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Sweeney Todd Musical Analysis-2

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31 views4 pages

Sweeney Todd Musical Analysis-2

Uploaded by

Rose Freak
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Cassandra Nieves

Prof. Lauri Young

TH235

November 5, 2024

A Musical Analysis of Sweeney Todd

Steven Sondheim and Sweeney Todd

- The story of Sweeney Todd originated from a story published in the story “The String of

Pearls”, published within a magazine in the winter of 1846-47.

- It first appeared as a stage play in 1973, directed by Christopher Bond

- After seeing this production, Stephen Sondheim began to pen his version of Sweeney

Todd as a musical the same year, which opened in Broadway in 1979 (Armstrong)

The Music

- Sondheim’s musicals are filled with many motifs, word painted phrases, and hidden

meanings within melodic phrases.

The “Dies Irae” or the “Death Song”

- The Dies Irae is a Gregorian Chant that has been continuously sung and reorchestrated by

hundreds of composers. It was originally composed in the 1200s by the Franciscan monk

Thomas of Celano.

- “Dies Irae” literally translates to “The Day of Wrath”, and this chant depicts the events

told in the Biblical book of Revelations, the end of the world. This piece and melody has
become synonymous with death both due to its imagery in its lyrics and due to its use in

requiem masses, or funeral masses. In its original composition, the piece contains the

following melody (Encyclopedia Britannica):

- Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd tells the story of a barber who was exiled from London due to

a jealous judge incarcerating him of a crime and stealing his wife and daughter. He

returns only to find out his wife is presumed dead and his daughter is still being held by

the corrupt judge, leading Sweeney to form a plan of vengeance. In a tale littered with

death, wrath, and vengeance, the Dies Irae fits perfectly within the text and setting of the

show, and both acts as motifs and leitmotifs and function through word painting to both

foreshadow and announce death.

Ballad of Sweeney Todd

- The first time the Dies Irae make an appearance in Sweeney Todd is in the opening

number “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd”.

- On the phrase “Swing your razor” (measure 59), the altos and sopranos sing the notes to

the Dies Irae.

- The notes act as both a metaphor for the razor as it is Todd’s murder weapon of choice

but also represent his wrath and vengeance as he kills his victims.
My Friends

- After Ms. Lovett gives Todd back his razors, he begins to sing the song “My Friends.”

- On his opening words, “These are my friends,” Sondheim hides our familiar motif of the

Dies Irae by inverting the melody.

Kiss Me

- Another example of the the Dies Irae death motif is in the song “Kiss Me.” Though it

passes quickly and is often missed, as Johanna sings the phrase, “What shall I do? I rather

die,” she quickly sings the melody to the Dies Irae on, “I’d rather die.”

- Here the Dies Irae is used as word painting, emphasizing the topic of death in the phrase

“I’d rather die.”

- The Dies Irae acts as a motif for death and, in a sense, forshadows Johanna’s near run-in

with Todd at the end of the show where, for a moment, confusing her as a stranger,

almost attempts to kill her.


Citations

Armstrong, L. (n.d.). Ten things you may not know about Sweeney Todd. Utah Shakespeare

Festival. https://www.bard.org/news/ten-things-sweeney-todd/

Encyclopedia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Dies irae. Encyclopedia Britannica.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Dies-irae

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