Oh my goodness, in reply to something lickthelightbulb said:
"I think the thing with ALW is he's so much more opera, so much less musical theatre, or atleast, what we call it. He doesn't have really very many upbeat songs, or atleast ones that are happy. Happy/upbeat... ah, w/e.
I think the problem with the songs everyone's mentioned is they're girl songs. ALW probably didn't know exactly how difficult it was for someone to sing because he couldn't do it himself."
- - - I'm not quite sure how to reply to most of this, if I did it would just sound kind of rude...But...Do you realize how many composers in previous centuries who have given us some of the most gorgeous and profound operas, oratorio's, etc., couldn't sing themselves? A lot of those who write music today, who you would say "can write for a singer," can't sing themselves. That's why they write! Now that being said, some composers can sing, but you don't have to be able to sing to understand how to write for a singer, you just need to understand music, the voice, and all of their technicalities.
It is true that a lot of Webber's male material tends to reach both for the lower and higher ends of the male register in one piece, but that doesn't make it bad or "not for the singer," it just makes it a bit difficult. I know basses in opera chorus' around the world that are able to seamlessly bridge through their lower, natural, register into a gorgeous countertenor, and you will never hear their break. It's just called training.
In reference to your thought that his shows are more like opera than other composers...What are ALL of Boublil & Schoenberg's shows? I call them more of an opera than a lot of Webber's pieces. Just because their shows sound more “pop” driven doesn’t mean they haven’t basically written an opera (p.s. ALW is largely pop driven). By the way, you should pick up Evita, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, and several others of his, and then come tell me if he doesn't write enough "upbeat" songs. It totally depends on what your definition of "upbeat" is, and believe me, it probably isn’t what you are thinking.
This is to bwaylvsong’s comment:
“I think he purposely writes challenging music that only trained professionals can sing, and therefore "wow" the average theatregoer with their amazing vocal ability, making up in yet another way for weak lyrics/book/etc.”
- - - SO WHAT if he does write music that a trained singer would fare better with! God forbid that singers in the opera world, the musical theatre world, or any musical field are properly trained enough to sing difficult music under a difficult schedule. What is the problem with writing a piece of music that is difficult to sing? He isn’t writing it “purposely” to be difficult, he’s probably just writing a melody that he hears at some random point in time and decides to score it. I don’t think Andrew Lloyd Webber is trying to make his music far better than the book and lyrics to hide the fact that they are sub-par, could it just be that the book and lyrics just aren’t as good or as intellectual as his music? I’m sure when he is working on a new show that he has every expectation that one piece of the overall puzzle with be just as good as the other; though it doesn’t always end up that way. What you’ve basically said is: He writes bad music and then realizes that the book and lyrics are weak, and then he beefs up the score hoping to hide that fact? I seriously doubt that! If you have such a problem with his music being too challenging then don’t sing it or coach some more and it’ll get easier!
- - - This whole post doesn't apply to just Webber, it applies to others that these same people comment on, with the same comments each time. So much of this is relative, and I hear the same argument for almost every composer that is discussed on this board.
TOOTLES!
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