New "Standards" for Singers: The Next Generation of Great American Songbook Writers
2007; Routledge; Volume: 63; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2769-4046
Autores Tópico(s)Musicology and Musical Analysis
ResumoWHAT MAKES A STANDARD? BEAUTIFUL MELODIES, CATCHY LYRICS, TIMELESS SENTIMENTS: these are the common elements of the works in the Great American Songbook. Popular, jazz, and even classical singers have made these songs their own since the turn of the twentieth century. No one would argue the universal appeal of songwriters such as Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Rodgers and Hart. In the first half of the twentieth century, the main sources of popular music were the stage, the screen, big bands, and radio. Performers would broadcast their own arrangements of Broadway and Tin Pan Alley songs across America's radio airwaves. Artists popular at this time included band leaders Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, and Duke Ellington, and singers Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Ethel Merman, and Frank Sinatra. Hollywood musicals made stars out of Al Jolson, Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Doris Day, and countless others. Broadway, through its Golden Age into the contemporary era, has continued to add to the legacy of the Great American Songbook. Jazz, club, and classical singers were quick to embrace the beautiful ballads and powerful songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe, Leonard Bernstein, Kander and Ebb, Marvin Hamlisch, and Stephen Sondheim. Recently added to the compendium are the British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, the French team Schonberg and Boublil (Les Miserables, Miss Saigon), and current American Broadway composers, Stephen Schwartz, Stephen Flaherty, Frank Wildhorn, Maury Yeston, Jason Robert Brown, Andrew Lippa, and Adam Guettel. term standard conjures up a wide array of nostalgic images of popular music. Through the decades, many of these great songs have retained their timeless charm and appeal for performers and audiences alike. Opera stars including Richard Tucker, Marilyn Horne, Thomas Hampson, Dawn Upshaw, Bryn Terfel, and Renee Fleming have included in their repertoire. Seventies rocker Rod Stewart recently recorded several compact disks of standards, as did Linda Ronstadt over a decade ago. From the current music scene, even Alanis Morissette, Sheryl Crow, and Robbie Williams can be heard singing Cole Porter tunes on the soundtrack to the recent film, De-Lovely. EXPANDING THE TERM In addition to this historic legacy from Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, and Hollywood, some pop-rock material is making its way into the standard literature. This is not surprising considering that the original were the pop music of their day. Likewise, the pop music influence on music theater can be seen in the development of recent Broadway shows using the music of Billy Joel, ABBA, John Lennon, and Elton John. Current chart singer Michael Buble combines on his recordings traditional with swing and jazz arrangements of pop-rock hits by the Bee Gees, Van Morrison, and Paul Anka. Queen Latifah's recent recording of includes vintage blues and jazz numbers as well as the Mamas and Papas' California Dreamin' Patti LuPone included the ballad, The Air that I Breathe by 70s band Hollies, in her New York cabaret act. Many other cabaret and club singers have added to their acts songs by Joni Mitchell, Kansas, Queen, and Bruce Springsteen. Even British soprano Lesley Garrett has included songs made popular by the Beatles and Elvis Presley among the classical and selections on her recordings. Following suit, the Hal Leonard music company has published a four-volume set of that includes traditional Golden Age songs, along with pop hits by the Carpenters, Barry Manilow, Helen Reddy, Buffy Sainte-Marie, and Stevie Wonder. THE NEXT GENERATION While performers are widening the definition of standards to include more recent and current pop material, there is also a group of songwriters producing fresh, new songs with beautiful melodies, catchy lyrics, and timeless sentiments that can stand with the traditional tried and trues. …
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