Sunday in the Park With George: Vocal Score

Rating:
Summary: A must have for any Sondheim Fanatic!
Review: At first glance, the price for this selection may seem a trifle hefty. It is worth every penny to be able to own the score to the most emotional musical written by Sondheim. The music is amazing to listen to, but the experience is heightened when one is able to study the score in conjunction with an excellent recording. This score serves as a resource for anyone needing audition music, and it is great as a teaching tool in an advanced Broadway piano class. Incredible buy!

Rating:
Summary: There is only ¿colour and light¿!
Review: This vocal score contains complete lyrics, dialogue, vocal line and piano accompaniment to the musical Sunday in the Park with George. The great aspect about the vocal score is that it contains ALL the music, even songs which are not featured on the CD. The arrangements are excellent and the melody has not been incorporated into the accompaniment, which is the case with many cheap vocal scores. Inside the score it is mentioned that it 'has been prepared from the composer's piano manuscript rather than the piano-conductors score so that it can be more useful to the rehearsal pianists.' As a result, when the orchestral parts are utilised, some small musical discrepancies will be found. Several of the musical themes are quite repetitive, however there are still almost 250 pages of music to enjoy. The music would be difficult to perform for someone who does not feel confidant playing piano. The difficulty lies in the modern rhythms and sometimes obscure tonal flavour of the music. The key signatures regularly change and g-flat and f-sharp major bob up often. As is characteristic of Sondheim's most recent musicals, the vocal lines would be difficult for singers. However, if you are a vocalist that could handle the music, it would be fantastic to own this book. I personally feel that this is an incredible vocal score of a brilliant musical. If you have a love of Sunday in the Park with George and you enjoy either singing or playing Sondheim I highly recommend this score.