Stephen Sondheim: Gershwin great? It ain't necessarily so

Coward was glib, Gilbert was boring and Hammerstein was obsessed with birds . . . Master of musicals Stephen Sondheim gives his verdict on his fellow songwritersOscar HammersteinDespite the fact that Oscar Hammerstein II taught me virtually everything I know about lyric writing, I feel obligated to list some of my quibbles with his work, poking fun along the way. A lot of songwriters fill in empty spaces in the music with reiteration, but there's a fervent lack of surprise in Hammerstein's ...

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