#1
Posted: 5/1/06 at 2:56pm
Hey, I thought this would be fun and inspire some good discussion. Tell everyone what your favorite ten Rodgers and Hammerstein songs are and why. They don't have to be in any order if you don't want them to be.
Later, we can have threads about top ten Sondheim, Lerner and Lowe, Kander and Ebb, etc. if this proves to be a good thread!
Here's mine (and this is HARD for me, i LOVE R&H):
10. "I Cain't Say No" - It's been over 50 years since this was written, and it's still funny and delightful today. The lyrics show how R&H were not afraid to push sexuality in their shows. ("Soon as I sit on their laps...something inside of me snaps!")
9. "Shall We Dance?" - A simple melody, a simple dance, simple everything - but it all comes together into one of the most sexually charged, epically romantic moments of the musical theatre.
8. "Honey Bun" - The most brassy, jazzy, fun, unapologetically "Broadway" song the duo ever wrote. Still today, it remains a showstopper and a great, catchy tune.
7. "What's the Use of Wondrin'?" - In my opinion, the most heartbreaking of all of the duo's songs. The melody is gorgeous, pining, and heart-aching. The lyrics are still disturbingly potent today. There will always be abuse and dysfunctional marraiges and this song shows R&H's uncanny ability to be ahead of their time.
6. "The Surrey With a Fringe On Top" - The very first musical scene. This song broke many a rule by using a song to competley move the action on stage forward. It didn't comment on the action in the book, in continued it, setting a standard for every musical theatre song afterwards to follow.
5. "Climb Every Mountain" - This forerunner to the power ballad says everything that R&H are about - hope, optimism, love, and gorgeously big, romantic melodies.
4. "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" - A song with a simple melody and a very short length that manages to speak volumes about racism - something we stil confront today. Arguably no other song in musical theatre has been more ahead of its time. Unafraid in its chiding of racism, ten years or more before the Civil Rights movement, in 1:13, R&H make a shocking social argument and reveal to the audience the central message and emotional core of an entire evening of theatre.
3. "Solilioquy" - This masterpiece of the musical scene is one of the greatest showcases for a leading man ever. Spanning over seven minutes and channeling at least three melodies, it uses music to completely delve into the psyche of a character, and document the most important moment of their life. We see Billy make several life-changing discoveries in this song, the melody changing each time. The song has been described as a one act opera - telling through music in seven minutes enough drama to fill an entire opera.
2. "Oklahoma!" - This song is the anthem of the Rodgers and Hammerstien catalogue, and with good reason. Arguably their most memorable song ever, it epitomizes hope, optimism, romanticism, and America - everything that the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical captures. This song is the core of Oklahoma!, which marks America's greatest contribution to drama, the musical theatre. therefore, it can be seen as the core of the musical theatre itself - a big, infectious melody, a message of hope and optimism, and a moment that brings the audience to its feet.
1. "If I Loved You" - This song, I feel, is the song that captures the musical theatre at its perfection. The perfect conditional ballad, This nine minute scene tells us everything we need to know about two characters afraid to express their love, and finally the power of that love that brings them together. Will we ever forget the beautiful melody of the song, or the cherry blossoms that just "come down by themselves" at the climax? I don't think so.
Honorable mentions:
"Lonely Room"
"Mister Snow"
"Wonderful Guy"
"Some Enchanted Evening"
"The Sound of Music"
"No Way to Stop It"
"Do Re Mi"
so, what are your favorites? lol...don't feel obligated to elaborate as much as I did.
Later, we can have threads about top ten Sondheim, Lerner and Lowe, Kander and Ebb, etc. if this proves to be a good thread!
Here's mine (and this is HARD for me, i LOVE R&H):
10. "I Cain't Say No" - It's been over 50 years since this was written, and it's still funny and delightful today. The lyrics show how R&H were not afraid to push sexuality in their shows. ("Soon as I sit on their laps...something inside of me snaps!")
9. "Shall We Dance?" - A simple melody, a simple dance, simple everything - but it all comes together into one of the most sexually charged, epically romantic moments of the musical theatre.
8. "Honey Bun" - The most brassy, jazzy, fun, unapologetically "Broadway" song the duo ever wrote. Still today, it remains a showstopper and a great, catchy tune.
7. "What's the Use of Wondrin'?" - In my opinion, the most heartbreaking of all of the duo's songs. The melody is gorgeous, pining, and heart-aching. The lyrics are still disturbingly potent today. There will always be abuse and dysfunctional marraiges and this song shows R&H's uncanny ability to be ahead of their time.
6. "The Surrey With a Fringe On Top" - The very first musical scene. This song broke many a rule by using a song to competley move the action on stage forward. It didn't comment on the action in the book, in continued it, setting a standard for every musical theatre song afterwards to follow.
5. "Climb Every Mountain" - This forerunner to the power ballad says everything that R&H are about - hope, optimism, love, and gorgeously big, romantic melodies.
4. "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" - A song with a simple melody and a very short length that manages to speak volumes about racism - something we stil confront today. Arguably no other song in musical theatre has been more ahead of its time. Unafraid in its chiding of racism, ten years or more before the Civil Rights movement, in 1:13, R&H make a shocking social argument and reveal to the audience the central message and emotional core of an entire evening of theatre.
3. "Solilioquy" - This masterpiece of the musical scene is one of the greatest showcases for a leading man ever. Spanning over seven minutes and channeling at least three melodies, it uses music to completely delve into the psyche of a character, and document the most important moment of their life. We see Billy make several life-changing discoveries in this song, the melody changing each time. The song has been described as a one act opera - telling through music in seven minutes enough drama to fill an entire opera.
2. "Oklahoma!" - This song is the anthem of the Rodgers and Hammerstien catalogue, and with good reason. Arguably their most memorable song ever, it epitomizes hope, optimism, romanticism, and America - everything that the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical captures. This song is the core of Oklahoma!, which marks America's greatest contribution to drama, the musical theatre. therefore, it can be seen as the core of the musical theatre itself - a big, infectious melody, a message of hope and optimism, and a moment that brings the audience to its feet.
1. "If I Loved You" - This song, I feel, is the song that captures the musical theatre at its perfection. The perfect conditional ballad, This nine minute scene tells us everything we need to know about two characters afraid to express their love, and finally the power of that love that brings them together. Will we ever forget the beautiful melody of the song, or the cherry blossoms that just "come down by themselves" at the climax? I don't think so.
Honorable mentions:
"Lonely Room"
"Mister Snow"
"Wonderful Guy"
"Some Enchanted Evening"
"The Sound of Music"
"No Way to Stop It"
"Do Re Mi"
so, what are your favorites? lol...don't feel obligated to elaborate as much as I did.
Soliloquy-Carousel 
