Best of the 20th Century

[Peter]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Kylene:<BR><B>Okay, lots of talk about musicals and their composers-- how about some trivia...<BR>This 20th century composer, in his popular musical wrote a piece entitled "Bring Him Home", whose opera was this piece originally stolen from? (And I mean stolen- not just a couple of bars, the whole thing!) </B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>No idea, but Richard Rodgers was NOT the thief!!

[Kylene]

No idea... okay, I'll give you some hints- <BR>So we have:<BR>- a musical featuring song "Bring Him Home"<BR>- based on a Victor Hugo novel<BR>- song was stolen from an opera<BR><p>[This message has been edited by Kylene (edited 12-20-2000).]

[Bandzee]

Tchaikovsky is definatly the best... don't know why, but I like his style music. He tends to steal other composers ideas sometimes, as in the style and some of the sounds, but he's still good. His piano concerto in Bflat minor has gotta be the best of his work... I mean, Nutcracker and Swan Lake get pretty old after a while, but I just love some of his other work.

[shostakovich]

Hi Peter. I've enjoyed the discussion, and am delighted to agree to disagree. Without agreement on criteria of greatness, argument is pointless. I'm more in sympathy with Reedman's criteria. I'm not even sure the search for a "greatest" can be satisfied. "I like ______ best" is a safer poll. I'm glad you revived Kylene's trivia question, which got lost in the shuffle. Unfortunately, Bring Him Home is unfamiliar to me, so I give up, but look forward to the answer.

[Peter]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Kylene:<BR><B>No idea... okay, I'll give you some hints- <BR>So we have:<BR>- a musical featuring song "Bring Him Home"<BR>- based on a Victor Hugo novel<BR>- song was stolen from an opera<BR>[This message has been edited by Kylene (edited 12-20-2000).]</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>KYLENE:<P>Your Victor Hugo clue can only mean......."Les Miserables"! But familiar though your song is to people I have asked, I am getting only blank looks when I enquire as to the music`s operatic origin. Please spill the beans so I may lord it over my friends

[Kylene]

Alright-- I won't keep you in suspense any more...<BR>"Bring Hime Home", featured in Boublil (lyricist) and Schonberg's (composer) "Les Miserables" is blatantly stolen from an exerpt from Pucinni's "Madama Butterfly" (right before Part 2- The Intermezzo... the chorus hums/sings as Butterfly, her son, and Suzuki anxiously await Pinkerton's return). Interestingly enough, Boubil & Schonberg also copy the plot of "Madama Butterfly" for their "Miss Saigon".<BR>So there you go! <p>[This message has been edited by Kylene (edited 12-21-2000).]

[Peter]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Kylene:<BR>[B]Alright-- I won't keep you in suspense any more...<BR>"Bring Hime Home", featured in Boublil (lyricist) and Schonberg's (composer) "Les Miserables" is blatantly stolen from an exerpt from Pucinni's "Madama Butterfly" (right before Part 2- The Intermezzo... the chorus hums/sings as Butterfly, her son, and Suzuki anxiously await Pinkerton's return). Interestingly enough, Boubil & Schonberg also copy the plot of "Madama Butterfly" for their "Miss Saigon".<BR>So there you go! <P>Many thanks, Kylene. Before I go swaggering off to my friends, do you know whether Boubil & Schonberg acknowledge that the music is Puccini`s, or is it plagiarism on their part? Either way, you seem to have a very keen ear, & I can`t wait for the chance to compare the two pieces.

[Kylene]

As far as I know it is plagarism... <BR>Quite beautiful either way!