Stephen Sondheim (1930 - 2021)

I can remember having cried at the death of someone who I never knew, though it wasn't a celebrity, nor someone who had lived a full and long life. The death of Sondheim was the first of it's kind for me. It hit me in the throat. I knew it was coming, as he was 91, but still, his death would represent an end to so much that was profound, tender, and poignant about the human experience. I dare say that no one in theatre captured it quite like Sondheim. His theatre work spanned 50 years starting as a lyricist to Leonard Bernstein’s composition to the iconic Broadway show “West Side Story” in 1957. He followed that by writing the lyrics to “Gypsy” in 1959 and that would be the last time that Sondheim would not write both lyrics and music. His list of Theatre credits includes “Company”, “A Little Night Music”, "Sweeney Todd", "Sunday in the Park with George", "Follies", "Assassins", "Anyone Can Whistle", "Merrily we Roll Along", and others.

What made Sondheim, perhaps, the greatest single figure in theatre history? I think it would be the depths to which he took lyric writing. He reached the bone marrow, or he tried. His words were perfectly crafted and positioned to communicate precisely what he wanted his characters to reflect. No one put words together quite like Sondheim. To say that he was the theatre’s most talented lyricist is probably a safe statement. Was he the greatest composer of Broadway music? I, personally, would say that he was always good, sometimes great, but perhaps not as magnificent as some of his peers: Richard Rodgers, Frank Loesser, or Frederick Lowe. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Stephen Schwartz have written, perhaps, greater compositions. That can be debated or simply left to rest in peace. I do think that what made Sondheim most memorable to me were his incredible vocal arrangements. He had a trademark of layering vocal parts with staggered timing. It almost created another instrument. His music was often delicate, very few grand choruses with big throated finales in any of Sondheim's works. Sondheim never wrote music that had the pageantry of “Les Miserables” or “Phantom”. That wasn’t his sensibility.

Sondheim claimed that he liked composing more than lyric writing but he was always content with simplistic orchestrations to his songs in order to make sure that the words to his lyrics were never outdone.

His productions were largely not as universally popular as other great composers. They didn’t have the mass appeal and acceptance of a Rodgers and Hammerstein or Lerner and Lowe musical. Nor did Sondheim’s musicals soar to the popularity of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s "Phantom of the Opera", or "Cats". "Hamilton" was a wildly popular Sinatra, where Sondheim's works were more Joni Mitchell. His fans, perhaps, were more devoted and more deeply committed to his productions. He touched those a little more deeply. He asked you to reach higher. So many did, and will.

“Everyday a little death

in the parlor in the bed

in the curtains in the silver

in the butter in the bread

every day a little sting

in the heart and in the head

every move and every breath

and you hardly feel a thing

brings a perfect little death.

“A Little Night Music”