01/06/22 | |
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| As far as "counterpoint musical theater songs that you really really love and think deserve extra attention", I'm not sure this song qualifies, but "And This Is My Beloved" from KISMET is gorgeous quartet. | |
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| Gilbert and Sullivan | |
| Last Edit: andPeggy 07:56 am EST 01/06/22 | |
| Posted by: andPeggy 07:54 am EST 01/06/22 | |
| In reply to: The Quintet from WEST SIDE STORY / One Day More from LES MIZ / We Don't Talk about Bruno from "Encanto" -- what are their musical historical roots? - GrumpyMorningBoy 12:27 am EST 01/06/22 | |
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| G&S who probably have roots in opera that I'm unfamiliar with I'm thinking of When the Foreman Bares his Steel or In a Doleful Train..... |
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| re: The Quintet from WEST SIDE STORY / One Day More from LES MIZ / We Don't Talk about Bruno from "Encanto" -- what are their musical historical roots? | |
| Posted by: standingO 06:35 am EST 01/06/22 | |
| In reply to: The Quintet from WEST SIDE STORY / One Day More from LES MIZ / We Don't Talk about Bruno from "Encanto" -- what are their musical historical roots? - GrumpyMorningBoy 12:27 am EST 01/06/22 | |
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| Wish I knew. I had not considered “Bruno” in this category when I heard it. My memory of how it plays in the movie was it did not feel like the big end of first act number but I only listened once. Miranda is obviously one of the best students of modern musical theater so you are probably right about his intentions. For me, it was more of a novelty number than the big dramatic moment where each character’s motivations collide in song. Then again, I thought Encanto was dramatically weak but beautiful to look at. I will say though, I love this question! What is the precursor to the Tonight Quintet? |
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| re: The Quintet from WEST SIDE STORY / One Day More from LES MIZ / We Don't Talk about Bruno from "Encanto" -- what are their musical historical roots? | |
| Last Edit: lordofspeech 03:45 am EST 01/06/22 | |
| Posted by: lordofspeech 03:44 am EST 01/06/22 | |
| In reply to: The Quintet from WEST SIDE STORY / One Day More from LES MIZ / We Don't Talk about Bruno from "Encanto" -- what are their musical historical roots? - GrumpyMorningBoy 12:27 am EST 01/06/22 | |
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| I know what you mean. The thrill of seemingly disparate musical themes and voices coming together as one is as high as it gets. The weaving of a life tapestry. Like the reconciliation of seemingly irreconcilable storylines. Like the final comings-together in Shakespeare’s CYMBELINE, which always makes that play worth waiting for. Is TRADITION from Fiddler somewhat like that? Is the three-part song in Company’s NOT GETTING MARRIED TODAY? Is the BALLET number in A Chorus Line? And, in its own ineffable way, the SUNDAY from Sunday in the Park with George...? I’m being looser with the definition, but looking at musical artists’ illusions of worlds coming together. (What about NOW, SOON, and LATER from Night Music?) |
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