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Andrew Lloyd Webber

Andrew Lloyd Webber, is a songwriter, according to biography.com he

was born on March 22, 1948 in London. His Father was the director of the

London College of Music, his mother was a piano teacher. He has been

married 3 times and has 5 children. One of his wives was Sarah Brightman

who was Christine in Phantom of the Opera. He became one of the 100

richest people in Great Britain. He owns 6 theaters and a production

company. Webber also created a foundation that promotes the arts and

culture for the public. He has received many different awards for his work

including 7 Tonys, 3 Grammys, 7 Oliviers, and an Oscar to name a few but

there are other awards. He is a world-renowned composer of music and

Broadway productions.

He has played the piano and the violin since the age of 3, and knows

how to play the French horn. He began writing his own music by the time he

was 6 years old. Andrew initially studied history at Magdalen College but

wanted to follow his heart and started studying Musical Theater at the Royal

College of Music. While at the Royal College he wrote his first musical with

Tim Rice called, The Likes of Us. Around the same time, he also wrote a

religious concert pop-cantata version which was later known as Joseph and

the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which is based on the story of Joseph

from Egypt in the Bible. Joseph debuted on March 1, 1968 and the show was

a great success. Tim Rice and Webber also created Jesus Christ Superstar in

1971.
In 1976 Andrew Webber and Rice created Evita which is based on the

life of the Argentinian First Lady and her husband President Peron (a

dictator). In this musical, there is a very famous song (Dont Cry for Me

Argentina), which made this musical unforgettable and propelled the musical

to its hit status. This song creates a mix of emotions in people and the

musical gives a different perspective to Evita.

He ended his partnership with Tim Rice and continued his work and

created Cats in 1981, based on the poetry of T.S. Eliot. Cats was one of the

oldest plays on the London stage. Cats saw its Broadway showing in London

end after more than 20 years, but there are still showings every now and

then on other stages. The musical is about a tribe of cats called Jellicle one of

the favorite songs from Cats is, Memory. This song has been sung by a lot

of famous singers including Barbra Streisand (my favorite version). After

Cats, he created one of my favorite musicals The Phantom of the Opera that

debuted in London in 1986. The Phantom is a love story that involves a

disfigured man who wears a mask, a girl that he teaches his gift of music too,

and her love from a time before. In this musical, there are many favorite

songs some of which are, Think of Me, Masquerade, All I ask of you,

and Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again. This music makes me wonder

if this is the reason Webber records his album first and then creates the play.

I think it is because the music creates his vision for his plays. All the songs

are well written and are sung with a passion.


Not all of Webbers creations have been successful. Whistle Down to

Wind, was not widely accepted however according to biography.com a song

from the play was redone by Boyzone called No Matter What, and became

internationally popular. The 21st century brought more writing and producing

most of which had mixed reviews. While he is still extremely famous,

popular, and creating new things he is unable to return to his accolades that

he received earlier in his career.

Some of his other creations and productions are Sunset Boulevard,

Bombay Dreams, Love Never Dies, Song and Dance, and Cricket which was

composed by him and the lyrics were by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

His work will be forever incorporated into Broadway and in peoples lives. He

created an amazing legacy with his work. Many famous singers bring his

music to life through their performances. I love musicals and I cannot be

more excited to know that Andrew Lloyd Webbers art and talents are shared

with the entire world.

History of the Music Composition

Memory (CATS)

This song is song by Gizabella the glamour cat in the show, she wants has

been shunned by her family and sings this song in hopes of being reunited with her

family. She is left to contemplate her memory, and is not accepted by the tribe until

the end as she reprises the song once again. This song has been performed by

many well-known artist. Elaine Page, Barbra Streisand, Nicole Scherzinger, and
Susan Boyle. It is one of the most famous songs from a musical. This musical has

amazing costumes and dancers.

All I Ask of You (THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA)

This song is performed by characters Raoul and Cristine in the Phantom of

the Opera. Raoul wants to protect Christine from the phantom he is telling her that

she need not fear the darkness and is expressing his love for her. Christine is asking

Raoul to take her from the darkness that the Phantom has created for her. She is

also asking Raoul to protect her and take her away from the Opera. They both are

asking the other one to love me, that is All I Ask of You. This song has been sung

by artist such as Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford also with Steven Barton.

Kelly Clarkson and Josh Groban interpreted the song as well in a duet.

Any Dream Will Do (JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT)

This show is about Joseph of Egypt from the bible and his brothers when they

sell him because they were jealous. This is the opening song which is a foretelling

of what is about to happen in the story. It is talking about dreams which Joseph had

the gift of interpreting dreams and was a reason he came into power in Egypt. It is a

popular song and main melody in the musical. This song has been performed by

Donny Osmond on Broadway.

Dont Cry for me Argentina (EVITA)

This musical is related to Eva Peron a first lady in Argentina, Evita was loved

by all the people in Argentina due to her work. She created unions and

welfare systems to help the lower class in the country. She got sick and died

which was tragic for the country. This song is internationally known and sung

by many stars like Patty LuPone, Elaine Paige, Mandy Patinkin, and Madonna

in the movie Evita with Antonio Banderas which was recorded in Argentina.
You Must Love Me (Evita)
This song was sung when Evita was sick and Peron was always by her

side. This is one of my favorite songs in the musical. I like the message it

sends the people during the show and that is their love for each other. It was

sung by Elaine Paige and Madonna.

Listening Guide
Dont Cry for Me Argentina
0:00 Strings and Brass start playing
0:22 Harp playing 3-4 notes every couple of measures
0:45 French horn comes in
0:52 Harp with strings playing under main melody
0:53 Start singing
1:42 French horns playing in the song
2:29 Orchestra
3:02 percussion and cymbals playing
3:24 Flutes
3:57 Chorus humming/ Orchestra playing
4:21 Enter singer again
4:48 Solo with strings
4:55 woodwinds enter
5:10 Orchestra powerful ending

All I Ask of You


0:00 String and Harp start playing
0:04 male singer (Raoul)
0:30 slight crescendo
0:38 woman singing (Christine)
1:15 male comes back in and bassoon
1:29 harp trill
1:30 Female singing
1:32 woodwinds go up and down scale
1:41 violins crescendo
1:45 male with strings
2:00 brass in with strings
2:24 brass and timpani crescendo
2:26 Female sing
3:00 Harp trill
3:05 timpani build up
3:07 cymbals crash and orchestra play interlude
3:33 cymbals crash with singers singing loud and strong
3:43 singers bring it back to sing softly
3:55 final note held until the end
Memory
0:00 piano start playing/flute
0:03 singer enters
0:20 piano accompanying the singer
0:26 strings enter
0:42 clarinet and woodwinds playing
0:56 violins start playing
1:06 flutes come in
1:13 orchestra builds and resolves
1:32 singers change voices
1:49 singers go back to melody
2:15 orchestra builds to an instrumental interlude
2:33 second voice enters sings solo
2:46 duet between first and second voices
2:53 first voice solo again
3:03 final build to end of song
3:53 end of song

You Must Love Me


0:00 violin/flute with underlying strings start playing
0:05 violin and piano playing
0:11 singer starts singing
0:30 guitar enters
0:35 bass and guitar playing together
0:48 flute enters
1:03 all off except singer and piano
1:19 trumpet enters
1:32 musicians and singer start crescendo
1:45 musician and singer start decrescendo
1:50 only piano and singer
1:57 flute, guitar, strings enter
2:09 bass plays last note and holds until finished

Any Dream Will Do


0:00 electric piano, xylophone/Marimba, snapping, and light strings
0:16 singer starts
0:46 Childrens choir echoes main singer
1:14 crescendo into chorus
1:15 drums (snare, bass, and drum set)
1:16 woodwinds play
1:33 no drums but piano electric piano and snapping
2:04 enters woodwinds humming melody
2:34 oohing crescendo into chorus with drums
2:52 back to first instruments with flute added
3:48 fades out
Bibliography
Biography.com Editors, Andrew Lloyd Webber Biography,
www.biography.com. Accessed April 3, 2017. Web
Bing.com/images
IMDb.com
Youtube.com

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