The musical is based on a novella written in 1955 by David Garnett ( who was part of the Bloomsbury Group in London, which included Virginia Woolf). The book and the lyrics of the musical score were faithfully derived from the book itself and in some cases are lifted verbatim.
If you find a copy of the book by Kurt Ganzl on The Complete Aspects of Love, there is a rich source of how the musical finally came about. It mentions that the Garnett book was first brought to the attention of ALWebber and Tim Rice as early as 1979 and that the then-composing team had explored the possibility of transforming it into a stage musical, even basing themselves in the South of France for inspiration. But it took a series of potential writing partners and different episodes in ALW's musical writing career ( Tell Me on a Sunday, Starlight Express, and Phantom of the Opera) before the final version of the musical score became ready for the stage. It is interesting to note that some songs originally intended for other productions became part of ASPECTS OF LOVE and vice-versa. One melody written for STARLIGHT EXPRESS became the signature song of ASPECTS called LOVE CHANGES EVERYTHING. A song originally intended for ASPECTS was rewritten and became a signature song for PHANTOM called MUSIC OF THE NIGHT! It is amusing to note that one song, a very poignant one from the score, was based on the very first melody that Webber himself composed when he was only 9 nine years old. It was appropriately called CHANSON D'ENFANCE! But as it turned out, it was a song of romantic yearning and worked well as one of the signature themes of the musical.
It seems that ASPECTS OF LOVE was much more a product that was inspired by David Garnett's account of bohemian life in the mid-20th century than from anything else. Again, going back to the Ganzl book, he also provides the background of the literary group in which Garnett was a part of, as well as that part of the countryside ( Pau et al) in southern France which became a defacto British holiday colony. It is interesting to note from his biography that Garnett himself married the young daughter of his best friends - so was the romantic link between Alex and the young Jenny derived from some personal experiences? The book also explores that possibility but Ganzl discounts that.
ASPECTS OF LOVE is a very fascinating subject, as to its inspiration and how the musical score, arguably ALWebber's best, came into being.
Updated On: 2/21/10 at 09:07 PM
