Broadway's top orchestrators - Robert Russell Bennett, Don Walker, Philip J. Lang, Jonathan Tunick - are names well known to musical theatre fans, but 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; 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.
Author(s): Steven Suskin
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 672
CONTENTS......Page 8
VERSE: On Orchestrators and Orchestration......Page 12
Section I. The Dreyfus System......Page 20
Russell Bennett......Page 33
Ralph Burns......Page 42
Robert “Red” Ginzler......Page 50
Hershy Kay......Page 57
Irwin “Irv” Kostal......Page 64
Philip J. Lang......Page 76
Sid Ramin......Page 81
Ted Royal......Page 88
Eddie Sauter......Page 94
Hans Spialek......Page 96
Don Walker......Page 108
Larry Wilcox......Page 124
Section III. Ghosts and Other Helpers......Page 125
Section IV. Valued Members of the Music Department......Page 136
Franz Allers......Page 137
Jack Andrews......Page 138
David Baker......Page 139
Jay Blackton......Page 140
Pembroke Davenport......Page 141
Buster Davis......Page 142
Frederick Dvonch......Page 144
Lehman Engel......Page 145
Marion Evans......Page 146
Joe Glover......Page 147
Max Goberman......Page 149
Herbert Greene......Page 150
Hal Hastings......Page 151
Luther Henderson......Page 152
Peter Howard......Page 153
Elliot Lawrence......Page 154
Stanley Lebowsky......Page 155
Hugh Martin......Page 156
Jack Mason......Page 157
Peter Matz......Page 158
John Morris......Page 159
Walter Paul......Page 160
Mathilde Pincus......Page 161
Donald Pippin......Page 162
Genevieve Pitot......Page 163
Trude Rittman......Page 164
Milton Rosenstock......Page 165
William Stegmeyer......Page 166
Jim Tyler......Page 167
Betty Walberg......Page 168
Section V. Assessing Orchestrators......Page 169
Section I. From Song to Stage......Page 182
Section II. The Arrangement......Page 187
Section III. Overture......Page 211
Section IV. Meet the Colors......Page 221
Section V. Then Comes the Orchestrator......Page 243
Section VI. The Orchestration......Page 259
Section VII. Putting It Together......Page 269
Section VIII. Sweeney in the Pit with Steve......Page 290
Section I. About the Listings......Page 300
Section II. The Listings......Page 323
Section III. Additional Shows by Other Orchestrators......Page 593
Section I. Chronology......Page 618
Section II. Acknowledgments......Page 636
Section III. Sources and Bibliography......Page 643
A......Page 648
B......Page 649
C......Page 651
D......Page 653
F......Page 654
G......Page 655
H......Page 657
K......Page 659
L......Page 660
M......Page 662
O......Page 664
P......Page 665
R......Page 666
S......Page 667
T......Page 670
W......Page 671
Z......Page 673
