MONDAY NUN DAY: Richard Rodgers' Research for The Sound of Music

For today's Monday Nun Day posting, we take a look into the creation of the music sung by the nuns in The Sound of Music. Did you know that this liturgical-style music was written specifically for the production? There's also quite a bit more of it in the stage version than what you might remember from the iconic Julie Andrews film...and we're excited to share it with you during the Central City Opera 2014 Festival!

Richard and Dorothy Rodgers at Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart at a concert arranged by Mother Morgan for research on The Sound of Music - Photo from New York Public Library Digital Gallery

Richard Rodgers wrote in Musical Stages: An Autobiography:

One musical problem confronting me was the opening piece. Rather than begin with the customary overture, we decided to open immediately on a scene in Nonnberg Abbey, in which the nuns are heard chanting a Catholic prayer, "Dixit Dominus." Since I had been so strongly against a score that combined old music with new, I could hardly fall back on using a traditional melody for the mass. Writing "Western" songs for Oklahoma! or "Oriental" songs for The King and I had never fazed me, but the idea of composing a Catholic prayer made me apprehensive. Given my lack of familiarity with liturgical music, as well as the fact that I was of a different faith, I had to make sure that what I wrote would sound as authentic as possible.

Richard Rodgers at Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart - also from NYPL Digital Gallery

So for the first time in my life I did a little research - and it turned out to be one of the most rewarding music lessons I've ever had. Through friends I got in touch with Mother Morgan, the head of the music department at Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York. She was not only willing to help; she even invited Dorothy and me to a specially arranged concert at which the nuns and seminarians sand and performed many different kinds of religious music, from Gregorian chants to a modern work by Gabriel Fauré. An unexpectedly amusing moment came when Mother Morgan, waving her arms like a cheerleader at a football game, was vigorously conducting a particularly dramatic passage. As the music built to its peak, above the singing could be clearly heard Mother Morgan's booming command: "Pray it!"

Mother Morgan (above) assisted Ricard Rodgers in his research for creating the liturgical music for The Sound of Music.

Catch Richard Rodgers' beautiful music inspired by Mother Morgan and her fellow nuns during The Sound of Music. The production runs exclusively at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in the Denver Performing Arts Complex, August 2-10, 2014.

Happy Birthday Richard Rodgers - and the OKLAHOMA! Trailer

Today marks what would have been the 110th birthday of Richard Rodgers, composer of Oklahoma!

And just in time, we've got a trailer ready for you to hear one of his greatest hits!

Conversations with Ken Cazan: Part One

This week, I was fortunate enough to steal Ken Cazan, the stage director for Oklahoma! away from rehearsals to chat about the production. Central City Opera fans might recognize Ken. Oklahoma! marks his eleventh production with Central City Opera. Last year, he directed the triple bill (Gianni Schicchi, Seven Deadly Sins, and The Breasts of Tiresias) and in 2010 he directed Three Decembers. But Oklahoma! isn't his first musical theatre piece. He is an accomplished director for both opera and theatre, having directed A Little Night Music and West Side Story for CCO previously.

Check out our conversation below to see what Ken has to say about the history and the cast of this summer's opening productions. If you have any more questions for Ken Cazan or the rest of the Oklahoma! production team, leave a comment below. Stay tuned for "Part Two" coming soon!

View Part Two

Rodgers and Hammerstein at Christmas

Composer Richard Rodgers
pictured in the December 29, 1952
issue of Life

As December 25^th approaches, you can’t help but hear Christmas music and wintery tunes in stores and on the radio.

Rodgers and Hammerstein, the musical partners who wrote Oklahoma!, have a tune that’s often heard these days – the classic “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music.

While the song has no mention of Christmas or gift giving (other than mentioning brown paper packages), somehow this musical favorite has become acceptable as a holiday carol. Certainly the lyrics of warm woolen mittens, sleighbells, snowflakes and silvery white winters fit the season – but it’s not exactly a yuletide song. I suppose you could say that people are listing their “favorite things” that money can’t necessarily buy. However, for many years there have been traditional television broadcasts of the classic Julie Andrews movie during the Christmas and Easter seasons. I certainly remember it on a black and white screen in my grandparents’ basement while we of the younger set played a cutthroat game of Hi Ho! Cherry-O on the floor. Perhaps this song is just ingrained in our subconscious feel-good memories of the holidays?

I have learned this week that Rodgers and Hammerstein actually did write their very own Christmas carol. In the spring of 1952, Life magazine commissioned a yuletide song from the duo, published under the title “Happy Christmas, Little Friend” in the December 29th issue later that year.

From the article in Life

The article featured complete lyrics and music, as well as an article on the creation of the song. [Read the article here in a Google Book search.] In the same working style they used on projects like Oklahoma!, Hammerstein tackled the song first, writing a complete set of lyrics - in the middle of the summer, no less - before handing the words over to Rodgers to compose the music. Incidentally, the fee for writing the song inaugurated the Rodgers & Hammerstein Foundation which served to provide training for young musical theatre artists.

Rosemary Clooney sings "Happy Christmas, Little Friend" as shown in this picture from a follow-up article in Life.

The song was never incredibly popular, though it was recorded by Rosemary Clooney and became the official song for the National Tuberculosis Association’s Christmas Seal campaign. There doesn’t appear to be a single YouTube entry for the song, but you can hear brief audio samples on the Rodgers and Hammerstein website.

Check out this Rodgers & Hammerstein tune for your holiday listening…and get ready to tap your toes to the memorable Oklahoma! this summer.