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Oh, You Know How I Hate the Opera1 How Stephen Sondheims Sweeney
Todd became a 20th-Century Black Operetta
by Connor Lidell
Introduction
Stephen Sondheim (1930-) considers writing Sweeney Todd: The
Demon Barber of Fleet
Street his most intimate project.2 Sweeney is a bold foray into
the musical theater stage, as it is
one of the first genuine thriller pieces to be performed on
Broadway. The Chambers Twentieth
Century Dictionary defines a thriller as a sensational or
exciting story, especially one about
crime and detection. The thriller genre was exemplified and
refined by the film culture of the
early 1900s. Sondheim himself, infatuated with horror movies and
their musical scores, gave the
subtitle of a musical thriller to Sweeney Todd. Adapting the
story from Christopher Bonds
play of the same name, Sondheim transforms this drama into his
own vision: a dark thriller for
the stage with operatic voices. Because the show was originally
conceived to be more like an
opera than a musical, Sondheim worked closely with material from
the romantic opera era of the
late 1800s borrowing ideas from composers such as Richard
Wagner. Even so, there is also a
certain humor to the show through the character of Mrs. Lovett;
this comes from the tradition o
lowbrow comedy fashionable in Gilbert and Sullivans operettas.
Stephen Sondheims Sweeney
Todd, conceived as a musical, has compositional elements used in
romantic opera of the 19th
century, using Gregorian chant as a plot and character device,
and the grotesque presentation of
life and humor in operetta to craft a new sort of genre
altogether: a black operetta.
The inception of Sweeney Todd happened when Sondheim witnessed a
version of
Christopher Bonds play. He enjoyed the story so much that he
spoke to a director at the 1 Stephen Sondheim and George Furth,
Company (New York: Theatre Communications Group, Inc., 2002), 18. 2
Stephen Banfield, Sondheims Genius, In The Oxford handbook of
Sondheim studies, ed. Robert Gordon, (New York: Oxford University
Press, 2014).
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Metropolitan Opera, asking him if Sweeney might make a good
opera. John Dexter, the Met
director working in London at the time, encouraged Sondheim to
pursue the rights for the show.
Stephen Sondheim began working on the future musical intending
it to be an opera.3 Because of
various factors such as length, scope, and Sondheims own sense
of practicality, he quickly
abandoned the idea and began to look at it as a musical with
Harold Prince and Hugh Wheeler.
Compositional Process: Borrowing from 19th Century Opera
Stephen Sondheim began his writing process considering Sweeney
Todd to be an opera.
However, as he wrote the piece, he discovered that the show
would be very long-winded and
would not serve to keep the interest of the story alive. In The
Art of the American Musical, a
panel interviews Sondheim. They ask him: What happens when your
shows are done in opera
houses as operas? He responds:
Sometimes they work and sometimes they dont. Ive said before
that an opera is defined as what is done in an opera house.
Therefore, when The Medium and The Telephone are done on Broadway,
theyre Broadway shows. The expectation of the audience affects the
reception When its done at an opera house, its an operetta, a black
operetta. Opera is designed to show off the human voice, but
Sweeney is about telling a story and telling it as swiftly as
possible.4
Sondheim is analyzing his own opinions on the opera genre. His
objection to Sweeney being
called an opera is quite clear. This stems from his
compositional process. He had composed
twenty minutes of music, and he realized that the show would be
nine hours long before it would
be completed.5 The idea of Sweeney being an opera would never
work in his mind because he
felt that the music would get in the way of the story. As he
trimmed and cut the piece with the
help of Hugh Wheeler, he realized that the piece was a musical
after all. The piece had to be
3 Meryle Secrest, Stephen Sondheim (New York: Alfred A. Knopf,
1998), 289-291. 4 Jackson R. Bryer and Richard A. Davison, ed. The
Art of the American Musical (Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University
Press, 2005), 201-202. 5 Stephen Banfield, Sondheims Broadway
Musicals (Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press, 1993)
286.
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primarily a story telling work. As a story telling work, Sweeney
could not be all about opera and
the human voice. It had to be about the drama, and the music was
to be the driving undercurrent
carrying the story along. The music, being the structural
foundation upon which the rest of the
piece is held up, had to be inspired by the characters and the
action.
The end of Sweeney Todd is a smorgasbord of all the musical
ideas from the characters
and action. As the story comes to a culmination, the themes
developed are all superimposed on
top of each other. These ideas are the beginning of Sondheims
appreciation for leitmotif and
using themes for compositional structure. Meryle Secrest, one of
Sondheims biographers, recalls
Sondheims own words about the use of themes:
His idea that musical ideas would collide at the end was always
there. I determined that it would be fun to start each character
with a specific musical theme and develop in the true sense of the
word on the previous one. That handy compositional principle served
him well6
There is a sense of drama and propulsion in the music of Sweeney
Todd. Sondheim introduces
the themes of the musical thriller one by one. The first real
theme comes about as Sweeney and
Anthony talk in the first scene. As Sweeneys themes of brooding
anger (see Fig. 1) and
Anthonys themes of British idealism (see Fig. 2) come to a head
at the climax of their scene (see
Fig. 3), their musical ideas wash and intersperse, flowing away
like the waves they rode into
town had done.
6 Meryle Secrest, Stephen Sondheim (New York: Alfred A. Knopf,
1998), 280.
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Fig. 1
The rocking eighth notes represent the swinging bells of London.
Sondheim uses close harmonies here to simulate the intonation of
the bells and their complex high harmonics. In mm.
9 through 11, there is another version of the bells in the form
of high, syncopated beats.7
Fig. 2 The low sustained chords signify Sweeneys deep-set
brooding. These figures in the top voices are akin to the
tightening of a rope so tight that it may burst. The tension in
these moments is
very high as Sweeney recalls his dreadful memories of the past.
There is use of a split third style chord, but instead of the
traditional third, it is using both the raised and lowered 7th
scale degrees
building off of F-sharp. F-sharp, C-sharp, E-natural, E-sharp.8
7 Joanne Lesley Gordon, The American musical stops singing and
finds its voice: A study of the work of Stephen Sondheim (PhD
diss., University of Califormia, 1984). 8 ibid.
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Fig. 3
We see Sweeneys taking over of Anthonys idealist theme. The
harmonies are generally of a similar sort, but there is a clear
move towards the more obviously dissonant brooding theme of
Figure 2. In m. 213, the chords are formed using the dissonant
split seventh idea presented in m. 65.
Sondheim takes these motifs assigned to each character and
mangles them together in a
nasty kind of way, giving each character a sense of harmony and
style. Sweeney gets his themes
through brooding and extremely dissonant chords, while Anthony
gets his themes through
interesting bell imagery and mock intonation harmony.
Sondheim takes on the idea of leitmotif in his score through
incorporation of these themes
as part of a contrapuntal fabric. Stephen Banfield discourses on
these themes in his book
Sondheims Broadway Musicals, detailing Wagners influence on
Sondheims creative process:
Wagners model of musical theme/flux and representation, as
developed by Puccini for purposes of verismo characterization, was
as invaluable to Sondheim as it has been to countless other
composers for the stage and the screen.9
As shown in Figure 4 below, the motivic ideas follow a kind of
expository pattern, introducing
the various characters. Then, as characters and themes are
involved in the show, they recur. For
instance, the theme of the bells is used throughout the act as a
signifying of London and the call
for nostalgia. These themes lead the plot, and provide scenery
and commentary on the story.
9 Stephen Banfield, Sondheims Broadway Musicals (Ann Arbor, MI:
The University of Michigan Press, 1993) 305.
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Fig. 410
A snapshot of the leitmotif themes in Sweeney Todd, and their
recurrences in Act I.
In order to see how these leitmotivs influence the story, I will
focus on the borrowing of
Gregorian chant as a means of showing character and plot
development through musical motif.
Borrowing from Gregorian Chant as an Example of leitmotif
Sondheim borrows more than just the idea of leitmotif, he
borrows the often quoted Dies
Irae chant theme from the early Gregorian church tradition. This
is an example of Wagneresque
leitmotif because of its effect on the drama. Mark Horowitz,
author of Sondheim on Music, asks
Sondheim about the marching theme incorporating Dies Irae:
But for the anger, I wanted to use a chugging sound. And thats
what the second idea isan attempt to find a chug. And then I got
the idea of utilizing the Dies Irae here, so that you get the theme
in the accompaniment Im characterizing mood. Im characterizing
urgency, then Im characterizing anger11
10 Stephen Banfield, Sondheims Broadway Musicals (Ann Arbor, MI:
The University of Michigan Press, 1993) 288. 11 Mark Eden Horowitz,
Sondheim on Music: Minor Details and Major Decision (Lanham, MD:
Scarecrow Press, 2010), 200-203.
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In Figure 5 below, the first instance of the Dies Irae chant in
the show is depicted. It first comes about as part of the turning
point in Sweeneys movement from brooding to full blown anger.
Fig. 512
In example a, the outline of the beginning of the Dies Irae is
matched up to the tones of a similar
build within two examples of the musicals score. Shown below in
their context, each example
relates to the chant tune in musical composition and in thematic
similarity, commenting on the
meaning of such moments.
Example d
Here the theme follows the contour of the melody of the chant
tune. Here Sweeney is talking
about his critique of London society. The elite of London has
imprisoned Sweeney, and this is 12 Stephen Banfield, Sondheims
Broadway Musicals (Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press,
1993) 299.
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his way of disdaining their lifestyle. The rumbling low tones
are a form of the tune, but it feels
more like a brooding undertone waiting for the right
moment.13
Example e
In Example e, this is more of the same as in Example d, but
fragmented in its melodic borrowing.
Here, instead of the full theme being presented, the idea is
given in a more hinted and subtle
way. As shown in Figure 5, there is only part of the theme
shown. Sondheim tends to use these
fragmented moments to show the brokenness of the themes. Like,
in measure 217 where there is
a suspension of the melody combined with the Sweeney split seven
motivic idea, this is a place
where the themes interact and become symbolic of memory.
13 Stephen Banfield, Sondheims Broadway Musicals (Ann Arbor, MI:
The University of Michigan Press, 1993) 300.
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Sweeneys Dies Irae thematic material transforms throughout the
show, eventually
moving from brooding to the idea of pure unadulterated anger.
Sondheim states in Banfields
Sondheims Broadway Musicals,
To demonstrate musically that [Sweeneys] mind is cracking I
switched between violent and lyrical passages, and had rapid
rhythmic shifts, from quick to slow. His murderous vengeance
announce to a chugging engine-like theme (the Dies Irae disguised)
alternated with a keening threnody for his wife and daughter.14
Fig. 6
In Epiphany, the number where Sweeney finally loses his cool and
becomes very angry, the
chant theme appears in the accompaniment, much less hidden and
more fully stated. It is as if the
culmination of Sweeneys emotional state results in the fuller
statement of the musical theme. To
find the chant tune, look in the bottom voice of the right hand
(stems up) and follow the contour
of the line. Check this against Figure 5.
Fig. 7
14 Stephen Banfield, Sondheims Broadway Musicals (Ann Arbor, MI:
The University of Michigan Press, 1993) 297-298.
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In the right hand of the accompaniment, the outline of the chant
theme is there. This is the
Lucy theme, symbolic of Sweeneys loss.
As seen in Figure 6, the Dies Irae is incorporated into the
accompaniment hidden within the
march-like framework. The theme is also exemplified in the Lucy
Theme that comes about in
Epiphany as well (see Figure 7). The theme is often used as a
model for anger and passion for the
coming of the end of days. In this case, the theme of the Dies
Irae is indicative of the
unadulterated sense of hopeless anger Sweeney is pointing at
nobody. When he screams, And
Ill never see Johanna. No, Ill never hold my girl to me
Finished! there is a sense of
impending peril in the music as it screeches to a powerful boom.
The Dies Irae theme is woven
into this Johanna/Epiphany march theme (see Figure 6). And, from
this point on, whenever the
theme appears, it shows Sweeneys passion. There are moments in
the show when Sweeney is
about to kill and we hear this theme, but Sweeney remains
perfectly calm. This is a way in which
the leitmotivic structure betrays the drama and gives us the
real emotional content when the
actors are being true to their masked intentions.
The Lighter Side: Borrowing from the French and British Operetta
Tradition
Sweeney Todd is a quandary when it comes to identifying the tone
of the piece. Is it a
melodrama, or is it a dark comedy? It is fairly difficult to
say. While the premise of the show is
extremely dark, there are many moments of lighthearted comedy.
Subject matters of rape,
murder, and betrayal are contrasted with comic relief through
situational comedy, the character
of Mrs. Lovett, and the histrionic Signor Pirelli.15
This begs the question: Where does this dark comedy come from?
Why use it in a show
that is mostly about dark themes? The answer lies in the origins
of musical theater as a genre. In 15 George Whitney Martin, On the
Verge of Opera: Stephen Sondheim The Opera Quarterly 6 (1989):
76-85.
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the 1800s, French operetta evolved to be shorter, lighter works
to contrast the opra comique that
had tragic plots.16 In the beginning of operettas evolution,
certain composers and librettists
formed new ways of expressing these lighter plots in fashion
with the culture of the time.
Jacques Offenbach is one composer who popularized operetta with
grotesque portrayal of life
and almost pornographic representation. Another is the team of
Gilbert and Sullivan, two
composers who developed the British operetta culture using wit
and wisdom to create
memorable plots and characters. Sweeney borrows from both of
these traditions, using ideas from
both origins of operetta to lift itself higher than simply a
musical and to pay homage to the roots
of the shows beginnings as an opera.
Jacques Offenbachs Orpheus in the Underworld is an example of
operettas dark
orgiastic style. In Figure 817, there is a scene of people with
wild facial expressions and people all
crowded together in a kind of harem idiom.
Fig. 8
16 Gerald Bordman, American Operetta: from H.M.S. Pinafore to
Sweeney Todd (New York: Oxford University Press, 1981). 17 Jules
Cheret, Playbill from a French Production of Orpheus in the
Underworld, Painting, 1874,
http://www.histoire-image.org/site/etude_comp/etude_comp_detail.php?i=732&d=1&a=431&y=10&id_sel=1286
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Playbill for Jacques Offenbachs Orpheus in the Underworld
Christopher Bonds play uses many of the melodramatic elements of
this early operetta. While
the plots of these light operas still have serious plot lines,
they have large amounts of spectacle to
go along with them. This is because the patrons of these early
operettas were upper class citizens
who wanted this kind of lowbrow spectacle. In the Offenbach, you
might have had courtesans
playing the lead roles, creating basically a musical whorehouse
in the theater. Compare this to
Sweeney Todd, where there are large chorus scenes of almost
absurdist quality.
This dark, gritty operatic sense of spectacle is present in the
opening to Act II of
Sweeney. In this scene, there is a clear sense of simply mad
expression and complete cacophony
in the chorus and orchestra. But, it is also humorous. Here we
have a very serious plot moment:
the serving of human meat pies; but, everybody is running around
making jokes, enjoying
themselves, and generally having a good time. This is the kind
of sick, dark spectacle that
Sondheim borrows from the early spectacle of French
operetta.
On the other side of the coin, Sondheim is not without style
when he borrows from
Gilbert and Sullivan. Christopher Bonds play draws on the ideas
of Gilbert and Sullivan humor
and Sondheim comments on this relationship in his Finishing the
Hat memoirs.
I knew that in writing the character of Mrs. Lovett, I had to
write for a lowbrow queen of the stage. In [Bonds] play, Mrs.
Lovett was like something out of Gilbert and Sullivan. Her lines
and characters were almost vaudevillian, which gave me a precedent
to write in a darkly humorous character masking the tragedy of
somebody so sad and lonely.18
Gilbert and Sullivan wrote low comedy. They had gags and puns in
their shows. The same is true
in Sondheims show. Sweeney could have easily taken place around
the same time as many
Gilbert and Sullivan shows, and the characters of Mrs. Lovett,
Signor Pirelli, and Tobias almost
18 Stephen Sondheim, Finishing the Hat (New York: Alfred A.
Knopf, 2011), 230
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certainly come directly from that tradition of low comedy. In
the number A Little Priest, there
is a string of puns and gags that promote this sort of low
humor.
It's priest, have a little priest Is it really good? Sir, it's
too good, at least Then again, they don't commit sins of the flesh
So it's pretty fresh19
Using these jokes helps provide a sense of levity to this point
in the plot. Sweeney has
just expressed his utter anger at everything in the world, and
Mrs. Lovett tries to lighten the
mood with these remarks. What makes these moments so interesting
is that the humor does not
negate the darkness of the tone. The jokes are still made at the
expense of characters dignity and
to be rude. In Priest, there are many moments when they are
joking about killing and eating
human beings. In the context of this show, this is certainly a
lighthearted moment. Without the
context, the very idea of those jokes would come off as
offensive and threatening.
These moments of intense grotesqueness coupled with lowbrow
humor create an
interesting concoction. Not only do we see the creation of a new
genre, but we see how there can
be a reconciliation between comedy and drama. To address the
question from the beginning of
this section, Sweeney is not a comedy or a drama; it is
something of each, a sort of black
dramedy, using black humor yet serious treatment of the music to
create something new.
Putting it Together: The Conclusion
The power of Sweeney Todd lies in its complexity of creation yet
seamless execution. All
of the interweaving musical devices and inspirations do not feel
slapped together like a jigsaw
puzzle. Rather, the material has been carefully considered, and
Sondheim has placed each of the
ideas right where he feels they belong. Sondheims influence from
the operatic traditions led him
19 Stephen Sondheim, Finishing the Hat (New York: Alfred A.
Knopf, 2011), 235.
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to create a bedrock of flowing music lasting the whole two and a
half hours. This foundational
material provides the structure for the piece, giving it the
character of an opera. Deviating from
that idea, Sondheims experience is in musical comedy, and there
is plenty of it in this show.
Sondheim uses irony, high speech, and comedic musical moments to
create character and drama.
This separates, in Sondheims mind, the show from its operatic
roots, carrying it into more of an
operetta setting. Of course, there is text and speech throughout
as well, contributing to the idea of
operetta. Using these ideas, Sondheim did not just write an
opera, or a musical comedy, or a
proper operetta even; it was some kind of combination of the
three. He created the black
operetta, using his own terminology. He created something new.
This idea would be carried
onward.
Many black operettas have been conceived and performed since
then. A couple of
examples are Frank Wildhorns Jekyll and Hyde and Michael Gores
Carrie. Many shows have
taken advantage of Sondheims formula and unique concoction of
ideas. In this sense, Sondheim
was an innovator, paving the way in the 1980s and beyond for a
new form of entertainment on
the Broadway stage.
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