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Influences: What Inspired Stephan Schwartz

By: Kat Bowman

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Kat Bowman

Musical Theatre Workshop

Mr. Domensic

7 March 2018

Influences: What Inspired Stephan Schwartz

From playwrights like Sophocles and William Shakespeare to musical

writing teams like Gilbert and Sullivan or Rodgers and Hammerstein, famous

composers and theatrical writers have been entertaining people all over the world

for centuries. However, like all creatures of the planet, they did not simply fly

from the womb fully grown and teeming with talent and success. They had to go

through life, their personality and characteristics being shaped by the world

around them, these they were closest to, and their own genetics. These iconic

men and woman of the arts had to overcome many obstacles on their various

paths to success. The same can be said for the famous composer and playwright

Stephan Schwartz, creator of captivating works of theatrical artistry such as

Pippin, The Magic Show, Godspell, and Wicked. Stephan Schwartz’s

professional career was heavily influenced by his life experiences, specifically

through his own mother and her musical preferences, his early exposure to

various genres of theater, listening to the radio as an adolescent, discovering the

art of the patter song, the music that he was constantly exposed to during his

college years, and the singers he chose to listen to during his early adulthood.
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Without these various mediums of inspiration and influence, Stephan Schwartz

may never have become the great success that so many avid theater fans know

him as today.

Throughout his life, Stephen Schwartz’s musical prowess has seeded,

nourished, and bloomed into the famous masterpiece that it is today; however,

this talent only took root in the first place due to his early exposure to the art by

his family, specifically his mother. Her favorites included the Kingston Trio and

The Weavers, and due to her love for this music, these bands were constantly on

the turntable of the Schwartz home, according to Steven Schwartz buff Carol de

Giere in her article “Stephen Schwartz - Musical Influences and Styles”. De

Giere also states that the constant exposure to these groups inspired many works

in Stephan Schwartz’s later musical career. For example, “that the sing-along

for Pippin’s “No Time At All” was inspired by a concert he attended with his

parents when he was young. It was a performance of the Weavers that included a

group sing of “Good Night Irene.” (“Stephen Schwartz, Pete Seeger, and

Sting.”). He was also inspired by classical composers that his mother often

listened to, listing “‘Handel, Bach, Beethoven, Puccini, Moussourgsky,

Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, Copland, and maybe Steve Reich and Philip Glass,"”

as the main culprits to his classical inspiration. (“Stephen Schwartz - Musical

Influences and Styles). Had it not been for his exposure by his mother to music

from an early age, Steven Schwartz’s musical talent may have never gotten the
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nourishment it needed to row into the well-known staple of the field that it is

today.

In addition to Stephan Schwartz’s mother playing music throughout the

house and attending concerts with him, “The elder Schwartzes were theater

goers.” (Stephen Schwartz - Musical Influences and Styles). This author then

continues by adding that “Stephan attended several shows on Broadway as a

child, including Damn Yankees and South Pacific in about 1957. A little later he

became captivated by My Fair Lady with Julie Andrews, a show that has

remained an all-time favorite.” (Stephen Schwartz - Musical Influences and

Styles). It is commonly believed that these classic shows inspired Schwartz’s

own productions later in life. In addition to the productions he saw on Broadway

influencing the various masterpieces written and composed during his

professional career, he was also effected by many specific individual theatre

composers, as “Schwartz claims to have been inspired by "...the usual suspects:

principally Richard Rodgers, along with Kern, Berlin, Loewe, Bock, and

Sondheim."” (Stephen Schwartz - Musical Influences and Styles). As far as

specific theater genres go, “Opera (was) one of his favorite…, another part of the

storehouse from which he would draw for scores like Children of Eden and

Wicked.”(Defying gravity). In summary, his immense exposure to theater during

his early years of life helped to shape and mold Stephan Schwartz to eventually

become the theatrical giant that he is today.

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Like most adolescents, his earlier years in life, “Steven Schwartz used to

listen to the radio. One particular time (this inspired his later successes) was a

morning when (he woke) up to Leonard Bernstein's overture for Candide (and)

was entranced (by the fast paced melody, hoping that he, too, could someday

compose music that could affect people in such a way).“ (Teenink). “’I

remember waking up one morning when I was in high school to Leonard

Bernstein's overture for Candide on my clock radio and spending the next week

desperately trying to find out what that wonderful music was,’” Stephan

Schwartz is specifically quoted saying in the article “Stephan Schwartz-Musical

Influences and Styles”. A link to Candide by Leonard Bernstein is here:

https://youtu.be/GS1qVws9bkE. Similar experiences occurred throughout

Stephan Schwartz’s life, at which point he would spend days on end searching

for a single captivating piece that grabbed his attention so. Thus, listening to the

radio often in his adolescent years assisted in the formation of Stephan

Schwartz’s later career.

The various influences in Stephan Schwartz early life led to many iconic

pieces by the composer in his adulthood, such as his patter type songs "War is a

Science" from Pippin (this is the link to the song:

https://youtu.be/FH_2nZCKUUA) and "Two's Company" from The Magic

Show(A link to the song is here: https://youtu.be/nkf9flcn8MQ). Patter songs are

characterized by their fast-paced tempo and rhythmic tunes in which each

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syllable of the lyrics corresponds with a single note in the music. For an example

of a patter song a link to I Am The Captain of the Pinafore from H.M.S. Pinafore:

https://youtu.be/c548RjB8jzQ. Both of these pieces “have a memory trace to

Gilbert and Sullivan shows seen or heard in childhood. "I fondly remember my

parents taking me to see a somewhat tattered production of H.M.S. Pinafore."

The rapid-fire lyrics and music of "Bravo Stromboli" of Geppetto show his love

of Rossini and other opera composers. (He says, "'Bravo Stramboli'

in Geppetto is a complete pastiche of Rossini, the famous Figaro aria from

the Barber of Seville.)” (Stephan Schwartz- Musical styles) Stephan Schwartz

patter songs, a staple of his musical style, were heavily influenced by his

childhood experiences.

Stephan Schwartz’s life and the world around him continued to influence

his later compositions from childhood and adolescence into his late teen years

when, in “the fall of 1964(,) he entered Carnegie Mellon University (in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.)… The Motown sound was hot on campus, and that

seeped into the songwriter's repertoire of rhythms and styles of melodic turns.

Then all popular music from Beach Boys to various rock artists filtered in. But

the sources of inspiration most dear to him were the singer-songwriters. He lists

among his early favorites: Laura Nyro, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Carole King,

and The Mamas and The Papas (especially for harmonies)” (musical influences)

These artists helped drive Stephan to write music of his own by giving him hope
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that he, too, may one day achieve great success with his own music, and he has

said as much in various interviews. Stephan Schwartz has also admitted that

“huge parts of his musical background (are) a conglomeration of influences

resulting from his exposure to an expansive list of pop and rock musicians while

growing up in the '60s and '70s, and it goes without saying, further enriched by

influences from an extensive roster of genius musical theater composers and

lyricists.” (“BWW Interviews: Stephen Schwartz, WICKED's Composer,

Lyricist.”). This diverse set of influences assisted in Stephan Schwartz’s

achieving a wide variety of fans of many genres, as his compositions include

pieces for so many of them.

The influence of singer-songwriters on Stephan Schwartz’s life continued

into early adulthood, even after he graduated from Carnegie Melon University

1968 with a B.F.A. in Drama (directing). “As an adult, one of the artists that

Stephen Schwartz has followed has been British singer-songwriter Sting.

Schwartz comments, “…I’m a huge fan of Sting and he was very influential in

many ways on my writing.” Two of his songs are particularly Sting-inspired, by

his assessment. One is “Stranger to the Rain” from Children of Eden, and the

other is “Dancing Through Life” for Wicked.” (Stephan Schwartz, Pat Segar, and

Sting). In another interview, Stephan Schwartz restated the fact that his songs are

influenced by more than simply theatrical works by admitting that (his) style of

writing has been influenced by sort of scavenging the pieces of music that he’s
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heard, and (it could even) just be (a single) moment" (in a song) that he might

use for inspiration. (“Intersections: Stephen Schwartz's Musical Ghosts) In

conclusion, musical artists that he was exposed to, such as Sting, continued to

influence Stephan Schwartz’s writings even into his early adulthood.

Stephan Schwartz’s mother’s musical taste and preferences, his early

exposure to the theater of many different genres, listening to the radio as an

adolescent and striving to find the songs that so captivated his attention on it,

discovering the art of the patter song, the music that he was constantly exposed to

during his college years due to the time in which he grew up, and the singers he

chose to listen to during his early adulthood, such as Sting, all assisted in shaping

the man’s later professional career. Stephan Schwartz’s mother introduced him to

music from a young age, giving him a lifelong love for the art, while exposure to

theater assisted in shaping his ideas for what he wanted to do with his life by giving

him an appreciation for the complex task of weaving a story on stage. Listening to

the radio taught him how music could affect a person in ways that would stay with

them for extended periods of time, learning to create patter songs gave his talent a

unique shape and voice, and the bands he listened to throughout his life influenced

the music he would later create. Stephan Schwartz has written iconic pieces that

will entertain music lovers of all shapes, sizes, and ages for generations. No one is

simply born with talent, but, to conclude, Stephen Schwartz entire life, from his
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earliest childhood experiences well into his adulthood, has slowly formed the man

into the astronomical theatrical success that he is today.

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Works Cited

Anonymous. “Steven Schwartz.” Teen Ink, 2 Sept. 2009,

www.teenink.com/nonfiction/heroes/article/135323/Steven-Schwartz/. 

“Bernstein: Overture Candide.” YouTube, 23 July 2017,

youtu.be/GS1qVws9bkE.

“BWW Interviews: Stephen Schwartz, WICKED's Composer,

Lyricist.” Broadway World.com, 6 Feb. 2014,

www.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-Interviews-Stephen-Schwartz-

WICKEDs-Composer-Lyricist-20140206. 

de Giere, Carol. “Stephen Schwartz - Musical Influences and Styles.” Stephen

Schwartz's Musical Influences and Styles, Feb. 2004,

www.musicalschwartz.com/schwartz-musical-influences.htm. 

de Giere, Carol. “Stephen Schwartz, Pete Seeger, and Sting.” The Schwartz

Scene RSS, 10 Mar. 2014,

www.theschwartzscene.com/2014/03/10/stephen-schwartz-pete-seeger-and-

sting/. 

Giere, Carol De. Defying Gravity: the Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz,

from Godspell to Wicked. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, 2008. 

“I Am the Captain of the Pinafore - HMS Pinafore.” YouTube, 8 Aug. 2010,

youtu.be/c548RjB8jzQ.
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“Intersections: Stephen Schwartz's Musical Ghosts.” NPR, NPR, 10 May 2004,

www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1875136.

“Pippin (New Broadway Cast Recording) - War Is A Science.” YouTube, 15 May

2015, youtu.be/FH_2nZCKUUA.

“Two's Company - The Magic Show (1974).” YouTube, 30 July 2011,

youtu.be/nkf9flcn8MQ.