The Sound of Broadway Music: A Book of Orchestrators and Orchestrations

673 Pages·2009·4.92 MB·English

by  Steven Suskin

The Sound of Broadway Music
lso by teven uskin
A S S
Show Tunes: The Songs, Shows, and Careers of Broadway’s
Major Composers
Berlin, Kern, Rodgers, Hart, and Hammerstein: A Complete
Song Catalogue
Opening Night on Broadway: A Critical Quotebook of the Golden
Era of the Musical Theatre, Oklahoma! (1943) to Fiddler
on the Roof (1964)
More Opening Nights on Broadway: A Critical Quotebook of the
Musical Theatre, 1965–1981
Broadway Yearbook 1999–2000
Broadway Yearbook 2000–2001
Broadway Yearbook 2001–2002
A Must See! Brilliant Broadway Artwork
Second Act Trouble: Behind the Scenes at Broadway’s Big
Musical Bombs
STEVEN SUSKIN
The Sound of Broadway Music
A Book of Orchestrators and Orchestrations
1
2009
1
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Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Suskin, Steven.
The sound ofBroadway music : a book oforchestrators
and orchestrations / Steven Suskin.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN978-0-19-530947-8
1. Instrumentation and orchestration—History. 2. Orchestrators.
3. Musicals—New York (State)—New York—History and criticism. I. Title.
ML455.S872008
782.1(cid:2)41374097471—dc22 2008005333
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States ofAmerica
on acid-free paper
For my wife, Helen,
without whose love, encouragement, and patience
this book would have been a four-page article
for my children, Johanna and Charlie,
who make every day a joyous adventure
and for the heretofore anonymous orchestrators
whose names will nevermore be forgotten
by anyone who reads these pages
“Oklahoma! Overture”by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Orchestration by
Robert Russell Bennett. Bennett labeled the overture as coming from Lilacs, short for the
working title Green Grow the Lilacs. This was changed to Away We Go!by the time the show
premiered in New Haven, and ultimately to Oklahoma!Copyright © 1943by Williamson
Music. Copyright renewed. International copyright secured. All rights reserved. Used by
permission. From the Richard Rodgers Collection in the Music Division of the Library
of Congress.
CONTENTS
VERSE On Orchestrators and Orchestration 3
REFRAIN Men of Notes (and a Few Women, Too) 11
Section I. The Dreyfus System 11
Section II. Twelve Major Orchestrators 24
Russell Bennett 24 Sid Ramin 72
Ralph Burns 33 Ted Royal 79
Robert “Red”Ginzler 41 Eddie Sauter 85
Hershy Kay 48 Hans Spialek 87
Irwin “Irv”Kostal 55 Don Walker 99
Philip J. Lang 67 Larry Wilcox 115
Section III. Ghosts and Other Helpers 116
Section IV. Valued Members of the Music Department 127
Roger Adams 128 Elliot Lawrence 145
Franz Allers 128 Stanley Lebowsky 146
Jack Andrews 129 Hugh Martin 147
David Baker 130 Jack Mason 148
Jay Blackton 131 Peter Matz 149
Pembroke Davenport 132 John Morris 150
Buster Davis 133 Robert H. Noeltner 151
Frederick Dvonch 135 Walter Paul 151
Lehman Engel 136 Mathilde Pincus 152
Marion Evans 137 Donald Pippin 153
Dorothea Freitag 138 Genevieve Pitot 154
Joe Glover 138 Trude Rittman 155
Max Goberman 140 Milton Rosenstock 156
Herbert Greene 141 Menotti Salta 157
Hal Hastings 142 William Stegmeyer 157
Luther Henderson 143 Jim Tyler 158
Peter Howard 144 Betty Walberg 159
viii Contents
Section V. Assessing Orchestrators 160
BRIDGE The Art of Orchestration 173
Section I. From Song to Stage 173
Section II. The Arrangement 178
Section III. Overture 202
Section IV. Meet the Colors 212
Section V.Then Comes the Orchestrator 234
Section VI. The Orchestration 250
Section VII. Putting It Together 260
Section VIII. Sweeneyin the Pit with Steve 281
FINAL REFRAIN What’s the Score? 291
Section I. About the Listings 291
Section II. The Listings 314
Section III. Additional Shows by Other Orchestrators 584
CODA 609
Section I. Chronology 609
Section II. Acknowledgments 627
Section III. Sources and Bibliography 634
INDEX 639
The Sound of Broadway Music