Mary Poppins - Sondheim

#1

Mary Poppins - Sondheim

Posted: 7/18/06 at 2:19pm

Have any of the songs that Sondheim wrote in his failed attempt to set Mary Poppins to music (1950) every been recorded?

Updated On: 7/18/06 at 02:19 PM

#2

re: Mary Poppins - Sondheim

Posted: 7/18/06 at 2:23pm

The songs were:
Tea
Ad
Miss Andrew
The Sun is Blue

However, there are no known recordings.

#3

re: Mary Poppins - Sondheim

Posted: 7/18/06 at 2:57pm

Not even on all those compilations? Like Sondheim Sings, etc.? Maybe Disney wouldn't allow it?

#4

re: Mary Poppins - Sondheim

Posted: 7/18/06 at 3:02pm

Sondheim makes his own private recordings - so they may appear on a Sondheim Sings yet, but not so far....

#5

re: Mary Poppins - Sondheim

Posted: 7/18/06 at 5:14pm

I wonder what he thought of the Disney movie compared to his work.

#6

re: Mary Poppins - Sondheim

Posted: 7/18/06 at 5:45pm

At this point, the songs would have no relationship to the Disney movie. He could have them done as part of his revue shows or certainly there are many fans that would love to put them on their own albums, like, Barbra Streisand.

It just seems strange that as much as Sondheim repackages his material that some of these songs haven't leaked out somewhere.
Especially, his own demo recordings finding there way on to the end of cast albums.

Updated On: 7/18/06 at 05:45 PM

#7

re: Mary Poppins - Sondheim

Posted: 7/18/06 at 5:50pm

True, yet there is no cast recording of that. There aren't any of his college shows either. So someone's gotta do a studio recording

#8

re: Mary Poppins - Sondheim

Posted: 7/18/06 at 5:52pm

Sondheim is hyper-critical of his own work; if he feels like these, even as the exercise of a very young composer, just aren't good, he probably wouldn't be very encouraging of their being recorded. Who knows if he still even has them; I'm constantly amazed by stories of composers who don't keep drafts of their songs.

#9

re: Mary Poppins - Sondheim

Posted: 7/18/06 at 6:02pm

Seems a little strange that he wouldn't have at least one song that he would deem worthy. He certainly isn't hyper-critical of his own performing, the demos he puts out are worse than bacharach.

My best friend is a composer and am amazed at his lack of sentimentality. He has thrown out dozens of pieces including orchestral scores that took him hundreds of hours to complete. His response is: I can hear them in my head anytime I want, they are just gather dust.

#10

re: Mary Poppins - Sondheim

Posted: 7/18/06 at 6:02pm

Hi MB! SS actually keeps everything! Luckily, none of his originals were destroyed in the fire in his Manhattan place years ago.

Even though he's very critical of his own work, he sees value in anything himself or a young composer will write. Doesn't mean he'll like it...

He really does encourage recording stuff, because than you can sit back at another time and listen to it with somewhat more objectivity. And sometimes even steal from yourself.

---

"It's not so much do what you like, as it is that you like what you do." SS

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana." GMarx

#11

re: Mary Poppins - Sondheim

Posted: 7/18/06 at 8:10pm

I can tell you that there is a Sondheim recording of at least one song from Mary Poppins: "The Sun Is Blue."

There were also demos of songs from All That Glitters and Phinney's Rainbow sung by professional singers. And a sort of cast recording of Phinney's was made, but the sound is extremely bad.

#12

re: Mary Poppins - Sondheim

Posted: 7/18/06 at 8:25pm

Wall To Wall Sondheim featured a song from both Phinney's Rainbow and All That Glitters.

---

BSoBW2: I punched Sondheim in the face after I saw Wicked and said, "Why couldn't you write like that!?"

#13

re: Mary Poppins - Sondheim

Posted: 7/18/06 at 8:50pm

The All That Glitters song that was done at Wall to Wall, "I Must Be Dreaming," was recorded on the Fynsworth Alley The Sondheim Album, sung by Emily Skinner. It was a bonus track that was only available if you bought the CD onliine. At Wall to Wall it was sung by Telly Leung and Debra Joyal.

Wall to Wall also included "I'm in Love With a Boy" (sung by Skinner) from Climb Hight, the last of the four musicals he wrote for Hammerstein.

In addition, Wall to Wall had 1951's A Very Short Violin Sonata, played by Christina Sunnerstam (who also played it on the only commercially available recording on JAY's Sondheim Tonight) and the 1952 Concertino for Two Pianos.

#14

re: Mary Poppins - Sondheim

Posted: 7/19/06 at 9:04am

****
nobodyhome:
I can tell you that there is a Sondheim recording of at least one song from Mary Poppins: "The Sun Is Blue."
****


Can you give more info on the album that has "The sun is blue"?

I have searched for it on amazon and others before I started this thread.

Updated On: 7/19/06 at 09:04 AM

#15

re: Mary Poppins - Sondheim

Posted: 7/19/06 at 5:31pm

"The Sun Is Blue" is one of the Sondheim recordings that haven't yet been commercially issued.

#16

re: Mary Poppins - Sondheim

Posted: 7/19/06 at 5:39pm

So... You're a sound engineer or you stole them from his home?

There's a story there. Did you see a performance that you know was recorded? Did he mention it in an interview?

Updated On: 7/19/06 at 05:39 PM

#17

re: Mary Poppins - Sondheim

Posted: 7/20/06 at 2:57am

Sorry to be mysterious. No great story. A friend has it and I've heard it. Sondheim has given out a lot of the stuff he has recorded of himself singing.

#18

re: Mary Poppins - Sondheim

Posted: 7/20/06 at 9:04am

Thanks.

#19

re: Mary Poppins - Sondheim

Posted: 7/20/06 at 9:23am

If it's recorded, it'll leak, whether that's fortunate or unfortunate. The Sondheim Sings album was leaked years before it was finally released. I have a burned copy of that that was literally dropped anonymously in the mail to me.
My guess is, if none of the Mary stuff has leaked out, it must be a kind of "blockage" somewhere, perhaps because two separate entities (Mackintosh and Disney) own the rights to Poppins.

#20

re: Mary Poppins - Sondheim

Posted: 7/20/06 at 10:09am

That reasoning doesn't make sense to me. I don't think America had to pay royalities for mentioning the "Tin man" and "OZ" in "Tin Man." It could be that he was commisioned to write those songs and someone else owns the rights. It just seems strange that with all the other demos he has released that at least one song from this show has not come out.

EDIT: It should be obvious I don't know the intricacies of copyrights and song ownership.

Updated On: 7/20/06 at 10:09 AM

#21

re: Mary Poppins - Sondheim

Posted: 3/8/15 at 12:49am

Has any of this stuff leaked in the past 9 years since this post, I'd love to hear it!

#22

re: Mary Poppins - Sondheim

Posted: 3/8/15 at 5:43pm

"The Sun is Blue" can be heard:









Here

Updated On: 3/8/15 at 05:43 PM

#23

re: Mary Poppins - Sondheim

Posted: 9/16/21 at 7:16pm

That link has unfortunately gone dead in the intervening years - anyone know if it was hosted anywhere else?

---

"Life is already so dark. If you have got the talent to make it brighter and bring people hope & joy, why would you withhold that?"

#24

re: Mary Poppins - Sondheim

Posted: 9/16/21 at 10:07pm

It worked for me. You just have to find the "sweet spot" under the PLAY arrow and click when your arrow turns into a clickable (hand) link. I was able to hear the whole song just now.