The Musical as Drama

parlance of modern theatre, there is no subtext that cannot be raided by an AABA tune in a musical, and the dream sequences of L ...

tune from beginning to end. We have heard it only in bits before. “Say, that was lovely,” says the high school boy. “I didn’t kn ...

knows “Move On” in Sunday in the Park with George, as well as the act 1 songs from which “Move On” is composed. An or- chestra k ...

nology, creating what I think is a confusion of systems of om- niscience. The question of narrative is also related to the musi- ...

Chapter Six THE ORCHESTRA A Cappella on a Beautiful Morning A Tthe beginning of Oklahoma!, when Curly comes on singing a cappell ...

with a seventh (it is one of the notable moments in popular music, and when you listen to it next time, see if you don’t find th ...

Wagner the orchestra rendered audible the innermost essence concealed behind the visible events on the stage and provided a “mus ...

atown fair, jugglers, a dancing bear, and especially a carousel, where the local girls flirt with the handsome barker. This is t ...

the right name for the achievement, if there were yet a book to be integrated with. I think it significant that a true moment of ...

“a wonderful guy.” “Uh-huh,” says Nellie, and makes a hasty exit. “Uh-huh” is not the full expression of her realization. The fu ...

of the word, a long-standing convention of which composers like Kern, Rodgers, and Sondheim are modern masters.^4 Underscoring c ...

form a song of its own. It raises the expectation of a song, but it sustains the drama by underscored segments in the meantime. ...

The musical exchanges are fundamental to the drama being enacted here. Magnolia is showing that she can play a love match with G ...

friend has found as a boyfriend ( Julie proves he is a common porter). The result in the episode between Julie and Liliom (the b ...

structure halfway through and keeps the expectation alive that the real number is still in the offing. The bench scene is one of ...

orchestra. When it finally arrives, the “Mr. Snow” song has great piquancy. The way is prepared for something solemn and grand, ...

the popular song formats and arranged into a kind of avenue that leads to song or that connects one song to another. The avenues ...

giving voice to the same music the orchestra is leading into, this long series of segments that promises a song and then fi- nal ...

motif, a descending A-major triad ending on a D-sharp, that will have consequences in later numbers, but we don’t know that yet. ...

require words, just music and the dancing body. Dance can use words, but it does not have to.^9 The opening of West Side Storyis ...