This One's Especially Lush
James Troutman
Date: 2000/06/17
Last revised: 2003/07/12
This essay was originally sent to the Sondheim list on 2000/06/17.
I've been listening to the recordings of Into the Woods almost daily for the past few weeks and I know things now that I hadn't known before. So I thought I'd share a couple of them (one musical, one lyrical) with the list.
In Act I Cinderella's Prince introduces the melody of the song Agony as he sings of his
desire for the earthbound maiden who keeps running from him. His musical
phrases trace a descending line on the words "run from me" and "won from me". A
varied version of the tune is immediately taken up by Rapunzel's Prince as he
sings of his maiden, who resides high in a tower, but his phrases travel in the opposite
direction (ascending) on his words "Maintaining her hair" and "lighthearted air".
The situation is reversed in Act II as Cinderella's Prince now pines for a
(Sleeping) Beauty in a tower and Rapunzel's Prince yearns for a (nearly literally earthbound)
maiden in a casket. Just as the objects of their desires have changed,
they now sing each other's version of the melody, with Cinderella's Prince singing
ascending phrases ("A beauty asleep" / "A hundred feet deep") and Rapunzel's
Prince singing descending phrases ("unbreakable" / "unwakeable").
It's also amusing that Agony is set to the gently undulating strains of a Barcarole*; there are several famous ones, most notably the Barcarole from Offenbach's Tales of Hoffman.
Meanwhile, in the Act I seduction scene, the Wolf observes to himself (referring to the little girl) that "This one's especially lush", then immediately utters a variation on the "ush" sound as he draws out each syllable of "Delicious". Apparently that sound remains in his mind, as he uses it a couple times when he addresses Little Red directly: "What's your rush?" / "Hark! And hush."
Then in the Act II seduction scene, Cinderella's Prince (portrayed by the same actor who played the Wolf, to emphasize their similarity) uses some similar sounds as he successfully seduces the Baker's Wife: "Any moment we could be crushed." / "Don't feel rushed." / "Let your hesitations be hushed." / "Let us meet the moment unblushed."
It's also worth noting that contrasting observations on beauty and power are made in Into the Woods and Passion. At the end of Act I the Witch sings: "I was perfect. I had everything but beauty. I had power, and a daughter like a flower, In a tower."
But in Passion, at the end of the Flashback the ensemble sings: "A woman is a flower Whose purpose is to please. Beauty is power, Longing a disease."
Are there any other instances of Sondheim's using similar words to express very different meanings?
----
* Also known as a boat song of a Venetian gondolier [It. barca, boat]. "Barcaroles are always in moderate 6/8 or 12/8 time and use a monotonous accompaniment suggestive of the movement of the waves and the boat." -- Harvard Dictionary of Music, Second Edition, p.79
Related Products
Into the Woods (Original Broadway Cast CD)
or
CA
Into the Woods (Original Broadway Cast DVD)
or
CA
Into the Woods (2002 Revival Broadway Cast CD)
Beliefs