Sondheim: Follies
Follies, Orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick
Edited by Jon Alan Conrad
SET179 Sondheim: Follies
This publication is a set of two volumes, each sold separately.
This edition presents Jonathan Tunick's orchestrations of Stephen Sondheim's musical Follies in full score. Follies is set in 1971, the year of its creation, at a reunion of the (fictional) “Weismann Follies” on the eve of their theater’s destruction. This scenario gives Sondheim, who wrote both music and lyrics, the opportunity to create what amounts to two interlocking scores. One explores the thoughts and interactions of the guests, the music often revealing the lies behind their words. The other, recalling the Follies performances of decades earlier, allows Sondheim to evoke the words and music of Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and many other popular songwriters from the interwar period. The show culminates in a series of fantasy production numbers that unite past and present, displaying each of the four principals in his or her own “folly,” using materials evocative of the past to suggest the pain behind popular entertainment and the dangers of nostalgia. Publishing the music in full score (a rarity for musicals) allows a full appreciation of both its detail and Jonathan Tunick’s orchestrations.
Performance licensing and materials for Follies is available through Music Theatre International: https://www.mtishows.com/follies
This edition is published by permission of Round Hill Carlin (previously Carlin America, Inc.).