Stephen Sondheim

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DougHulme
Posts: 558
Joined: Apr 27, 2018

by DougHulme »

Just noticed Stephen Sondheim died a few hours ago aged 91. A legend in his own time is really true in his case surely?... I wonder how many trombonists have played in the orcehstra of one of his musicals over the years?
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Vegasbound
Posts: 1328
Joined: Jul 06, 2019

by Vegasbound »

First time I played Sweeney Todd, was as a last minute dep for a Saturday matinee got to the theatre with 5 mins to spare, nothing like sight reading Sondheim
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JoeStanko
Posts: 135
Joined: Apr 11, 2018

by JoeStanko »

[quote="DougHulme"]Just noticed Stephen Sondheim died a few hours ago aged 91. A legend in his own time is really true in his case surely?... I wonder how many trombonists have played in the orcehstra of one of his musicals over the years?[/quote]

Hi Doug, Jay Shanman, who lives in New Jersey, was in the original orchestra of Company. The cast recording was the subject of a documentary which is on YouTube and in the first segment there's a shot of Jay at @1:25 -

<YOUTUBE id="8IU80Ium0dM">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IU80Ium0dM</YOUTUBE>

I don't know who the bass trombonist is - Jay didn't recall his name but thought he moved to play in the Honolulu Symphony.

This documentary is a great way to see how recordings were done back then.

Joe
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ithinknot
Posts: 1339
Joined: Jul 24, 2020

by ithinknot »

[quote="JoeStanko"]<YOUTUBE id="8IU80Ium0dM">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IU80Ium0dM</YOUTUBE>

...

This documentary is a great way to see how recordings were done back then.[/quote]

It's a wonderful film, and if you enjoy this sort of thing I'd also recommend the Documentary Now! parody [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUjg7xFsxJk]"Original Cast Album: Co-Op".
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DougHulme
Posts: 558
Joined: Apr 27, 2018

by DougHulme »

Joe - I shall watch with interest, thanks for that... Doug

ithinknot... intriguing I shall investigate!
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DougHulme
Posts: 558
Joined: Apr 27, 2018

by DougHulme »

So I watched both the films. What an insight, full of admiration for the musicians and still going at 4am+ so versatile and so quick on the uptake. The same could be said for the spoof too - I wonder if they rehearsed for the rehearsal? Helen Mirren just set it off a treat.

To other matters a British Trombonist Jane Salmon just spotted this picture in a tribute to Sondheim. She posted it on her Twitter account with the catchline - "What on earth is the trombonist doing?" or something like that anyway.

<IMG src="">[img]</IMG>