Greatest Broadway Lyricist?

#1

Greatest Broadway Lyricist?

Posted: 10/9/08 at 1:03am

Who do you consider the greatest Broadway lyricist? Sondehim, whatever oddities his musical composition may take, writes excellent lyrics. Cole Poter was brilliant, and "Anything Goes" could well describe the current times. But to me, there was no one who could match the cleverness, internal rhyme, and brilliance of Lorenz Hart.

#2

re: Greatest Broadway Lyricist?

Posted: 10/9/08 at 1:56am

Porter and Hart.
The gays write the best.

#3

re: Greatest Broadway Lyricist?

Posted: 10/9/08 at 1:59am

I too was going to say Cole Porter and Lorenz Hart.

#4

re: Greatest Broadway Lyricist?

Posted: 10/9/08 at 2:12am

Mr. Sondheim. And Lerner, when he was at his peak.

#5

re: Greatest Broadway Lyricist?

Posted: 10/9/08 at 4:06am

Rodgers and Hammerstein, and Sondheim.

#6

re: Greatest Broadway Lyricist?

Posted: 10/9/08 at 8:22am

Sondheim, Hammerstein and Yip Harburg. On Yom Kippur, let's hear it for the Jewish lyricists!

Updated On: 10/9/08 at 08:22 AM

#7

re: Greatest Broadway Lyricist?

Posted: 10/9/08 at 8:37am

I second Hammerstein.

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#8

re: Greatest Broadway Lyricist?

Posted: 10/9/08 at 8:43am

Hammerstein. I'd also like to throw Betty Comden's name into the mix.

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#9

re: Greatest Broadway Lyricist?

Posted: 10/9/08 at 8:48am

Loesser, and props to Paul for including the Yipper.

But like Timmer, my heart is with Larry.

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Updated On: 10/9/08 at 08:48 AM

#10

re: Greatest Broadway Lyricist?

Posted: 10/9/08 at 8:54am

Sondheim

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#11

re: Greatest Broadway Lyricist?

Posted: 10/9/08 at 9:26am

Cole Porter, Stephen Sondheim and Larry Hart would get my votes, with a nod to Ira Gershwin.

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BroadwayEd

#12

re: Greatest Broadway Lyricist?

Posted: 10/9/08 at 9:49am

All of the lyricists mentioned so far are splendid. I don't think there is one "greatest" lyricist. It is really a list.

(If you mention Betty Comden, you have to mention Adolph Green in the same breath.)

There is another. The woman who was one of the boys, Dorothy Fields.

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#13

re: Greatest Broadway Lyricist?

Posted: 10/9/08 at 9:53am

Sondheim most definitely.

Updated On: 10/9/08 at 09:53 AM

#14

re: Greatest Broadway Lyricist?

Posted: 10/9/08 at 10:14am

For flair, wit and craft as a lyricist, there are few who equal Larry Hart. But he was not one of the all time great pure musical theatre lyricists - for example, Hammerstein was the great pioneer of lyricists who instinctively knew how to write for character and write lyrics that advanced the plot, etc.

But there are so many great lyricists - Alan Jay Lerner, Cole Porter, Ira Gershwin, Johnny Mercer, Sammy Cahn, Fred Ebb, Lynn Ahrens, etc.

But for me there are two who reign supreme as quintessential musical theatre lyricists - Stephen Sondheim and William Finn.

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Updated On: 10/9/08 at 10:14 AM

#15

re: Greatest Broadway Lyricist?

Posted: 10/9/08 at 10:42am

Sondheim

#16

re: Greatest Broadway Lyricist?

Posted: 10/9/08 at 11:35am

Sondheim
Porter
Hammerstein
Lerner
Hart

#17

re: Greatest Broadway Lyricist?

Posted: 10/9/08 at 11:47am

Sondheim and Porter for me, with Sondheim taking the cut. His lyrics never fail to surprise me no matter how many times I listen to them. There will always be some hidden treasure of internal rhyme or other meaning just waiting to be uncovered with his work.

#18

re: Greatest Broadway Lyricist?

Posted: 10/9/08 at 2:07pm

Stephen Sondheim, hands down.

#19

re: Greatest Broadway Lyricist?

Posted: 10/9/08 at 2:58pm

Rupert Holmes and Howard Ashman are pretty damn clever.

#20

re: Greatest Broadway Lyricist?

Posted: 10/9/08 at 3:08pm

Sondheim. Duh.
Sheldon Harnick and Fred Ebb also must be mentioned.

#21

re: Greatest Broadway Lyricist?

Posted: 10/9/08 at 3:21pm

Sondheim wins. But Hart definitely comes to mind, and now that you mention it, Ashman and Lerner are quite brilliant.

#22

re: Greatest Broadway Lyricist?

Posted: 10/9/08 at 3:29pm

Jerry Herman, R&H, and Sondheim.

#23

re: Greatest Broadway Lyricist?

Posted: 10/9/08 at 3:47pm

I think Larry Hart's lyrics stand on their own the best when taken out of the context of the shows in which they originally appeared. They're clever without usually falling into the too, too clever trap that sometimes Porter's songs do.

But within the context of a show and character, I have to go with Sondheim. He learned from Oscar Hammerstein about the importance of having the songs fit the characters and the characters fit the songs and he took it all to a whole different level.

#24

re: Greatest Broadway Lyricist?

Posted: 10/9/08 at 7:43pm

Sondheim, with Ebb and Herman in a tie for second.

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#25

re: Greatest Broadway Lyricist?

Posted: 10/9/08 at 10:06pm

Sondheim
Hammerstein
Porter