How Sondheim Found His Sound

"Stephen Sondheim has made it clear that he considers himself a "playwright in song." How he arrived at this unique appellation is the subject of How Sondheim Found His Sound - a study of the multitudinous influences on Sondheim's work." "Taking Sondheim's own comments and music as a starting point, author Steve Swayne offers a biography of the artist's style, pulling aside the curtain on Sondheim's creative universe to reveal the many influences - from classical music to theater to film - that have established Sondheim as one of the greatest dramatic composers of the twentieth century." "How Sondheim Found His Sound is the first book to provide an overview of his style and one of only a few to account for these various components, how they appear in Sondheim's work, and how they affect his musical and dramatic choices."--Jacket.