Composer Sondheim dies: In search of order in chaos

He became world famous through musicals such as “Sunday in the Park” or “Sweeney Todd”: Stephen Sondheim had shaped Broadway like no other. Now the composer has died with a passion for crossword puzzles.

For one of the most creative theater composers and lyricists, Stephen Sondheim had, at first glance, a somewhat strange passion: crossword puzzles. It was an obvious hobby for him. Because it’s like creating art: “It’s about creating order in chaos. That’s why I love crossword puzzles.” That is the reason why people are artists. “The world has always been chaotic, life unpredictable. Creating a form – that is the reason why people paint pictures, take photos, write music or tell stories.”

Born in New York on March 22, 1930 to wealthy Jewish parents, his life was upset at ten when the parents divorced. He went to a military academy for two years. A time that shaped him: “Back then, children of divorced parents were often sent to these military schools. Many of my classmates were children of divorce.”

The school had a very special meaning for him: “After the divorce, my life was a complete mess. And the school gave me order: being on time, polishing the buttons on my uniform, receiving orders. That was wonderful. That gave me structure given and – psychologically speaking – saved my life. “

“Conscious” composing

He has little to do with the jazz and pop music of the 1940s. For the young Sondheim, music was primarily the music from films and shows. As a teenager he made his first attempts at composition. His studies at Williams College in Massachusetts and with the composer Milton Babbitt, who temporarily taught as a mathematics professor at Princeton and is considered one of the pioneers of serial and electronic music: “My first music professor had strict rules about composing taught. That spoke to me immediately. ” Music is not just sitting around waiting for inspiration. You have to develop a melody idea and work hard on it – it is not enough just to jumble around the piano. “It’s a very deliberate way of composing. And I followed that up with Milton Babbitt.”

Sondheim moved to Broadway. His breakthrough came in the mid-1950s when he wrote the lyrics for Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story”: “I have always been critical of my work from back then. I know many love it, but there are moments that shame me to this day. ” Tony sings in “Tonight”: “Today the world was just an address” – that sounds like Tony is very well read. “But he’s a kid from the street who doesn’t come up with such a fancy phrase. Maybe it sounds good. But when I hear it, I have to look away before I look back at the stage.”

Numerous awards

When writing the “West Side Story” texts, Sondheim is said to have brought the “Listener”, the BBC’s art magazine, to the set every Thursday in order to solve the difficult crossword in the afternoon. This mania is said to have resulted in the 1973 film “The Last of Sheila”, a mystery thriller for which Sondheim and his friend Anthony Perkins wrote the script.

But Sondheim received the big awards for his compositions – for example the Oscar for the film music for “Dick Tracy”. Or the Pulitzer Prize for the musical “Sunday in the Park with George”, probably his most important work. Sondheim also won the Grammy and Tony Award eight times. He has now died at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, aged 91, after celebrating Thanksgiving with friends the day before.