Song and Dance: The Music Behind A Little Night Music Dance with Me “My favorite musical form has always been that of Theme and Variations,” writes Sondheim in Finishing the Hat. Structuring the project which became A Little Night Music as an exploration in theme and variation was one of Sondheim’s first intentions for the musical. It was only after reading Hugh Wheeler’s script that Sondheim decided a “score of waltz variations” would be the most appropriate to the project. The initial inspiration for the waltzes behind A Little Night Music came from a waltz in the style of Maurice Ravel which Sondheim had written some fifteen years prior when he was intending to write a musical adaptation of Ring Round the Moon, Christopher Fry’s English translation of Jean Anouilh’s L’Invitation au Château. Waltzes, it turned out, not only helped match the feeling of Wheeler’s script, but also became an important part of musicalizing the plot’s structure and the character’s emotions. Dartmouth Professor of Music Steven Swayne, who has written about Sondheim in journal articles and in his book How Sondheim Found His Sound, explores Sondheim’s relationship to waltzes (particularly in A Little Night Music) in his essay, “Remembering and Re-membering: Sondheim, the Waltz, and A Little Night Music.” Swayne maintains the Sondheim “adopts the convention of the waltz as a voluptuous and seductive dance only to circumvent it”: “When a waltz occurs, someone is either contemplating — or in the process of — leaving someone for someone else. By evening's end, all of the original couples have engaged in re-membering, an act always accompanied by the waltz…. Hearing the waltz as the aural agent for re-membering breathes new life into the waltz tradition. The modern audience brings to the waltz the expectation of enthralled and entwined couples, and yet that same audience projects this blissful togetherness as something long past.” Swayne also argues against referring to A Little Night Music as a ‘waltz musical’ not only because of the various other styles of dance used in the piece but because it does not adequately describe what Sondheim has done in the score:
“I maintain that calling Night Music a 'waltz musical' (1) fails to explain why waltzes occur in the musical; (2) does not suggest that other dances appear in the musical; and (3) leads amateur musicians and non-musicians to make logical extrapolations that are patently untrue (see Craig 1997).... To be certain, the waltz and Sondheim do go together like a horse and carriage. But the horse is a dark one with an unexpected pedigree, and Sondheim's way with the waltz travels a different path than that of his predecessors. In moving away from traditional understandings of the waltz and in redefining its meaning, Sondheim has broken triple time open for new uses.” Through this website, delve deeper into the revolutionary and beautiful score of A Little Night Music.
A still from Smiles of a Summer Night, the Ingmar Bergman film which inspired A Little Night Music. (“Smiles of a Summer Night.” Filmforum.org, filmforum.org/film/smiles-of-a-summer-night-bergman-film.) Sources Sondheim, Stephen. “A Little Night Music.” Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981) with Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes, Alfred A. Knopf, 2011, pp. 251–283. Swayne, Steve. “Remembering and Re-Membering: Sondheim, the Waltz, and ‘A Little Night Music.’” Studies in Musical Theatre, vol. 1, no. 3, Dec. 2007, p. 259. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=brb&AN=50981 3538&site=ehost-live.
Beyond the Waltz Although A Little Night Music has come to be known for its score of waltzes, Sondheim’s score is by no means one note. The composer utilizes a variety of triple time structures in order to create a score that is as complex as the characters and emotions depicted brought to life by it. Here’s a look at the different waltz variations employed throughout A Little Night Music: Étude From the French meaning “study” or “lesson,” an étude is intended as a short, artistic exercise meant for a single instrumentalist to challenge the player’s skill and demonstrate technique. Chopin, Liszt, and other composers are credited for developing the étude as a piece of music beyond its uses as an exercise. Examples: “Now,” “Every Day a Little Death” Gigue The gigue (Italian: giga; English: jig) is a rapid dance typically composed in 6/8 time signature and compound duple meter (the main beats are divided into three rather than two). Standardized in the eighteenth century, the gigue was eventually accepted as the final dance in a regular suite. Example: “A Weekend in the Country” Mazurka This lively Polish dance is typically in ¾ or ⅜ time with an accented second or third beat. Chopin composed over 50 mazurkas during his career. Examples: “The Glamorous Life,” “Remember” Polonaise A Polish court dance in triple meter originating in the early eighteenth century but made famous in the nineteenth century thanks to Chopin, the Polish composer viewed as elevating and nationalizing the genre. Example: “In Praise of Women” Sarabande A slow, stately dance in triple meter developed mainly in the Baroque era as part of instrumental suites. It is characterized by an elongation of the second note of the measure and likely originated in Latin America before being imported to Spain in the sixteenth century. Examples: “Later,” “Liaisons”
Waltz Originating in the eighteenth century, the waltz (French: valse; German: Walzer) is a dance in triple time which became the most popular ballroom dance in the nineteenth century. Famous composers of waltzes included the Strauss family, Chopin, and Ravel. Examples: “You Must Meet My Wife,” “Soon”
A Swedish etching of a waltz from the late 19th-century. (Zorn, Anders. The Waltz. 1891. Museum of Modern Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/384528.) Sources American Conservatory Theater. Words on Plays: Insight into the Play, the Playwright, and the Production: A Little Night Music, American Conservatory Theater, 2015, www.act-sf.org/content/dam/act/education_department/words_on_plays/A%20Little%20Night %20Music%20Words%20on%20Plays%20(2015).pdf. “Musical Terms | Music Glossary: Terminology.” Naxos, Naxos Digital Services Ltd, 2020, www.naxos.com/education/glossary.asp.
Romantic Inspirations Sondheim and his orchestrator, Jonathan Tunick, have identified several composers who have influenced their work on A Little Night Music. Put on the headphones below to hear some of the pieces which inspired this score. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Serenade in G Major, K. 425: Eine kleine Nachtmusik The title of A Little Night Music is the English translation of this Mozart piece. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISwUxGa_fsY] Maurice Ravel’s Valses nobles et sentimentales The opening chords of “Liaisons” are taken from this Ravel piece. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEq1iCxbPmI Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Sondheim identified “Send in the Clowns” (as well as other elements of the show) as an imitation of Rachmaninoff and this particular song. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppJ5uITLECE] Johann Strauss’s Liebeslieder Op. 114 Tunick listened to Strauss to draw inspiration for his orchestration of A Little Night Music. The Quintet is also called the Liebeslieder (love songs) Singers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5fhZ80XPhY Franz Lehár Waltz from The Merry Widow Tunick drew inspiration from Lehár as well, a composer who wrote “waltz operettas” (such as The Merry Widow). Sondheim was intending to emulate these turn-of-the-century Viennese operettas with A Little Night Music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akPOlcp4z8c Sources Sondheim, Stephen. “A Little Night Music.” Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981) with Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes, Alfred A. Knopf, 2011, pp. 251–283. Sondheim, Stephen, et al. “Introduction.” A Little Night Music, Applause Books, 1991, pp. 1–11.
An Unlikely Masterpiece Sondheim did not begin the process of writing A Little Night Music with the intention of writing his most famous ballad. In fact, Sondheim did not initially intend to write “Send in the Clowns” at all. Sondheim planned to write a song for Fredrik in the scene where “Send in the Clowns” appears. However, after attending a rehearsal with Glynis Johns as Desirée and Len Cariou as Fredrik, Sondheim realized that Hal Prince had directed the scene so it was Desirée’s rather than Fredrik’s. Sondheim hastily wrote “Send in the Clowns” for that scene, specifically tailored for Johns’ voice. In, Finishing the Hat, Sondheim writes: “Her chief limitation was an inability to sustain a note; the breathiness that I loved was, ironically, her liability as a singer. The solution was to write short breathy phrases for her, which suggested to me that they should be questions rather than statements. Once I’d reached that conclusion the song wrote effortlessly; I finished the chorus that evening, played it for Hugh [Wheeler] and Hal the following more, got their approval and wrote the second chorus that night. The song sat so well in Glynis’s voice that at the recording session, even though she’d never recorded a song before, she did it perfectly in one take. I’ve heard it sung since by many fine singers (I’m happy to say), but to me her version is still the most satisfying.” “Send in the Clowns” has arguably gone on to become Sondheim’s most famous song, and the composer considers its rise “a mystery.” Initially, the song did not make much of a splash, being performed occasionally by Bobby Short, a singer and piano player, in nightclubs. However, when Judy Collins and Frank Sinatra recorded it, it became a smash hit. “Send in the Clowns” won a Grammy as Song of the Year in 1975 (beating out pop and rock contenders). Since its composition, the song has been recorded over five hundred separate times, appearing throughout pop culture including in Todd Phillips’ 2019 film Joker. Sondheim still does not quite know why this ballad, out of all his other songs, has had such a large and storied afterlife. Explore some of the famous and varied recordings of “Send in the Clowns.”
Frank Sinatra, 1973 Frank Sinatra recorded this song on his album Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back. This recording features him singing live at Madison Square Garden in 1974. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5Dve74Ay7c Judy Collins, 1975 Judy Collins performs the song live in 1976 with Boston Pops. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCE-Bijdvv0 Sarah Vaughan, 1981 Sarah Vaughan included “Send in the Clowns” on her 1981 album, which was also named after it. This footage comes from her performance of the song live on a BBC4 program. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PI_xb6jSD4 Barbra Streisand, 1985 Sondheim wrote Barbra Streisand additional lyrics of “Send in the Clowns” for her album The Broadway Album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODqj9Mq39FM
Glynis Johns as Desirée and William Daniels as Fredrik in A Little Night Music. (Photo Agency. “Glynis Johns and William Daniels In The 1973 Broadway Musical A LITTLE NIGHT MUSICAL.” Fanpix, FamousFix, fanpix.famousfix.com/pictures/glynis-johns/p95211464.)
Sources Sondheim, Stephen. “A Little Night Music.” Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981) with Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes, Alfred A. Knopf, 2011, pp. 251–283. “Harold Prince: The Director's Life.” Great Performances, season 46, episode 5, PBS, 23 Nov. 2018.
Teaching and Interpreting Sondheim Maddie Wu ’21, the music director of A Little Night Music, speaks with Paige Allen ’21, the production’s dramaturg, about the process of shaping Sondheim’s music. Paige Allen, dramaturg: What exactly is a music director? Maddie Wu, music director: A music director is really responsible for shaping the music for the show. From a teaching standpoint, they teach the music. They organize the pit and run those rehearsals. They’re really in charge of everything music related to the show, whatever it is — really taking the director’s vision and then implementing it and shaping the musical journey. Like every other creative, they’re very much a collaborator in the process. A musical has music, so they’re very important to the process. It’s valuable and important to understand that the show needs to be flexible and they themselves need to be very flexible in keeping the director’s vision in mind, keeping very open minded, but kind of being the expert of the music from a creative standpoint. PA: How do you approach directing Stephen Sondheim’s work? Is it different from directing another composer? MW: I think it definitely is. I think Sondheim is the most brilliant composer, I’m going to say it. He’s brilliant, and every single note and phrase and line has meaning whether or not you think about it, from the vocals to instrumentation. So I think really breaking down each line is really important and something I try to do for Sondheim, really trying to understand how this plays into the characters themselves — Why is a line written this way? Why is the orchestration like this? — in order to support a scene. He really puts the music at the forefront of the show, which is not always the case with every show, but I love working on his works because he’s always thinking about the music. He makes my life fun but challenging. PA: What is it like music directing A Little Night Music specifically? MW: So fun! I think A Little Night i s really interesting to music direct because of its operatic nature. It’s not your standard boppy contemporary musical theater. It kind of weaves opera and musical theater together which is pretty neat. He makes use of
everyone; it’s a huge cast and it’s a huge pit. And everything’s more or less in ¾, so we’re kind of waltzing through the entire show which is really fun! PA: What are the particular challenges of the music of A Little Night Music? MW: It’s a challenging show; I mean, the music’s brilliant, but it is challenging. We have such a talented cast that makes my life a lot easier. It’s so fun being able to collaborate with them, too, because we kind of just bounce ideas back from each other. From a music standpoint, as I mentioned, it’s kind of operatic, so finding that mix between the operatic nature of it but also keeping in mind that it is a musical — how can we find that balance? And then from a pit standpoint, it’s written for a huge pit, but unfortunately we can’t have thirty people, so it’s been a process of reducing it and trying to accommodate it for the environment that we’re in, for our show. PA: How do you find working with both singers and instrumentalists? MW: I think that’s the beauty of the job, that I get to work with both. They’re both musicians, but they’re also different. Growing up as a pianist and as a musician, I definitely did not think, at least when I started music directing, a lot about the overall story. I was very much focused on just music, and I think that’s where working with actors has really helped me because they’re always keeping in mind the overall story. How does this work with the development of their character? Why is this structured the way that it is? That kind of thing. I’ve been trying to also carry that over to working with musicians, too, because I find that we’re sometimes so focused on the music — I mean, we perform music — but also trying to have them understand why they’re playing the way they are and how we can shape the way we sound in order to support the overall story. PA: What would you say to people considering music direction? MW: Honestly, that’s something I’ve been really trying to promote on this campus: trying to find and develop new student music directors. It’s such a fun job, and it’s something that I would not be doing if I wasn’t just thrown into it in high school, out of the blue. What’s really required is a love of music, an open mind, and a willingness to be a collaborator — that’s what’s most important. You really have the opportunity to shape the music of a musical. Not many people can say that they do that.