Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda & Jeremy McCarter
This is an exhaustive look at both the musical and the artistic effort put into bringing the musical to life. The behind the scenes narratives are interspersed with the lyrics to the numbers that are either sung by the subject of the narrative or are in some way related to the narrative. It's incredibly clever, I think. You read about what a particular actor went through in coming to the role, right before you read their signature song, and it adds a richness to it.
But I think this book accomplishes something really extraordinary. The point of any piece of music is to relay the emotions the songwriter intended. That's usually done not just with words, which are pretty damn emotive, but with the music. They are a vital partnership.
Back in ancient days, when the Killer B's (Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms) were making music, each chord had a certain emotion it was thought to express, so that just by seeing (hearing) a piece was in a particular chord, the audience knew what would be coming. One chord was considered martial so that people hearing it would know that it relays the feeling of being embattled or struggling. I can't remember them because it was a while back that I was listening to that audiobook and I wasn't taking notes. Trust me when I say every major and minor chord had an accompanying emotion that it relayed. And it's not so far fetched. We may no longer say, "Oh, he's using a minor chord, this will be sad," but we hear a minor chord and we are sad, just naturally. It's built into our DNA whether you are musical or not. Albinoni's Adagio in G Minor rips my heart out and that's the reason why it was used in one of the crucial battle scenes in Gallipoli. It was meant to rip your heart out. Beethoven's Ode to Joy is in G Major. You hear it and your heart soars, still. That's why it's so powerful in the movie Immortal Beloved. It is Beethoven's triumph following his near downfall after losing his hearing. So music and visual arts go hand in hand to create the emotional roller coaster the viewing audience craves.
But this is a book. I have no accompaniment to the songs. I could have if I had the CD, but I don't (yet!) so I'm reading lyrics without the tune that inherently imparts some of the emotions to the theatre-goers. Anyone reading this book as I did is at a disadvantage.
And that is where Lin-Manuel Miranda proves his genius. As gifted a musician as he, by all accounts, is, that music is not a necessity to create emotions. The lyrics do it all on their own.
I'll give a caveat here. I'm a pretty emotional person. Books, movies, commercials, you name it, I can give you an example of how one made me tear up. Hell, I cried at Cujo for God's sake (he just wanted to be a good dog!). So me saying a book made me cry isn't breaking news. But these lyrics are fairly sparse and bare bones at times, so to pack so much emotion into so few words shows a master at work.
If only to be in on one of the pop culture phenomenons of this century (only 17 years old), you should see this musical if you can, and read this book whether you see the musical or not. There are people out there now who I envy for being able to see Michael Crawford debuting The Phantom or Colm Wilkinson's first appearance as Valjean. Don't let this opportunity pass you completely. Get in on it, if only vicariously. Do not throw away your shot.
But I think this book accomplishes something really extraordinary. The point of any piece of music is to relay the emotions the songwriter intended. That's usually done not just with words, which are pretty damn emotive, but with the music. They are a vital partnership.
Back in ancient days, when the Killer B's (Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms) were making music, each chord had a certain emotion it was thought to express, so that just by seeing (hearing) a piece was in a particular chord, the audience knew what would be coming. One chord was considered martial so that people hearing it would know that it relays the feeling of being embattled or struggling. I can't remember them because it was a while back that I was listening to that audiobook and I wasn't taking notes. Trust me when I say every major and minor chord had an accompanying emotion that it relayed. And it's not so far fetched. We may no longer say, "Oh, he's using a minor chord, this will be sad," but we hear a minor chord and we are sad, just naturally. It's built into our DNA whether you are musical or not. Albinoni's Adagio in G Minor rips my heart out and that's the reason why it was used in one of the crucial battle scenes in Gallipoli. It was meant to rip your heart out. Beethoven's Ode to Joy is in G Major. You hear it and your heart soars, still. That's why it's so powerful in the movie Immortal Beloved. It is Beethoven's triumph following his near downfall after losing his hearing. So music and visual arts go hand in hand to create the emotional roller coaster the viewing audience craves.
But this is a book. I have no accompaniment to the songs. I could have if I had the CD, but I don't (yet!) so I'm reading lyrics without the tune that inherently imparts some of the emotions to the theatre-goers. Anyone reading this book as I did is at a disadvantage.
And that is where Lin-Manuel Miranda proves his genius. As gifted a musician as he, by all accounts, is, that music is not a necessity to create emotions. The lyrics do it all on their own.
I'll give a caveat here. I'm a pretty emotional person. Books, movies, commercials, you name it, I can give you an example of how one made me tear up. Hell, I cried at Cujo for God's sake (he just wanted to be a good dog!). So me saying a book made me cry isn't breaking news. But these lyrics are fairly sparse and bare bones at times, so to pack so much emotion into so few words shows a master at work.
If only to be in on one of the pop culture phenomenons of this century (only 17 years old), you should see this musical if you can, and read this book whether you see the musical or not. There are people out there now who I envy for being able to see Michael Crawford debuting The Phantom or Colm Wilkinson's first appearance as Valjean. Don't let this opportunity pass you completely. Get in on it, if only vicariously. Do not throw away your shot.
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