Stephen Joshua Sondheim-composer lyricist was born March 22,1930. He has been writing for the American musical theatre since the late 1950s. His breakthrough musical Company revolutionized the art form. He is considered by many to be the finest living composer of our time.
Most of his melodies are constructed accoring to classical principles. Some use the classical ideal of balance. Sondheim uses triadic, diatonic harmony, but it's usually extended, and he'll bring in dissonances for atmospheric effects, to illustrate character or to highlight aspects of the text. His use of counterpoint is the anchor which seperates Sondheim from most of todays theatrical composers. The injection of countermelodies to establish themes and motiffs within his scores is what gives Sondheim's work depth. Sometimes tugging at the established harmony of the song , they will take over the melodic struture and advance the piece to the next level. Sometimes the countermelodies will create tension with the harmony, to create a new melody that may suddenly disappear and reappear throughout the score. Sondheim's melodies can be unpredictable, just when one thinks they know where the melody is leading, Sondheim may move you in a different direction. Sondheim's lyrics are known for their intelligence and revealing nature. Sondheim's lyrics are heavily rhymed and inner rhymed, and married to the music almost to the point of perfection.
Stephen Sondheim created the scores for Passion, Assassins, Bounce, Into The Woods, Sunday In The Park With George, Merrily We Roll Along, Sweeney Todd, Pacific Overtures, A Little Night Music, Follies, Company, The Frogs, Anyone Can Whistle, and A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to The Forum, as well as the lyrics for Gypsy and West Side Story and Do I Hear a Waltz? Side By Side By Sondheim, Youre Gonna Love Tomorrow and Putting It Together are anthologies of his work as a composer. Stephen Sondheim is on the Council of the Dramatist Guild having served as its President from 1973-1981, and, in 1983 was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1990, he was appointed the first Visiting
Professor of Contemporary Theatre at Oxford University and was a recipient of the 1993 Kennedy Center Honors. In 1997 he received the National Medal of Arts Award. In 2000, he was awarded the Praemium Imperiale, Japans highest honor, for a lifetime of artistic achievement. And in December 2002 he received the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Richard Rodgers Award. In the summer of 2002, six of his shows were presented in Washington, DC as part of The Kennedy Center's Sondheim Celebration.
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Sondheim Factoids
