Richard Rodgers

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Essential Albums

  • South Pacific (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
    South Pacific (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

    When South Pacific was turned into a film in 1958, the US was only about a decade out from World War II. In the intervening years, the anti-Communist sentiment that had helped validate the war had turned inward in the form of McCarthyism, a period during which a broad swath of Americans—particularly people in the arts—were cast as Communist sympathisers. Though nowhere near as outspoken as some of their creative peers, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were nevertheless allied with liberal causes—a fact that South Pacific made clear. Not only did the movie venture to soften stereotypes of Southeast Asian people, it dealt head-on with questions of race and prejudice in quietly daring ways. “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught”—an explanation of inherited racism sung by Marine Lieutenant Joe Cable—was the most overt example. But there’s also the arc of Nellie Forbush, the American nurse who manages to look past her prejudice against mixed-race people and embrace her feelings for the French planter Emile de Becque, who has several children with a Polynesian woman (“I’m In Love With a Wonderful Guy”). Or “Happy Talk”, a song by the jovial island woman Bloody Mary, who tries to help Lieutenant Cable shake his fear of marrying a nonwhite woman. Of course, such good messages won’t spread far if the songs aren’t catchy. But the melodies on South Pacific were strong enough to endure for decades after its release.

  • Cinderella (Original 1957 TV Cast Recording) [Bonus Tracks Version]
    Cinderella (Original 1957 TV Cast Recording) [Bonus Tracks Version]

    Released in 1957, the soundtrack for Cinderella marked a new kind of project for Rodgers & Hammerstein: Not only was it the first time they’d written expressly for television—rather than adapting a show from the stage—it was the first time Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were working with such well-known source material. The novelty provided a challenge: The duo needed the story to remain recognisable for kids, while also offering enough depth for parents to be interested. And, in certain ways, the two Broadway legends were more conscious of the immediacy of their music than ever before: After all, a show might get a season to prove itself—but a TV special only runs once. The show was conceived in part as a spotlight for the young British actress Julie Andrews, who had recently made her name in the US acting opposite Rex Harrison in the hit Broadway musical My Fair Lady. Andrews’ famously sunny disposition imbued Cinderella with a sense of persistence and almost transcendent optimism in the face of steep odds (“In My Own Little Corner”, “Impossible; It’s Possible”). The broadcast was reportedly seen by 107 million people—at the time, an astonishing 60% of the US population. Rodgers & Hammerstein later noted the same audience for a stage production would’ve meant selling out eight nights a week for 140 years—a tough prospect, even for a Fairy Godmother.

  • Oklahoma! (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Expanded Edition]
    Oklahoma! (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Expanded Edition]

    When Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were approached about turning Broadway’s Oklahoma! into a movie, they were reticent. After all, the stage show had been a revolutionary success, and this was at a time—1955—when musicals were often butchered on their way to the screen. That the end product stayed faithful to their vision was due in part to the control Rodgers & Hammerstein were able to leverage over production. But the Oklahoma! soundtrack also reinforced what had made the show so great in the first place: While musicals until that point were more or less plays interrupted by the occasional song, Oklahoma! envisioned musicals in which the songs themselves were instruments of plot and character development—a shift that brought the form closer to something like American opera than light entertainment. So when Gordon MacRae’s Curly McLain sings “Oh What a Beautiful Mornin’” and “The Surrey With the Fringe On Top”, they aren’t just good melodies—they’re expressions of his cowboy charm and his budding crush on Laurey (Shirley Jones). And when the cast joins Curly for the title song near the end, it’s after a couple of hours of us getting to know the sweet-wheat-smelling, plains-wind-swept frontier where the story took place. The soundtrack held the top spot on the UK Albums Chart for a stretch in 1956, eventually becoming the first album certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. That spring, Elvis came along, ushering in a demand for all things rock ’n’ roll. But the Oklahoma! soundtrack would retain its power, and appeal, for generations.

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About Richard Rodgers

Richard Rodgers wrote some of the most enduring songs in Broadway history in collaboration with two supremely gifted lyricists, Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II. Rodgers & Hart collaborated on over two-dozen musicals, including their biggest hit, Pal Joey. With Hammerstein, Rodgers produced some of the biggest blockbusters in the history of musical theater. Starting with the Pulitzer Prize-winning Oklahoma!, the magnificent Carousel (often regarded as Rodgers & Hammerstein’s best score), South Pacific, which won their second Pulitzer Prize, and their final smash hit, The Sound of Music. Rodgers died in December 1979.

HOMETOWN
New York, NY, United States
BORN
28 June 1902
GENRE
Musicals

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