Don’t fret even if Elfman’s not involved… Bernard Herrmann in SWEENEY TODD

[Dawg Man]

Check this out from NPR…

Intersections: Inspiration and Creativity
A Look at Famous Artists and Their Debts to Their Colleagues

As NPR’s Elizabeth Blair reports in the first story in the series, many famous artists admit to drawing creative inspiration from the work of others. Take, for example, Stephen Sondheim, the prolific Broadway composer and lyricist. A few years ago, he told Library of Congress music specialist Mark Horowitz one such inspiring moment came while watching the 1945 movie Hangover Square at age 15. He saw the movie twice to memorize the score, composed by the legendary Bernard Herrmann.

“When Sondheim wrote Sweeney Todd, he — at least to some degree — was trying to imagine, ‘What would Bernard Herrmann do?'” Horowitz says. “And he talks about how there are certain Bernard Herrmann chords that he uses that are inspired aspects of the score”

http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2004/intersections/intro_save.html

LISTEN TO THE “PRELUDE” FROM SONDHEIM’S SWEENEY TODD / MP3 FORMAT
http://www.stichtingsondheim.nl/zina/MP3/Prelude.mp3

LISTEN TO HERRMANN’S SIGNATURE OPENING 7th CHORD IN “JOHANNA” FROM SONDHEIM’S SWEENEY TODD / MP3 FORMAT
http://www.stichtingsondheim.nl/zina/MP3/Johanna.mp3

…and ofcourse I had to check out everybody’s favorite stop-off, Wikipedia, for more on this…

“Sondheim’s score to Sweeney is one of his most complex to date. He relies heavily on counterpoint and rich, “angular” harmonies in the show. The compositional style of Sweeney has been compared to that of Maurice Ravel, Sergei Prokofiev, and Bernard Herrmann, whom Sondheim admits to be an influence (he has specifically cited Herrmann’s score to Hangover Square, with its “always unresolved” harmonies).[1] Sondheim also quotes the ancient Dies Irae Gregorian chant, both as part of the eponymous ballad that runs throughout the score (“Swing your razor wide, Sweeney!”) in an inversion later on (“These are my friends…”), and in the accompaniment to Epiphany. Sondheim also relies heavily on leitmotif – at least twenty distinct ones can be identified throughout the score.”

So What’s the point of all this? It’s this: even if Elfman’s not doing the score, at least it’s not run-of-the-mill crappy broadway. There’s more here. The score Sondheim wrote follows the stream of inspiration Elfman usually follows, and — as I think will happen — if the feature film’s edit needs additional music (as Chicago did) who do you think will write it? Elfman wouldn’t have to try that hard to get into the MOOD of it…

– Flynn

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