Songs from Musicals Flashcards
Where did musicals come from?
They come from lighter versions of opera, such as opéra comique and operetta. Towards the end of the 1800s, Gilbert and Sullivan wrote a lot of comic operas which became very popular.
How did the type of musicals that are around today start and develop?
They started in the 1920s, and developed throughout the rest of the 20th and into the 21st century, starting out on Broadway, a famous theatre street in New York. Some started in London’s West End.
How do musicals tell stories?
Through singing, dancing and talking.
What normally accompanies the singers in musicals (and plays incidental music)?
An orchestra.
What is incidental music?
Background music
Why do musicals from different times sound very different to one another?
Musicals are generally written in the style of popular music that’s around at the time, so musicals from different times sound very different. Earlier musicals were influenced by jazz and swing music, whereas many from the 1970s onwards used rock music.
Why are most musical songs ‘easy on the ears’?
The tunes are easy to sing, as audiences tend to prefer songs that they can sing along to. The harmony is diatonic; all the notes are generally from a major or minor scales.
Describe the chorus structure often used in musicals.
The chorus is often in 32-bar song form. The 32 bars break down into 4 sections, each consisting of 8 bars. Sections 1,2 and 4 use the main theme (sometimes with slight variations), and Section 3 has a contrasting theme (middle 8). The structure’s very similar to that of a pop song.
The chorus of a song in a musical has a hook. What is this?
A catchy snippet of lyrics and tune that makes the tune memorable; it’s the bit which gets stuck in the audience’s head, making them want to order a CD. The hook is often the title of the song.
Which is often written first for a musical, the tune or the lyrics, and why?
The lyrics, as these tell a part of the story and the composer often has to fit the music around them.
