Posted on 06/23/2023 7:53:17 AM PDT by Borges
Fiddler on the Roof has arguably the best collection of songs for a musical ever produced.
Sunrise, sunset....
I would take Oklahoma over Carousel. I got to hear a lot of both, as my father played both Billy Bigelow and Tevye in local theatre. (He also played LaGiardia in Fiorello!, which was forgettable. He was also too tall for the part.
I meant to say Carousel over Fiddler.
I used to sing Sunrise Sunset at weddings.
That beautiful musical. My sister and I would listen to it very often. RIP Sheldon Mayer Harnick. Thank you for the gift of beauty you gave to the world with your lyrics.
A productive genius.
Is this the little girl I carried,
is this the little boy at play?
I don’t remember growing older,
when did they?
When did she get to be a beauty?
When did he grow to be so tall?
Wasn’t it yesterday when they were small?
Sunrise, sunset, sunrise, sunset,
swiftly flow the days,
seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers,
blossoming even as we gaze.
Sunrise, sunset, sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another,
Laden with happiness and tears
RIP.
Rest in Peace! Fiddler is SO GREAT. My fave is “if I were a wealthy man”. One big staircase just going up, and one even longer coming down, and one that’s going nowhere - just for show!
Heart it to the max!
That’s a song that will make you cry, every time.
My favorite line from Fiddler...
Leibesh : Is there a proper blessing... for the Tsar?
Rabbi : A blessing for the Tsar? Of course! May God bless and keep the Tsar... far away from us!
I like Tradition.
Even the boisterous numbers like “Rich Man”, “Tradition” and “L’Chaim” are done in a minor key. The range of moods in the play’s musical numbers goes melancholy to fatalistic. It is musically complex, however.
“Matchmaker, Matchmaker” might be an exception to what I just wrote.
Mine, too! I think that line is precious.
Tradition and Rich Man are mostly in major. With the latter, the verses alternate between minor and major and the chorus is major.
Technically, yes. But they sure SOUND Minor. Heck, some of them sound like they are in a pentatonic scale, though they aren’t. There just isn’t any “Oklahoma” or “June Is Bustin’ Ou All Over” in the mix, though “To Life (L’Chaim)” tries.
Chaim Topol, who played Tevye the milkman, passed in March.
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