Junior brown yakety axe series#

In other words, Sondheim could have written “Yakety Sax” instead of the moving thirds and put it in all of those same places. What we have not yet discussed is what the moving thirds theme actually sounds like. When we hear it during “Scene Change to Studio” going into “Color and Light,” it feels more placid than it does in the darker, heavier “Scene Change to Park.” We’ve just seen Georges and Dot have a fight, and the scene change music takes on that same tense emotional quality. The use of this theme during those scene changes also strengthens the way that the music is developing in tandem with the story. If we have to spend that time waiting for scenery to move, or for costumes to change, what better way to spend it? Hearing this theme makes that time meaningful, and it makes those scene changes feel like organic connective tissue that is part of a larger whole. As good as it feels for Georges to be painting, as much as it fills him with purpose and fulfillment, he cannot paint without also being reminded of what painting has cost him.Īnd the fact that two of the six times we hear this theme are during scene changes is significant. So, to ultimately hear this theme as the accompaniment to a song in which Georges sings about what it feels like for him to be painting brings all of this context with it. Their relationship would not exist without his painting, but it also cannot continue with it. And we hear it during “Everybody Loves Louis” when Dot expresses the reason that she loves Georges-that he is such a singular talent and focuses so intently on his work-is also the reason that he cannot meet her needs. We hear the moving thirds entering, during, and exiting the song “Color and Light”, which is ultimately about how Georges’ painting is as much a source of attraction for Dot as it is a source of frustration. Dot loves many things about Georges, but she loves his painting most of all, which she expresses the first time we hear the moving thirds. Looking at all of this, one conclusion we can draw is that the moving thirds theme comes to represent the focal point of Georges and Dot’s relationship: Georges’ painting. For example, in a frazzled cello throughout the accompaniment of “Everybody Loves Louis” (stop and think about that!), or in the rhythm of the lyric “ That is the state of the art, my friend,” during the song “Putting it Together” in Act II.)

Elements of the moving thirds appear throughout the score before and after this-just more covertly. (At least, this is the last time we hear the moving thirds in their purest form.

We hear the moving thirds theme one final time in the musical underscoring of the song “Finishing the Hat.” This seems like the end of Georges and Dot’s relationship, and Georges reflects on how he is feeling while he finishes the hat in his painting that we saw him working on during “Color and Light,” and was the subject of the argument that led to their breakup. “Sunday in the Park with George”įigure 6, excerpt from 'Finishing the Hat.' Click here to listen.

To better understand how that works and how scene change music plays a role in developing that association, let’s look briefly at each time the moving thirds theme appears in the score as its most recognizable self: 1. The moving thirds theme had been imbued with that history, adding a layer of musical subtext to “Finishing the Hat” that deepened everything happening on its textual surface. Looking back, I understand now that it’s because I had heard those moving thirds several times before in the story, and they brought with them the entire history of Georges and Dot’s relationship as I had known it so far. The music in that moment crystallized something happening in the story beyond my conscious awareness, moving me in a way no piece of music ever had. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, and the moment the moving thirds theme began to play during the beginning of “Finishing the Hat” (after Georges sings “But if anybody could.”), I was overwhelmed. My mom had given me the DVD of the original Broadway production as a birthday gift, and I snuggled under a blanket one night and popped it into my PlayStation, enjoying some pizza and feeling glad to be doing anything but my AP calculus homework. The first time I saw Sunday in the Park with George was during my junior year of high school.

Junior brown yakety axe series#

We also touched briefly on how “Scene Change to Studio” makes use of what we can call the “moving thirds” theme (its primary feature is a repeating series of notes moving in parallel thirds), a musical figure that ultimately becomes the accompaniment figure for the song “Finishing the Hat.”