What style of music is used in Sweeney Todd?
“Sweeney Todd” makes use of several theatrical traditions and styles, including melodrama, Grand Guignol, Brechtian epic theater, ballad opera, and British music hall. Sondheim has described his score as being like the soundtrack to a classic horror film.
What are the 2 main themes in Sweeney Todd?
Characters. The main themes in this film are revenge and love. The theme of revenge is very obvious in this film. Sweeney himself mentions that all he wants is revenge and for people to suffer the way he has suffered.
Who wrote the music for Sweeney Todd?
Stephen Sondheim
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street/Composers
What is the plot of Sweeney Todd?
Evil Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) lusts for the beautiful wife of a London barber (Johnny Depp) and transports him to Australia for a crime he did not commit. Returning after 15 years and calling himself Sweeney Todd, the now-mad man vows revenge, applying his razor to unlucky customers and shuttling the bodies down to Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), who uses them in her meat-pie shop. Though many fall to his blade, he will not be satisfied until he slits Turpin’s throat.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street/Film synopsis
Why is Sweeney Todd a musical?
The musical was, in fact, based on Christopher Bond’s 1973 play Sweeney Todd, which introduced a psychological backstory and motivation to Todd’s crimes. In Bond’s reincarnation of the character, Todd was the victim of a ruthless judge, who exiled him to Australia and raped his young wife, driving her mad.
Is Sweeney Todd a Broadway musical?
The original production of Sweeney Todd opened on Broadway March 1, 1979, at the Uris Theatre (now the Gershwin). It went on to be revived twice on Broadway and adapted into a 2007 film, in addition to the recent Off-Broadway production.
What kind of character is Sweeney Todd?
barber
Formerly a proud barber, a loving husband and a happy father, Sweeney is now consumed by loss and revenge. He has returned to London to right the wrongs committed against him, his wife, and his daughter. Sweeney is charming but hot-tempered, ferocious yet vulnerable. Strong baritone/bass who can whistle.
What is the mood of Sweeney Todd?
The mood of the show is clearly macabre and very dark. “Ephiphany” (end of Act I) — a strong emotional number sung by Sweeney Todd.
Was Sweeney Todd based on a true story?
Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the Victorian penny dreadful serial The String of Pearls (1846–47). Claims that Sweeney Todd was a historical person are strongly disputed by scholars, although possible legendary prototypes exist.
What was Sweeney Todd’s crime?
The original tale became a staple of Victorian melodrama and London urban legend. A barber from Fleet Street, Todd murders his customers with a straight razor and turns their bodies over to Mrs. Lovett, his partner in crime, who bakes their flesh into meat pies.
When did Sweeney Todd leave Broadway?
After 557 regular performances, the original Broadway production of Sweeney Todd closed on June 29, 1980. Sweeney Todd embarked on national tour, with George Hearn and Angela Lansbury at the helm. The tour played its final stop at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles.
What is a set in music theory?
Set and set types. The fundamental concept of musical set theory is the (musical) set, which is an unordered collection of pitch classes (Rahn 1980, 27). More exactly, a pitch-class set is a numerical representation consisting of distinct integers (i.e., without duplicates) (Forte 1973, 3).
What is the central postulate of musical set theory?
This can be considered the central postulate of musical set theory. In practice, set-theoretic musical analysis often consists in the identification of non-obvious transpositional or inversional relationships between sets found in a piece. Some authors consider the operations of complementation and multiplication as well.
Can musical set theory be applied to rhythm analysis?
Some theorists apply the methods of musical set theory to the analysis of rhythm as well. Although musical set theory is often thought to involve the application of mathematical set theory to music, there are numerous differences between the methods and terminology of the two.
Who developed the theory for analyzing atonal music?
Other theorists, such as Allen Forte, further developed the theory for analyzing atonal music, drawing on the twelve-tone theory of Milton Babbitt. The concepts of musical set theory are very general and can be applied to tonal and atonal styles in any equal temperament tuning system, and to some extent more generally than that.