Stephen Sondheim

Musicals / Classical Music Datebook:  March 22 

Happy Birthday Stephen Sondheim! Thank you for the lovely music!

Stephen Sondheim:  American Composer and Lyricist

Stephen (Joshua) Sondheim, born March 22, 1930, is an American composer and lyricist known for his contributions to musical theatre. He has received numerous awards including an Academy Award, Tony Awards (plus a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre), Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize, the Laurence Olivier Award, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom (2015).

His best-known works include: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Follies, A Little Night Music (with the famous "Send in the Clowns"), Sweeney Todd and Into the Woods. The list goes on... Sondheim also wrote the lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy, and some songs for 1990's Dick Tracy, including "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)" by Madonna, which won the Academy Award for Best Song.

On his 80th birthday, the former Henry Miller's Theatre was renamed the Stephen Sondheim Theatre on September 15, 2010, and the BBC Proms held a concert in his honour.

To celebrate his birthday today, I'm sharing an all-time favourite song, "Send in the Clowns",   poignantly sung by  actress Glenn Close (uploaded: www.theBestArts.com. Accessed 22 March 2016).





The beauteous Liz Taylor as Desirée Armfeldt singing "Send in the Clowns" from the film adaptation of Sondheim's musical A Little Night Music. (Uploaded by hostessmostess. Accessed March 22, 2019.)






The popular song "Send in the Clowns" comes from Sondheim's A Little Night Music, the literal English translation of the German name for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's popular  Serenade No. 13 for Strings in G major,  Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. 

A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler.  Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Its title is a literal English translation of the German name for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's popular Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major, Eine kleine Nachtmusik. The musical includes the popular song "Send In the Clowns".

 

Links:  

 

Stephen Sondheim, Broadway composer of West Side Story, Sweeney Todd, dies aged 91. ABC News. Accessed November 27, 2021.

 

Stephen Sondheim: master craftsman who reinvented the musical dies aged 91. The Guardian. Accessed November 27, 2021.

 

Broadway songwriter Stephen Sondheim dead at 91. news.com.au. Accessed November 27, 2021.
 

 

Image Credit:

Stephen Sondheim. Biography.com


Resources:

Conversations with Sondheim.  www.newyorktimes.com.  Accessed 22 March 2016.

Stephen Sondheim.  Internet Movie Database (IMDb).  Accessed 22 March 2016.

Stephen Sondheim Biography.  www.biography.com.  Accessed 22 March 2016.



© March 2016.  Updated November 27, 2021. Tel.  Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.