Musical Genius: Stephen Sondheim

As a performer, I’ve always been fascinated by the composers who have shaped musical theatre into what it is today. From Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II to Lin-Manuel Miranda, each brought a distinct voice and creative approach that continues to influence new work. However, few have left a mark quite as profound as Stephen Sondheim. His revolutionary approach to music and storytelling reshaped the way composers think about structure, character, and lyricism, leaving a legacy that still echoes through modern musicals. So what exactly made his methods so ingenious? Let’s take a closer look.

Stephen Sondheim was an American composer and lyricist who wrote many prominent musicals. He transformed how we see Broadway musical theatre with innovative methods of matching lyrics to music in dramatic stories. Sondheim showed an aptitude for music, learning piano and organ from a young age; writing his first musical at age 15. In his early years, he received tutoring from Oscar Hammerstein II, best known for writing Carousel. Sondheim then studied music at Williams College in Williamstown, where he won the Hutchinson Prize for composition and graduated in 1950, he then studied under the composer Milton Babbitt in New York City. Sondheim’s first significant job as a lyricist was Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story (1957) and this helped him make a name for himself in the Broadway world. Shortly after this, he wrote his first professional musical, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, which opened on Broadway in 1962 and ran for 964 performances, winning the Tony Award for Best Musical. Throughout his career, Sondheim wrote many groundbreaking musicals and was awarded a special Tony Award in 2008 for lifetime achievement in theatre.

In an interview with “The Art of the American Musical: Conversations with the Creators”, Sondheim said, “My approach is closest to that of an actor, I inhabit the character the way I think an actor does. Often, by the time we’re through, I know the script better than the author does because, like an actor, I examine every line and every world.” This statement rings true throughout Sondheim’s work as he has an ingenious way of combining lyrics and music, almost as if he intended the lyrics to be spoken as a monologue. Sondheim would always maintain a high level of communication between all collaborators on the show to ensure that every song being written is necessary and integral to the story, as he believes that you will write a far more expressive song if you first understand the story’s purpose. “He admits that any composer for musical theatre can write a bad song, but writing a ‘wrong song,’ one without purpose or meaning, is a far greater sin.” A key component of Sondheim’s style is using leitmotifs (repeating patterns of music) to remind the audience of characters at specific moments throughout the show; this is used majorly in his 1986 production, Into The Woods and 1979 production, Sweeney Todd. Sondheim also utilizes leitmotifs as foreshadowing throughout his music to subtly warn the audience of major plot developments.

One of the most compositionally complex musicals Stephen Sondheim ever wrote was Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, in 1979. Contrary to popular belief, Sweeney Todd is not based on a true story but on a series called “The String of Pearls”, published in a weekly magazine in the winter of 1846/47. However, in the stories, Sweeney and Mrs Lovett begin as thieves and turn to darker deeds motivated by greed rather than revenge. Although Sweeney Todd was written in the 1970s, it is set in 1785, though often mistaken for being set in the Victorian Era. Similarities in the history of America between 1785 and the 1970s when Sondheim was writing Sweeney Todd would explain why the show was not so well recieved in the 1980s as people wanted to use theatre as a form of escapism, not a reminder of the troubled socio-economic climate.

Diving deeper into Sondheim’s specific style, I will use the prologue from Sweeney Todd, ‘The Ballad of Sweeney Todd’, as an example. This prologue is the first music we hear in the show, incorporating all aspects of Sondheim’s style. It is an excellent example of how he would use leitmotifs, foreshadowing and lyrics, but also how he uses music to set up the themes of revenge and obsession. The opening bars of this song are the same as a song we hear later in the show called ‘Johanna’. This is a song first sung by Anthony and then later again in the ‘Johanna Quartet’ by Sweeney, Anthony, Johanna and the Beggar Woman (who later we find out is Johanna’s mother). Having this leitmotif right at the start of the show is a perfect way to set out the themes as, for all of the characters except Mrs Lovett, Johanna is the centre of their obsession and reason for revenge.

‘The Ballad of Sweeny Todd’ also demonstrates how Sondheim uses foreshadowing to disclose the show’s ending. He repeatedly uses the Dies Irae theme, the Latin hymn on the Last Judgement. Composers have used this theme for decades to symbolise death, despair and impending doom. There are many parallels between the composition of the prologue and the Dies Irae theme, and variations of this tune are used throughout the score of Sweeney Todd. By doing this, Sondheim provokes ideas of what might happen in the show but then questions this by not finishing the tune. The full Dies Irae theme is only used once in the whole song, and this is towards the end of the song on the line, ‘What happened then... well, that’s the play, And he wouldn’t want us to give it away.’ With this one simple addition, Sondheim has informed the audience of what will happen, which is death.

Sondheim’s work has influenced generations of composers. In an interview, Jason Robert Brown, composer and lyricist of The Last Five Years and Parade (to name a few), mentioned that “Had it not been for Sondheim’s shows I would have probably joined a rock band and tried to be Billy Joel. But once I heard what could be done, what enormous musical and emotional potential could be unleashed, I knew I had to write musicals”. It is evident when comparing the work of the two composers that they both use the text and narrative to drive the songs, and both writers tend to mirror the rhythms you would use to speak the words in the rhythms they choose for the music. In The Last Five Years, Brown uses Sondheim’s methods of leitmotifs for foreshadowing to explain how the relationship between Cathy and Jamie will inevitably end. “Brown has stated that it was when he was first introduced to Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd and Sunday in the Park with George that he realised how much a composer could do to tell a story, and it was from that point that he knew he wanted to write musicals.”

Sondheim improved the role of songs in musicals by pushing the boundaries of the art form and creating masterpieces. His methods have demostrated to future composers that the most effective songs are character driven, having an impact on the plot of the musical. When I watch a Sondheim show I am transported in to another world, the music and lyrics invite me into the lives of the characters and allow me to experience the story with them. I am inspired by his unique ability to manipulate the audience through the way he writes the score and this is what has created his legacy.

Bibliography

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