Sunday, June 28, 2020

Rodgers and Hammerstein - Oklahoma!

Richard Rogers was born on this day in 1902.  He went on to write an amazing body of work (with Lorenz Hart and then Oscar Hammerstein): Carousel, South Pacific, The King And I, The Sound Of Music, and (of course) his first collaboration with Hammerstein, Oklahoma!  Here is an abbreviated list of his songs:

With Hart:
Blue Moon
Isn't It Romantic?
My Funny Valentine
The Lady Is A Tramp 

With Hammerstein:
Oh What A Beautiful Morning
You'll Never Walk Alone
Some Enchanted Evening
Bali Hai
My Favorite Things
Getting To Know You

He also wrote twelve themes that Robert Russell Bennet used for the score to Victory At Sea.  Astonishingly, he only won one Oscar and two Grammy, although he regularly cleaned up at the Tonys.

Looking at this musical legacy it's plausible to call him the greatest American composer of all time.


The Queen Of The World is a Kentucky Girl but lived for years in Oklahoma.  Since Rodgers never wrote a song called Kentucky! today's song choice was easy.

4 comments:

  1. libertymanJune 28, 2020 at 11:29 AM

    Musicals - I think they are mostly an American phenomenon - are wonderful. I have not seen too many in person with the big time Broadway cast, but certainly they are wonderful to see live.

    Do other countries do this , I wonder, or is it mostly in the good old USA?

    Great music, fun lyrics and usually some great dancing performances are all part of the package.

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  2. Old NFOJune 28, 2020 at 12:53 PM

    Musicals beat the hell out of Opera! At least we can understand the words... LOL

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  3. DifferJune 28, 2020 at 1:51 PM

    Watched Oklahoma! with the family in April, for want of something better to do... it was awful; even my wife, who loves musicals thought so.

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  4. STxARJune 29, 2020 at 7:41 AM

    My folks were from Oklahoma. My mom used to get teary eyed at the theme song. I thought all musicals were hokey. But they are growing on me.

    ReplyDelete

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