Orchestrations for Musicals
The Sound of Broadway Music
The Sound of Broadway Music: A Book of Orchestrators and Orchestrations
Oxford University Press, USA (April 8, 2009) 672 pages,
Few people understand precisely what the orchestrator does. The Sound of Broadway Music is the first book ever written about these unsung stars of the Broadway musical whose work is so vital to each show's success.
The book examines the careers of Broadway's major orchestrators and follows the song as it travels from the composer's piano to the orchestra pit. Steven Suskin has meticulously tracked down thousands of original orchestral scores, piecing together enigmatic notes and notations with long-forgotten documents and current interviews with dozens of composers, producers, conductors and arrangers.
The information is separated into three main parts:
- a biographical section which gives a sense of the life and world of twelve major theatre orchestrators, as well as incorporating briefer sections on another thirty arrangers and conductors.
The twelve orchestrators include (listed here with a few of the musicals they worked on):- Russell Bennett (Ziegfeld Follies various years, Gay Divorce, Finian's Rainbow)
- Ralph Burns (Funny Girl, Do I Hear a Waltz, Pippin, Chicago)
- Robert “Red” Ginzler (Gypsy, Bye Bye Birdie, How to Suceed...)
- Hershy Kay (On the Town, Once Upon A Mattress, A Chorus Line)
- Irwin “Irv” Kostal (West Side Story, The Music Man, A Funny Thing Happened....)
- Philip J. Lang (Annie Get Your Gun, Li'l Abner, Hello Dolly!)
- Sid Ramin (Gypsy, West Side Story, A Funny Thing Happened...)
- Ted Royal (Annie Get Your Gun, Brigadoon, Guys and Dolls)
- Eddie Sauter (Milk and Honey, The Apple Tree, 1776)
- Hans Spialek (Gay Divorce, Anything Goes, Pal Joey)
- Don Walker (Pajama Game, Fiddler On the Roof, The Music Man)
- Larry Wilcox (Singin' in the Rain, others)
- a lively discussion of the art of orchestration, written for musical theatre enthusiasts (including those who do not read music); a biographical section which gives a sense of the life and world of twelve major theatre orchestrators, as well as incorporating briefer sections on another thirty arrangers and conductors;
- and an impressive show-by-show listing of more than seven hundred musicals, in many cases including a song-by-song listing of precisely who orchestrated what along with relevant comments from people involved with the productions.
Stocked with intriguing facts and juicy anecdotes, many of which have never before appeared in print, The Sound of Broadway Music brings fascinating and often surprising new insight into the world of musical theatre.
Reviews/Praise for The Sound of Broadway Music: A Book of Orchestrators and Orchestrations
- "Steven Suskin's six hundred and fifty pages of information substantiating the contribution of orchestrators to the music of Broadway is nothing less than jaw-dropping. Their working relationship with the composers of Broadway scores and directors of Broadway shows is fascinating in its detail. There can be no comparable feat of research more meticulous than this valuable addition to the history of American musical theater."--Hal Prince, director
- "Backstage has been the unwarranted space where the wondrous talent of orchestrators remained until now. Steven Suskin has meticulously opened the curtain so that this array of musical magicians can finally take their long overdue bow. May this composer be among the first to shout, 'Bravo!'"--Jerry Bock, composer
- "Fans as well as musical theatre scholars will be forever indebted to Steven Suskin for this book. It's fascinating, entertaining and an essential addition to the literature of American musical theatre."--Michael Feinstein, composer, performer
Table of Contents
Verse: On Orchestrators and Orchestration
Refrain: Men of Notes (And a Few Women, Too)
I. The Dreyfus System
II. Twelve Major Orchestrators
III. Ghosts and Other Helpers
IV. Valued Members of the Music Department
V. Comparative Orchestrators
Bridge: The Art of Orchestration
VI. From Song to Stage
VII. The Arrangement
VIII. Overture
IX. Meet the Colors
X. And Then Comes the Orchestrator
XI. The Orchestration
XII. Putting it Together
XIII. "Sweeney in the Pit with Steve"
Final Refrain: What's the Score?
XIV. About the Listings
XV. The Listings
XVI. Additional Shows by Other Orchestrators
Coda
Chronology
Acknowledgements
Sources and Bibliography
Index
BUY: The Sound of Broadway Music: A Book of Orchestrators and Orchestrations
To send suggestions, comments, or questions write to carol@musicalschwartz.com