Contemporaries: Stephen Sondheim and Burt Bacharach

I've always wondered what Burt Bacharach and Stephen Sondheim felt about one another's work. They are both Titans of 20th century American music; they are arguably as prolific, important, and brilliant a pair of composers as this country has produced.

Bacharach was born in New York City in 1928. He was raised on classical music but he preferred Jazz music and above all he longed to be an athlete. In reading about Bacharach it was noted that his mother forced him to play the piano when he would rather have been with his peers on the sports field. He has stated that is very grateful that his mother forced him to stay with the piano. I believe Bacharach was an only child.

Sondheim was born in 1930 and raised in the Dakota apartments at the southwest corner of Central Park. He, too, was an only child whose parents were divorced when he was young. He was estranged from his mother at various times through his childhood and he was a close family friend of Oscar Hammerstein. He was very influenced by Hammerstein and by Broadway citing that one of his most memorable experiences was seeing "Carousel" on opening night in New Haven in 1945. He was seated with the Hammerstein's, crying after the first Act into the Mrs. Hammerstein's fur stole.

Sondheim's first break on Broadway was not as a composer but as a lyricist for Arthur Laurent's production of "West Side Story" in 1957. He was paired with the famous composer Leonard Bernstein who wrote all the music paired with Sondheim's lyrics. The show was a huge success and it anchored Sondheim to Broadway as a lyricist but not yet as a composer. When Laurents produced "Gypsy" in 1959 he again called for Sondheim but to Sondheim's dismay Laurent was still reluctant to use Sondheim as a composer, favoring the experienced Jules Styne as composer and Sondheim, again, as his lyricist. The story is that Ethel Merman, the star of "Gypsy" was reluctant to perform in the show if Sondheim was hired as the composer. It wasn't until 1962 that Sondheim was hired to write the music and lyrics to the show "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum". It was another box office success and Sondheim was on his way as a permanent fixture on Broadway as composer and lyricist.

Bacharach's road was quite different in that, after attending McGill University in Montreal for formal musical training, he was hired as the pianist and conductor for various singers including star crooner, Perry Como. A few years later he was hired as the musical director for Marlene Dietrich where he had the opportunity to travel all over the world. After 5 years Bacharach left Dietrich to become a star on his own and he wrote his own hits in the 50's and then dominated the 60's with hit after hit, mostly with vocalist Dionne Warwick. Bacharach has won 3 Academy Awards and he has 73 U.S. top 40 hits. Bacharach wrote top 40 hits in the 50's, 60's 70's and 80's. That is not easy to do. In what may be the highest compliment Bacharach's songs have been recorded by more than 1,000 different artists. Bacharach says that when he writes a melody he, at the same time, hears all of the orchestration, all of the horn and string parts. He puts it all together simultaneously. This is very rare as most songwriters will write the melody on a piano or guitar and then they will have the song produced much later. Bacharach outlined the picture and then colored it in all at once. That is a true musical genius.

Sondheim's star has been exclusively associated with musical theatre. He wrote highly successful Broadway shows in the 60's, 70's and 80's, including "Company" (1970), "Follies" (1971), "A Little Night Music" (1973), "Sweeney Todd" (1979), "Saturday in the Park with George" (1984), "Into the Woods" (1987), and "Assassins" (1990) among others. Sondheim has won 7 Tony Awards for Best Original Score. Sondheim's style and affectations are best suited to the musical theatre because his lyrics are the centerpiece of all of his compositions. Unlike Bacharach, whose compositions celebrate the musical arrangements, Sondheim always centerpieces the vocal performances and makes certain that the instrumentation of his songs doesn't compete or overshadow the vocals. Sondheim doesn't write the musical arrangements and he has almost exclusively relied on the talents of Jonathan Tunick to write the charts and arrangements for all of his songs. Sondheim writes all of the vocal parts and he is meticulous about how they are performed down to the articulation of every syllable. The instruments and instumentation are supportive only. Nevertheless, Sondheim's melodies are very complex and unique and he often features an ensemble of singers who often sing dueling melodies and staggered harmonies. It is a style that Sondheim has signatured and it is found in virtually all of his work. Refer to songs like "Pretty Women" from "Sweeney Todd" or "Everyday a Little Death" from "A Little Night Music" to hear examples of Sondheim's vocal layering style. Sondheim is easily considered one of the greatest lyricists in Broadway history.

Bacharach, by great contrast, writes for musicians and their instruments. He is known more for his complex musical arrangements and, though most of his music has vocals, the vocalist rarely is the featured piece of his music. The vocals are another instrument that often yields to powerful string and horn arrangments. Bacharach never wrote lyrics until much later in his career. Bacharach typically writes all of his charts and conducts the orchestra. Sondheim never conducts. Ironically, Bacharach wrote the music for a Broadway show, "Promises Promises" in the late 60's that was arranged by Jonathan Tunick. Tunick has been the arranger for all of Sondheim's musicals starting with "Company" that immediately followed "Promises Promises".

Both Sondheim and Bacharach are known for their complex and unique chord progressions. A writer for the theatre, Sondheim was very concerned with developing his characters accurately. His lyrics had to support the character. He had obligations to the characters. Sondheim was a much more complete writer and literary figure than Bacharach. Bacharach never told stories or spoke through characters the way an author would. Bacharach let his music stand for itself. He wasn't a storyteller; he was a high vibrating composer of complex orchestrations. There is plenty of space in the world for both of these geniuses.

Bacharach has been married 4 times and he still tours regularly into his 90's. Sondheim has never married and has no children and he hasn't written any new material for almost 20 years.

There is no known record of Bacharach and Sondheim appearing in public together nor is there any written record of their commenting on each other's work.

my opinions

Footnote: I was lucky to be able to tour on two different occasions as a child singer with Burt Bacharach when we (our children's singing group) were singing the songs in concert that we sang from the ill fated musical "Lost Horizon" in 1973. I was only 13 but I greatly appreciated the richness of Bacharach's arrangements and his passion as conductor. I've been a huge fan ever since.