Chapter 77

Tin Pan Alley and the Broadway Musical

Lecture Overview

• The American popular song in the 19th and early 20th centuries

• George Gershwin:– life and works– song “The Man I Love”

• The Broadway musical• Rodgers and Hammerstein

– Oklahoma!, “I Cain’t Say No”

• Leonard Bernstein:– life and works– West Side Story

• Musicals of the 1960s and later• Review

The Life of George Gershwin (1898–1937)

• 1898 born in Brooklyn, NY

• 1914 drops out of high school to work as song plugger

• 1919 first Broadway show, La La Lucille

• 1924 increased attention to concert compositions following Rhapsody in Blue

• 1932-36 continued compositional studies with Joseph Schillinger

• 1937 dies in Hollywood at age 38

Principal Compositions by George Gershwin

• Shows and opera: about 30, including– Porgy and Bess (opera)– Lady, Be Good– Strike Up the Band– Funny Face

• Orchestra: works include – Rhapsody in Blue– Piano Concerto– An American in Paris– Cuban Overture

• Piano: works include three piano Preludes, and song arrangements in the George Gershwin Song-Book

George Gershwin, “The Man I Love,” 1924

Verse-and-refrain form

The Life of Richard Rodgers (1902–1979)

• 1902 born near New York on Long Island• 1919-21 attends Columbia University• 1919 first collaboration with writer Lorenz

Hart (Fly with Me)• 1943 first collaboration with Oscar

Hammerstein II (Oklahoma!)• 1952 composes incidental music to the TV

documentary Victory at Sea• 1979 dies in New York

Principal Compositions by Richard Rodgers

• Shows: 44, including – Pal Joey – Oklahoma!– Carousel– South Pacific– The King and I– The Sound of Music– No Strings

• Incidental music: Victory at Sea (TV documentary)

Richard Rodgers, Oklahoma!, 1943, “I Cain’t Say No”

Modified verse-and-refrain form

The Life of Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990)

• 1918 born in Lawrence, MA• 1934-39 attends Harvard College (studies

with Walter Piston among others)• 1940 assists Serge Kussevitsky as conductor

of the Boston Symphony Orchestra• 1958-69 music director of the New York

Philharmonic Orchestra• 1990 dies in New York

Principal Compositions by Leonard Bernstein

• Operas, ballets, and Broadway shows: works include – Fancy Free (ballet)– Mass (theater piece)– Candide– West Side Story

• Orchestra: symphonies (3, all with voices), suites from stage works

• Chorus: pieces include Chichester Psalms

Leonard Bernstein, West Side Story, 1957, “Cool”

Multiple forms

Review Key Terms

• player piano• vaudeville show• musical play• Tin Pan Alley• song plugger• ballad• chorus (refrain)• song “release”• musical (Broadway• musical)• operetta• Jerome Kern• Oscar Hammerstein II• lyricist• Agnes De Mille

• Jerome Robbins• Stephen Sondheim• megamusical• Andrew Lloyd

Webber