Isn't It Rich?

The death of composer Stephen Sondheim at 91 is more than the end of an era. It is the end of a chain of great Broadway musicals dating back to the 1920s when Jerome Kern's "Showboat" first dazzled theater audiences.

I met him only once. It was at Barbara Cook's apartment in New York where she had invited a few friends following her performance of Sondheim songs at Carnegie Hall.

When I entered, he was sitting on a couch and talking to someone. When the man left, I sat down next to him. "Mr. Sondheim," I said nervously, "I can't think of anything to add to all of the wonderful things that have been said about your work, so I will just say thank you." He smiled and said, "thank you" and uttered a pleasantry I have since forgotten, because I was in awe of him.

In 2008, Sondheim and Frank Rich, the former chief drama critic for The New York Times, conducted a series of interviews in several theaters around the country. In Portland, Oregon, Rich asked Sondheim how he at the tender age of 25 was chosen to write lyrics for "West Side Story"? Sondheim had stayed in the home of lyricist Oscar Hammerstein, his great tutor.

Betty Comden and Adolph Green were originally picked to write the lyrics but were unavailable. Sondheim said he had written a show called "Saturday Night" that "died" for lack of financial backers before it could be produced. Yet, he had a folio of songs from the show. The story is a long one, but the basics are these: He knew playwright and director Arthur Laurents, who told him he was about to start work on a musical version of "Romeo and Juliet" and Leonard Bernstein was going to do the music. After hearing him play some songs from "Saturday Night," Bernstein offered him the job. Hammerstein advised him to take it and he did. Sondheim's lyrics, combined with Bernstein's melodies, have become songs for the ages.

After later writing lyrics for "Gypsy," Sondheim said he and others of his generation wanted to experiment with musicals that went beyond what he called the "linear," where there is a song, some dialogue, another song, dancing and more dialogue and songs. Not that there was anything wrong with that, because Sondheim was making a good living writing "linear" and creating many memorable songs in addition to "West Side Story." In the '60s, as Bob Dylan sang, "the times they are a-changin," so Sondheim and his friends wanted to explore new musical forms. These included complex human emotions and non-traditional melodic patterns.

Sondheim's obituary contains many other details of his incredible life, so I won't repeat them here, but I have often wondered where such genius comes from. Clearly it is a gift not given to many. I once asked Steve Allen, the first host and creator of "The Tonight Show" about this. Allen wrote over 3,000 songs, played the piano, acted, was a comedian and wrote mysteries. "Did you go through the gift line more than once?" I asked him. He said he couldn't explain it. Practice helps, but I couldn't do what these creative geniuses did with any amount of practice.

People who create beauty stand out in an increasingly dark culture, even when their creations seem dark, as do some of Sondheim's lyrics. It's difficult to pick a favorite. Some songs are well known, like "Send in the Clowns" from "A Little Night Music." Others, not so much, like the ones from "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" (although "Comedy Tonight" is a rousing and fun song).

If I was forced to pick my favorite from his "non-linear" work, it would be one I used in a proposal letter to my wife. It's called "Being Alive" from "Company." The line that touches my heart and touched hers is "alone is alone, not alive."

It does come to an end;

Isaiah 3
King James Version

1 For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water.

2 The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,

3 The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.

4 And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

5 And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable.

6 When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand:

7 In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.

8 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

9 The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.

10 Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.

11 Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.

12 As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

13 The Lord standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people.

14 The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.

15 What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord God of hosts.

16 Moreover the Lord saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:

17 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts.

18 In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon,

19 The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,

20 The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,

21 The rings, and nose jewels,

22 The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins,

23 The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.

24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.

25 Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.

26 And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground.

Perhaps great sorrow produces genius.

His wiki profile says Sondheim detested his mother, who was psychologically abusive and projected her anger from her failed marriage onto her son:

“When my father left her for another woman, she substituted me for him. And she used me the way she used him, to come on to and to berate, beat up on, you see. What she did for five years was treat me like dirt, but come on to me at the same time.”

She once wrote him a letter saying that the only regret she ever had was giving birth to him.

When she died in the spring of 1992, Sondheim did not attend her funeral.

He had been estranged from her for nearly 20 years.

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