“These were lights in the darkness of the pandemic and even the new pieces took on that role as well. Some of them do make me cry. Even when I’m playing I’m sort of crying inside. No one can tell that I am. I was sort of emotionally attached as anyone would to each piece, because it’s something that you take on as a close friend. You get to know it. It becomes part of you. Plus you’re the only one who has the relationship other than the composer with that piece before other people take it on.” That’s how pianist/composer Anthony de Mare describes what it’s like for him playing transcriptions of 36 Stephen Sondheim songs that he commissioned for Liaisons: Reimagining Stephen Sondheim From the Piano.
It also applies to the additional 14 transcriptions that he commissioned that have yet to be recorded but de Mare is playing now in concert. He’s appearing at Royce Hall at UCLA this Sunday. He also has performances upcoming in Encinitas, La Jolla, at Ravinia in Chicago and Woodstock.
I first spoke with de Mare when ECM Records released Liaisons in 2015. Of course, a lot has changed since then. Not only has de Mare’s project grown bigger, but performing the original works in concert got put on hold during the pandemic. Most importantly, Sondheim passed away.
The second round of commissions was timed for Sondheim’s 90th birthday. As he was with the first round of commissions, the composer was closely involved with de Mare in bringing these transcriptions to fruition.
“He was never demanding,” de Mare revealed. “It was always this is where we are. What do you think? And he would come back and say, ‘Oh no, this is great, keep going.’ Or he would offer his suggestions. And I think that helped me to get to know him and his work better because I got a little bit of a window into how he worked privately on his own shows when he was writing them.”
During the pandemic he remained in touch with Sondheim. de Mare also did something he doesn’t really like doing to keep Sondheim updated on the progress of the new transcriptions.
“I did record a few of them at home, which I just never liked [doing], basically to send to him because I wanted him to hear them. We went back and forth on some of the pieces. And then this past year, of course, I sent him more scores.”
For the first 36 transcriptions, Sondheim suggested composers he wanted contacted to gauge their interest. Amongst them was film composer Thomas Newman. For the 14 additional transcriptions he suggested less well-known composers.
“Sondheim made a special request that I ask Marc Schubring into for these for the new batch. He’s a German theater composer who Sondheim has been fond of for many years. And he chose Goodbye For Now, which is from Reds. Schubring plays the piano extremely well and he’s an amazing painter and illustrator and he made this really beautiful, full-bodied piano work out of that song.”
Not only was Sondheim taken with that transcription, Schubring built an homage to Sondheim when writing out the score.
“He did this very touching thing to the piece. He labeled the measure numbers starting at 1930 and up 2021 so it’s 91 measures long.” Sondheim was born in 1930 and passed away in 2021 at the age of 91.
As for the songs found in these new transcriptions, de Mare relied primarily on a list of songs that were not included in the first 36 compositions.
“What I was pleased with was that a lot of the composers chose songs that I originally wanted included, but weren’t chosen the first time around. So it was filling in a lot of gaps. There’s still some I wish were still part of it that aren’t. Even from the original collection, I had wanted someone to set the opening number of Company because I thought that would make a great piano piece. The opening of Pacific Overtures – The Advantages of Floating in the Middle of the Sea; Getting Married Today could make a really fast, virtuosic, wonderful piece. From Evening Primrose I wanted I Remember Sky and also With So Little to Be Sure Of from Anyone Can Whistle.”
One composer who contributed to both sets is de Mare himself. For the first he tackled Sunday in the Park with George. For the second set he took on a song cut from Follies that actually anchors the overture to the show.
“The first or second Symphony Space concert back in 2012 or 2013 my partner Tom was in the green room and Sondheim was there and they got into a conversation. Tom just happened to mention to him, ‘You know, one of the songs I’ve always loved of yours is All Things Bright and Beautiful.’ And Sondheim said, ‘I’ve always loved that one, too. And I was really sorry that it had to be taken out of the show.’ So I looked at the vocal score, I looked at the prologue as well as the original song itself and created another piece.”
Regardless of who composed the transcriptions, de Mare feels they all had one thing in common: to celebrate Stephen Sondheim as a composer.
“That was the mission of the project from the beginning because I felt he was one of the great American composers of the 20th and 21st century. We discovered that nearly all of the composers said he either secretly influenced them or their admiration for him led to their excitement about being part of the project. I think these piano pieces really have done a great service to him for that. Listeners have also found a profound awareness now and a deeper awareness of him as a composer.”
No one, however, is as close to these works as de Mare. It’s a unique position he doesn’t take lightly.
“I’ve grown to know the music even more deeply. It’s a body of work that I hold very close to my own heart. Each piece is like a personal friend. People asked me years ago when this is over are you going to choose another project like this with another composer or pop composers only. It didn’t really dawn on me. There was a purpose with this and I feel very gratified and I feel very fortunate to have been able to do it.”
To see and hear the complete interview with Anthony de Mare, please go to our YouTube channel.
Main Photo: Anthony de Mare performing Liaisons: Reimagining Stephen Sondheim From the Piano at Symphony Space (Photo by Rahev Segev)