Music 1010 Presentation An overview of songs from the “greatest Showman” ‘How to listen’ guide John Jones
Biography section The greatest Show is a drama/romance musical directed by the brilliant Michael Gracey and composed by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul It is inspired by the story of P.T. Barnum’s creation of the Barnum & Bailey Circus and the colorful characters that formed it. It is modernized, glamorized, and not completely accurate, but tells a great story. This movie in my opinion has one of the greatest soundtracks of all time, only rivaled by Pirates of the Caribbean and the Lord of the Rings trilogy!
Biography Section Benj Pasek was born June 9th 1985 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is a composer, lyricist, and singer. Justin Paul was born January 3, 1985 in St. Lous, Missouri, and is also a composer, lyricist, and singer. They both have been working together closely and nearly all of their achievements and productions have been shared. Benj Pasek was inspired by his mother who joined in her song performances, and participated in High School Musicals, and sang in Philadelphia Boy’s Choir. Justin Paul learned how to play piano, drums, and sing in his church from an early age. By eight years old he was attending performing arts programs at the Music Theatre of Connecticut. They met eachother as the “worst dancers in a college ballet class” (New York Times 2016) and began taking stabs at songwriting in basement practicing rooms. Paul is straight, married, and christian , very different from Pasek, who is gay, Jewish and single. However they are best friends and have created amazing things together.
Bibliography They both began their work together as freshmen at the University of Michigan where they obtained BFA degrees in musical theatre. Their first songs they wrote together turned into the show Edges, a musical about coming of age. Edges has 200+ productions around the globe, and became popular in Social Media. Pasek and Paul, (as they commonly came to be known) went on to contribute to the off-broadway musical “ White Noise-a cautionary musical” which won a broadway award, in 2006, as well as the score for Roald Dahl’s adaption of James and the Giant Peach . In “ Dear Evan Hansen” the musical is based on a traumatic part of Pasek’s life, the death of one of his friends. It won many awards and in 2018 it has won Best Musical Theater Album. They received almost viral success. Pasek is more of the lyricist and Paul is the music writer but they opted from the very beginning to share credit for their songs. Paul said “Everything that we’ve studied and loved has all built to get to be in a moment like this,” referring the their shot at The Greatest Showman . “Our goal was always, if we could just write songs and tell stories, and get to do that every day, that’s our dream.”
Biography Section Pasek and Paul are contemporary writers. That means it reflects ideals from WWII onwards and they tend to use their music to reflect social and political viewpoints. They also used their education to study how popular music is formed, and what the audience prefers in their music. Brent Wagner, emeritus chairman of the University of Michigan said that he was in the midst of “real talent” when he first saw Edges .
History of Songs The music of The Greatest Showman has one thesis and it’s referred to, good and bad, as showstopping. The premise is that there is no bad way to get your attention. Pasek and Paul show this easily by using their experience as musical businessmen to make the audience ooo and aaah to the bombastic, beat driven tempo of their music. EDM, stadium rock, percussion, strings and beat all mix together to gather attention, and exhilarate. It is, I admit, shamefully loud and complex, grandiose I’d say and a misfit for the premise of the story, but from a musical standpoint it does what it sets out to do- garner attention.
THE GREATEST SHOW The Greatest Show Performed by Hugh Jackman, Keala Settle, Zac Efron, Zendaya & The Greatest Showman Ensemble Music and Lyrics by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, Ryan Lewis Produced by Greg Wells, Justin Paul, Alex Lacamoire, Jake Sinclair, Ryan Lewis Mixed by Greg Wells
History of Songs The Greatest Show FORM Starts out in 4/4 time with an introduction, a simple offbeat where they slowly integrate more and more layers of clapping, stomping, etc. Rhythm- tempo stays constant, but introduces polyrhythm right of the bat. DYNAMICS- Crescendo, and then interchanging pianissimo singing with fortissimo shouts of WOO-OOO-OOOOO. HARMONY- raises an octave soon after starting to catch attention. TONE COLOR- starts as very different range. TIMINGS- has 5 sections that are in strophic style and then follow theme and variation. Theme 1 is buildup to theme 2, the main theme which is catchy and upbeat, attention grabbing. Theme 3 introduces new melody and ties it together for theme 4 which is basically a repeat of section 2 with slight variations. Theme 5 is the reprise, or the end. RHYTHM- Stays constant throughout the song MELODY- The range and pitch stay around 2 octaves except when suddenly broken in theme 4 by variations HARMONY- Chord progression follows 4 chord progression except in section 3 where it has a 16 note progression repeated. DYNAMICS Starts soft, then progressively gets louder with a few decrescendo, only to be followed with louder crescendos. Ends very loud. TIMBRE- Beat-driven drums give a sense of excitement and unity. Vocals are passionate, ranging, authentic. Trumpets are forlorn, and grandiose. TEXTURE- Usually homophonic, then switches to polyphonic in the last theme and variation. Basically 4 distinct melodies that then are all revisited in the reprise.
REWRITE THE STARS Rewrite the Stars Performed by Zac Efron & Zendaya Music and Lyrics by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul Produced by Greg Wells, Joseph Trapanese, Justin Paul, Alex Lacamoire Additional Production by Chris Leon Mixed by Greg Wells
History of Songs Rewrite the Stars FORM- 4 themes, which show a kind of palindromic structure. Theme 1 starts with percussion, simple instruments and is quiet. This crescendos into theme 2 which reflects the movement onto the real subject matter. The song is very ‘magical’ sounding, and instruments they used to create this texture is EDM, keyboards, some strings, and light percussion, as well as chimes. Very ranged. Pitch is varied, and very ranged. Dynamics are a crescendo into each theme, except for a decrescendo into the last section. The tone color or the register range is very complete. Almost always there are higher notes accompanied with lower notes. The music is consonant throughout, except for some variance with the singers. Tempo is started slow, then quickened during themes 2 and 3, but suddenly slowed during part 4 to reflect sadness.
THE OTHER SIDE The Other Side Performed by Hugh Jackman & Zac Efron Music and Lyrics by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul Produced by Greg Wells, Justin Paul, Alex Lacamoire, Jake Sinclair Mixed by Greg Wells
History of Songs The Other Side Theme 1 is quiet and very beat, sharp, staccato. Theme 2,3,4,5 continue staccato. The music is used to reflect a sharp, tense, argument , and is meant to charm the crowd. This song and music was the most difficult to tear away and reflects how form and varying texture can capture attention. In it, sections of convincing and when the producer wants the audience to feel hopeful is smooth. The smooth, more flowy melodies are meant to represent ‘good’ and ‘resolution.’ This also shows how much of an element percussion can play in music. It helps move the music along.
Timed Listening The Greatest Show SECTION 1 00:5- Huge fortississimo shout followed by offbeat polyrhythm 00:5-0:55 crescendo, then sudden decrescendo. 1:18 introduction of a new tempo 1:30 Key change SECTION 2 1:43 Texture changes to homophonic, harmony becomes consonant. Beat becomes louder, catcheir introduction of many instruments. 2:09 Rondo, repeat Section 1 2:33 Music becomes strophic and returns to beginning of section 2. SECTION 3 2:58- New melody, new harmony, homophonic sound with sung melody and a harmony played with trumpets with further vocal harmony in the background. 3.24- Huge sudden solo followed by drums and claps accompanago. 3:28- rondo to beginning of section 2 except dropping much of the accompaniment 3:52- EDM crescendo
Timed Listening Section 4 Ritornello Rondo Strophic but with slightly new melody and harmony and a new singer 4:11 sudden change in melody theme, monophonic, dropped harmony SECTION 5 4:33 Reprise 4: 39 form becomes polyphonic with harmonial consonance, syncopation, polyrhythm, slight decrescendo 4:50 sudden crescendo accentuate by cymbals and drums and other percussion 4:58 sudden Monophonic texture, same pitch, long, held note until 5:00 end of song
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