Stephen Sondheim

The foremost composer/lyricist of his generation and among the most highly regarded in Broadway history, Stephen Sondheim combined virtuosic wordplay with music that was groundbreakingly angular for the form. Sometimes in tandem with experimental story structures, his songs often feature elaborate, chromatic melodies and harmonic dissonance, without ever venturing into atonality. He even scored a Top 40 hit with Judy Collins' 1975 rendition of the melancholy ballad "Send in the Clowns." Sondheim was celebrated early in his career for his lyrics to the hit musicals West Side St...