Green finch, and linnet bird, Nightingale, blackbird, How is it you sing? How can you jubilate sitting in cages never taking wing? Outside the sky waits beckoning! Beckoning! Just beyond the bars... How can you remain staring at the rain maddened by the stars?
Schwartz:
I hear she has an extra eye That always remains awake I hear that she can shed her skin As easily as a snake! I hear some rebel Animals Are giving her food and shelter! I hear her soul is so unclean Pure water can melt her!
"I love talking about nothing. It is the only thing I know anything about." - Oscar Wilde
I do have to say (despite my last post) too much of Schwartz's reputation lately has been based entirely on Wicked. Let's not forget that Schwartz also wrote Pippin, Godspell, The Baker's Wife, Children of Eden, and those Disney films -- all of which have some pretty great stuff in them. Comparable to Sondheim? No, but I don't think we need to bash Schwartz either to make the point that Sondheim is superior.
I think Sondheim puts more thought into his music. He tries to break traditions and makes it different, and does it sucessfully. Look at "Company"...."Another Hundred People" to be more exact, if you listen to those notes compared to something like Defying Gravity or...Popular....I mean there is just no comparison.
Besides the only song he has written that I liked is No Good Deed, and that is for one little part where she sings "One question haunts and hurts..too much too much to mention"
I mean what wicked is now is just a pipe dream for ****ty belters all over the world.
Compare the QUALITY of these shows...
Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, West Side Story
compared to shows like this.
Wicked, Captain Louie... Updated On: 4/18/06 at 09:17 PM
I think that Schwartz is fine musically, but the lyrics of his shows are downright painful a lot of times. Sondheim is for sure the far, far superior lyricist.
Well, Fabrizio...WICKED and CAPTAIN LOUIE are his least challenging as far as lyrics go. He is responsible for GODSPELL and PIPPIN which are two wonderful shows. Still, not Sondheim calibur.
"I love talking about nothing. It is the only thing I know anything about." - Oscar Wilde
See, since you are obviously biased towards Sondheim, it is easy for you to just take his good lyrics and compare them to some of Schwartz's worst.
Also, I think we have established that Sondheim's lyrics are good. I doubt his ability to write a melody, most of his music just seems bland and runs together.
Let me also point out that Schwartz is not just Wicked. You assume that because he wrote Wicked that it's the only show he can be associated with. Pippin is much better than West Side, and Children of Eden is a work of art. Updated On: 6/14/06 at 09:22 PM
Uh, Pippin is just a Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat-wannabe.
If you wanted to boast Schwartz's best show, I'd say Godspell or The Baker's Wife. But it's still not Sondheim-level (I'm not even a Sondheim-worshipper, btw.)
Jimmy, what are you doing here in the middle of the night? It's almost 9 PM!
And PIPPIN will NEVER be held on the same level as WEST SIDE. WEST SIDE is legendary and even the least theatre savvy people have heard of it. You can't say that for PIPPIN.
"I love talking about nothing. It is the only thing I know anything about." - Oscar Wilde
There is a reason why someone like Schwartz can coexist with someone like Sondheim. There's a reason why a show like WICKED can play successfully just a few blocks away from SWEENEY TODD.
Each composer has their fans, and that's all that matters.
Am I a teeny bopper? Sure, what the hell, lets call me a teeny bopper. If thats what I have to be branded to have my own opinion and to think outside of the mold, then sure. If I must be called a teeny bopper for liking Wicked, why not? So yes, I most certainly am.
Second, your point is made moot by the fact that Sondheim didn't write the music for West Side Story. Regardless of your opinion of the show, why don't you compare it to a show where Schwartz has the same credits as Sondheim - as both lyricist and composer?
Again, for the record, I love most of Schwartz's stuff, so I'm NOT looking to put him down - there's no reason to put down the works of one to appreciate the works of the other.
That said, and I think the majority of informed theater fans agree, no one can touch Sondheim when it comes to lyrics and music. To say he lacks melody in his writing is simply ignorant.