VOICE ONE:
I’m Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Shirley Griffith with the VOA Special English Program,People in America.
((MUSIC: “VICTORY AT SEA”))
VOICE ONE:
That is music from the television show “Victory At Sea” writtenin nineteen-fifty-two. The man who composed that beautiful music isknown mainly as a writer of show songs. He wrote more thanone-thousand songs that helped tell stories in theaters, ontelevision and in the movies. His music has been heard in more thantwo-hundred movies and two-thousand television shows.
Some experts say his music created more happiness than that ofany other American popular composer. His name was Richard Rodgers.Today, we tell his story.
((MUSIC: “VICTORY AT SEA”))
VOICE TWO:
Richard Charles Rodgers was born in New York City on Junetwenty-eighth, nineteen-oh-two. Both his parents enjoyed singing andplaying the piano. His grandparents loved opera and took theirgrandson to many productions. Richard attended many Broadway showsas a child.
Richard Rodgers began playing the piano by the age of three. Atthe age of fifteen, he decided that he would work in the musicaltheater. That same year, he wrote the music for a stage showpresented by a local group of young people. Then, he wrote music fora production by students at Columbia University. Other future showbusiness leaders were also involved in the Columbia productions. Twoof these men would be very important in Richard Rodgers’ life –Oscar Hammerstein and Lorenz Hart.
VOICE ONE:
Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart worked as a songwriting team formore than twenty years. Their first hit song was in the musical “TheGarrick Gaities” produced in nineteen-twenty-five. The song is stillperformed today. Here is Mickey Rooney singing “Manhattan.”
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Rodgers wrote the music first, then Hart put words to the music.They also wrote songs for the movies. One of their most widely knownsongs comes from a movie, “Blue Moon.” Many singers have recorded itsince it was written in nineteen-thirty-four. It was even a rock androll hit for the Marcels in the nineteen-sixties.
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VOICE TWO:
Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart stopped working together in theearly nineteen-forties. Hart was an unhappy man. He was in poorhealth as a result of a serious drinking problem. It wasincreasingly difficult for Rodgers to work with him. Richard Rodgersturned to another old friend…Oscar Hammerstein.
Rodgers and Hammerstein worked differently than did Rodgers andHart. Oscar Hammerstein would write the words and give them toRodgers. Rodgers then would write music to go with the words.
Their first show together was the historic “Oklahoma!” It openedin nineteen-forty-three. Critics have called it a revolution inAmerican theater. Rodgers and Hammerstein were praised for writingsongs that developed the show and helped tell the story.
“Oklahoma!” still is performed on Broadway and in other theatersaround the world. Here is the famous title song from the firstBroadway production:
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VOICE ONE:
Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote the songs for nine musical plays,including “The King And I,” “Flower Drum Song,” and “The Sound ofMusic.” Their musical plays were also made as movies.
Their songs expressed love and pain and told about socialproblems. One example is this song from the musical “South Pacific”that opened in nineteen-forty-nine. One of the men in the musical isin love with a woman of a different race. He sings a song expressingthe conflict between his racial feelings and his love. The song iscalled “You’ve Got to be Carefully Taught.” Listen to WilliamTabbert who sang it first on Broadway.
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VOICE TWO:
Richard Rodgers wrote both the words and the music for Broadwayshows following Oscar Hammerstein’s death in nineteen-sixty. Criticssay the best of these is “No Strings”. It explored a romance betweena black woman and a white man. The main song is “The SweetestSounds.” Richard Kiley and Diahann Carroll sang it on Broadway.
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VOICE ONE:
Richard Rodgers and his wife Dorothy had two daughters and sixgrandchildren. One daughter and two grandsons also write music.
Richard Rogers died in nineteen-seventy-nine. He wasseventy-seven years old. Books written about his life describe himas a cold man who was often depressed. Family members say he wasonly able to express himself through music.
Richard Rodgers once said the show he liked the best was”Carousel,” the second musical he wrote with Oscar Hammerstein. Itis a sad story about a young girl who marries a thief. One of thesongs in the show now is considered to have a religious influence.Here is the song, “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
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VOICE TWO:
Music experts say that a Richard Rodgers show is always playingsomewhere in the world-on Broadway, in theaters in differentcountries, in local school productions. And people all over theworld still enjoy the movies linked to Richard Rodgers. Movies withwonderful music such as “State Fair”, “South Pacific”, “Pal Joey”,”The Sound of Music”, “Oklahoma” and “Carousel”.
((MUSIC: “CAROUSEL WALTZ”))
VOICE ONE:
This VOA Special English program was written by Nancy Steinbachand produced by Caty Weaver. I’m Mary Tillotson_.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week for anotherPEOPLE IN AMERICA program on the Voice of America.