Loverly:The Life and Times of My Fair Lady (Broadway Legacies), McHugh, Dominic [fantasy books to read TXT] 📗

is no sign of the “Without You” reprise having been orchestrated. The only modification made to the orchestration itself is the removal of the flute in a couple of places during the refrain, where Bennett had originally written a doubling but later removed it.

At the very end of Rittmann’s “Finale Ultimo” score are two notes written on top of each other. One, in the arranger’s handwriting, says “Fine, grâce a dieu!” Underneath, Loewe added: “Moi aussi, Ami Fritz.” Appropriately, this document—the very final page of the score—represents more clearly than any other the relationship that existed between Loewe, Rittmann, and Bennett. We know that Rittmann wrote out the music, because it is in her handwriting; we know that it was intended for and used by Bennett, because his name is on the front and he followed the score in his orchestration; and we know that Loewe saw the manuscript before it went to Bennett because he signed off on it at the bottom. If it seems surprising that some of Rittmann’s piano-vocal scores predate some of Loewe’s, here is ample evidence that the two worked in such close proximity that it did not really matter whose hand was holding the pencil; the overall authorial control was Loewe’s. It is important to differentiate between the manuscripts and to understand where Loewe’s hand is not present, but we can see from these notes at the bottom of the finale autograph that the interaction between Loewe, Rittmann, and Bennett was extremely close, and that their respect for each other was deep. Like all music theater, My Fair Lady was the result of collaboration.

“I’ve Grown Accustomed” is certainly the most complex piece of music in the show, at least from the point of view of structure; originally, it was an even greater summation of themes from the musical as a whole. The “Accustomed” theme acts as an outer structure heard at the beginning and end, in between which Loewe slots the “I can see her now,” “Let a woman in your life” and “I’m an ordinary man” ideas from previous songs. The themes overlap and move at breakneck speed from one to the next, which is Loewe’s way of increasing dramatic pressure at the end of the show. What makes the “Accustomed” theme particularly moving is its short melodic fragments, which almost give the impression of sobbing. It is also Higgins’s slowest song. Overall, the number is engaging because of the way Higgins’s neurotic thought processes are so vividly portrayed, and in particular the sense of loss he feels at Eliza’s rejection. Her intention to marry Freddy heightens his anger, since Higgins considers this an inappropriate match. The use of voice in the final scene is also hugely effective: we hear Eliza on the gramophone before she returns physically, which makes the contrast between Higgins’s despair (represented by having to switch on an artificial “version” of her) and his relief (at her return, when her real voice is present) all the starker. By hearing Eliza speak her final line—“I washed my face and hands before I came, I did”—live, in her post-training accent, we are also reminded of the education she has received from Higgins. This reference to the early stages of their relationship might be read as Eliza’s capitulation to Higgins’s authority because she has remembered what he gave her, in spite of his disrespectful treatment, rather than as a sign of the characters’ romantic union.

6

SETTLING THE SCORE

PART II

THE UNDESERVING DOOLITTLE

One aspect of the show with which Shaw scholars have been particularly dissatisfied is the abbreviation of Doolittle’s role and characterization. Yet this is to ignore the vitality he gains through his two songs, “With a Little Bit of Luck” and “Get Me to the Church on Time.” The former is especially philosophical, with its rather cynical outlook, but the latter is arguably the more moving song, depicting with ruthless abruptness Doolittle’s severance from the company he has kept all his life upon entering the respectable middle class. The composition of “With a Little Bit of Luck” is easy to document.1 An early version of the lyric survives and is largely familiar. But there is a single verse, preceding the refrain, to which no music remains:

It’s a long and weary road we’re on, old pal.

It’s a struggle all the way, a bitter fight.

But keep your eye on your goal

And with hope in your soul

Everything will turn out right.2

There are also some deviations from the published text. For instance, “When you’re tempted you will give right in” later became “When temptation comes you’ll give right in.”3 There was also an extra chorus:

The Lord above made man to be a dreamer;

Gave him a bold, ambitious sort of mind.

The Lord above made man to be a dreamer—but

With a little bit of luck,

With a little bit of luck,

You will only dream the naughty kind.

As ever, Lerner’s amendments represent a high level of self-criticism, while the cutting of the verse may have been motivated by shortening the song or avoiding the risqué image of the “naughty dream.”4

Loewe’s piano-vocal score is difficult to date, because it does not fit in with the other sources.5 It contains the first verse, goes straight to the bridge, and ends with the final verse. The lyric follows the published version, though the place where there is a discrepancy between the rehearsal script and the published lyric shows signs of erasure. On the other hand, some of the rubbed-out letters are still legible, and it is clear that “to share his nest” did not originally say “to tend his needs” (as in the rehearsal script).6 The score is very neat, and in spite of the absence of the repeat signs and first-time bar to allow for the second verse, the piano part is almost exactly the same as in the published vocal score, right down to details of articulation and dynamics. Loewe also uses the cue from the published script—“[It’s just Faith,] hope and a little bit of luck!”—rather than the