by Horowitz, Mark Eden; Sondheim, Stephen

Published in 2003 by Scarecrow Press in association with Library of Congress, Lanham, MD and Oxford, UK
ISBN: 0810844370
Edition: First edition
Binding: Hardback
Condition: As new
Dust Jacket included. Condition of Dust Jacket: Fine
Comments: The genesis of “Sondheim on Music: Minor Details and Major Decisions” comes from archival technicalities. Author Mark Eden Horowitz is a senior music specialist in the Music Division at the Library of Congress, where he has been the archivist for the collections of the papers of musical theater luminaries Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Kern, Frederick Loewe, Cole Porter, and Richard Rodgers. It can legitimately be said that he was the one who convinced Stephen Sondheim to will his manuscripts and papers to the Library of Congress. But that collection was endangered in 1995 when a fire heavily damaged Sondheim’s home. In 1997 Horowitz visited the restored house—with a new vault for Sondheim’s archive—for three days to see what was what with the papers and to videotape his questions and Sondheim’s answers about queries he anticipated scholars might have in the future and to clarify such technical issues as unclear markings in scores. However, the interviews soon took a much broader tone. What he wound up with was hours and hours of taped interviews with Sondheim about his creative process. That, in turn, became this book. Topics include Sondheim’s approach to dramatizing with music and lyrics; the creation and use of motifs and thematic material; and the practical aspects of collaboration. This is not a piece of showbiz fluff (though it’s not without its anecdotes). It is one of the few times we can really find out how and why a respected composer does what he does, from the man himself. Sondheim changed the way musical theater is regarded by academia, Horowitz told “The Guardian” in 2025 in an article about the Library of Congress inheritance, because his work “is that important and that good and that serious.” More personally, he wrote in a Library of Congress blog post after Sondheim’s death in 2021, “In my case, I owe him my entire career….When Sondheim’s work began to inculcate itself into my psyche as a teenager, musicals suddenly became richer, more meaningful and important. I had found an art form to which I could dedicate my life. And I’ve endeavored to do so.”

Our copy of “Sondheim on Music: Minor Details and Major Decisions” is a first edition in As New condition. There is no damage nor any markings that we can see. The dust jacket had a prior fold to the inside flap, resulting in a crease, but is otherwise Fine. Photos forthcoming or immediately on request.

Seller Inventory #: 0000538