大象传媒

Stephen Schwartz is a master of musicals. He wrote Godspell, Pippin, and The Baker鈥檚 Wife; he鈥檚 written the lyrics for films such as Pocohontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Enchanted - and many others. His musical Wicked, for which he wrote the words and music, has become something of a cult; it opened on Broadway in 2003 and in the West End in 2006, and it鈥檚 been running both in New York and in London ever since. He鈥檚 received numerous awards 鈥� three Oscars, four Grammys 鈥� and he鈥檚 over from New York for the opening of his new musical, The Prince of Egypt, a stage version of the popular film.

In conversation with Michael Berkeley, Stephen Schwartz reveals how classical music gives him ideas for his most successful musical numbers. In fact, he admits, he steals ideas from the great composers 鈥渇lagrantly鈥�. The opening of Wicked, for instance, comes from Rachmaninov鈥檚 Prelude in C-sharp minor 鈥� listeners to this episode can hear both, and compare them. He has been influenced too by Carl Orff and the exuberant orchestration of Carmina Burana. He also talks us through the bass chords he has borrowed from Beethoven鈥檚 Moonlight Sonata, and the two bars of Beethoven that he believes are the most moving music ever written. He reflects about the success of Wicked 鈥� and the 鈥済reen girl inside us all鈥�. Other musical choices include Bernstein鈥檚 Mass, Bach鈥檚 sixth Brandenburg Concerto, Copland鈥檚 Appalachian Spring, and Puccini鈥檚 opera La Rondine.

Produced by Elizabeth Burke
A Loftus production for 大象传媒 Radio 3