Full Scores of Sondheim shows?

[Joseph Tritt]

Hi All,

I'm wondering if there are any full scores of Sondheim shows in existence. I know MTI only licenses out piano/conductor scores, libretto/vocal books and orchestra parts. As an MD/composer/arranger, I would love to be able to read the original Tunick orchestrations. I know there is a full score available of West Side Story (I've seen it at the Juilliard Bookstore), but I'm thinking maybe this is only because Bernstein was primarily a classical composer and the publication of full scores is standard practice with operas. I've never seen a full score for any other Broadway musical, but I thought there might be a chance that MTI licensed them out. If anyone has any leads, please PM me or share the info on this thread.

Thanks!

[jv92]

I don't think any are for purchase.

[Joseph Tritt]

Thank you; I did know that they were not available for purchase. I'm just wondering if there are any copies in existence (libraries? archives?) for those interested in orchestration for the theatre from an educational standpoint.

[sallydurant]

The Colony has full scores to all the Sondheim shows

[temms]

Sadly there isn't much for aspiring theatre orchestrators to study from in terms of scores. If you don't have the "West Side Story", you should get it. Get it from a library if you need to, but it's pretty essential in the world of published theatre orchestra scores. I've spent hours and hours poring over it and learned so much. If it's the only one widely available, at least it's one of the absolute best.

MTI does have some full scores available for rental when you do productions. I'm not sure what their policy is for study copies - you might contact them and see if it's something they do. The list of shows they have full scores for is here:

http://www.mtishows.com/resources.asp?id=6_3_0_2&theatricalresourceid=4

"Sweeney" is one of them, and it's the most interesting one available. I agree that I'd love to see some Tunick charts, as well as Bennett, Walker, Burns et al. It's a shame that Steven Suskin's book on Broadway orchestration only has a few scattered pages of actual scores.

[Joseph Tritt]

Thanks for the suggestion, sallydurant, but we're talking about full orchestral scores, as opposed to vocal scores.

Temms, thank you for the advice. I have just ordered the WSS score on Amazon. I will inquire with MTI!

[temms]

You'll love the WSS - it's like seeing a master chef's recipe book. The way the string are used is so different than in a symphonic score, and to see the woodwind doublings laid out like that is great. You should remember that Bernstein's reed parts were a little odd, since he had a symphonic bassoon player that he loved who didn't double. So essentially he had 4 doublers and a bassoon, which he uses a lot more than most theatre orchestrators.

There are also three "modern" orchestration books that are definitely worth looking at because a lot of the principles carry over into theatre orchestrating: Don Sebesky's "The Contemporary Arranger", Henry Mancini's "Sounds and Scores", and Nelson Riddle's "Arranged By Nelson Riddle". Sebesky in particular is great, and he's done a ton of Broadway.

And of course, Rimsky-Korsakov's book is the Bible of symphonic orchestration so if you've not read/studied his book and you're serious about arranging/orchestrating, you really should.