(PP. 71-75) Music Section III: Jazz as Subtext → Listening Guide 7 (ACADEC '25-'26)

Who was an advocate for integrating music within the storyline of a show?

Jerome Kern

What team was famous for musicals such as The Sound of Music?

Richard Rodgers and Hammerstein

What hallmark features did operetta tend to stick to?

Glorifying the trained voice; far-fetched, light-hearted, and romantic stories; and a preponderance of waltz melodies that could be marketed to dance orchestras

What hybrid approach began to appear on the Broadway stage in the 1920s?

Blended the best features of musical comedies and of operettas

What did the hybrid Broadway songs of comedies and operettas offer?

A wide array of musical styles, and they generally expected a significant amount of musical training from the performers to do the compositions justice

What were the hybrid Broadway show of comedies and operettas described as?

Could be funny, but their stories often were more compelling and multidimensional than many of the thin plots of musical comedies

How were the songs of hybrid Broadway songs put into the storylines?

They were integrated: it made sense for the characters to sing those words at those particular moments

How were many songs in most musical comedies of the 1920s connected to the plot?

They were irrelevant interruptions, inserted simply to give characters an opportunity to sing and dance

As early as what year did the composer Jerome Kern already begun integrating songs into his musical comedieis?

1915

What was Jerome Kern’s lifespan?

1885-1945

What did Jerome Kern explain about integrating songs?

“It is my opinion that the musical numbers should carry the action of the play and should be representative of the personalities of the characters who sing them. Songs must be suited to the action and the mood of the play.”

What had Jerome Kern see that made him think the practice of songs making no sense on Broadway ought to stop?

Too many show sin which the songs made no sense

Who shared Kern’s views about song integration?

Lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II

What was Oscar Hammerstein II’s lifespan?

1895-1960

What did Oscar Hammerstein II co-write?

Rose-Marie

When did Rose-Marie release?

1924

What note did Oscar Hammerstein II insert into Rose-Marie?

“The musical numbers of this play are such an integral part of the action that we do not think we should list them as separate episodes”

When was The Sound of Music released?

1959

Who did Hammerstein work with on Show Boat?

Jerome Kern

When was Show Boat released?

1927

Who wrote the novel that served as the property for the musical Show Boat?

Edna Ferber

Who sang “Ol’ Man River” in the first movie version of Show Boat?

Paul Robeson

What is often viewed as the “flagship” of a new blended genre: musical theater?

Show Boat

What do musical theater shows intermix?

Aspects of older musicals comedies and operettas, but put new emphasis on coherent storylines and on music that helped to convey those stories

What did Show Boat do unusually for the era?

A dramatic 1926 novel by Edna Ferber as its property

What did many friends of Kern and Hammerstein tried to talk them out of?

The choice, pointing out the serious novel’s drawbacks as “entertainment”: it featured two unhappy relationships, it depicted the downtrodden situation of African Americans, and it even addressed the uncomfortable issue of interracial marriage, which was still illegal in many parts of the South

What did the dramatic novel by Edna Ferber featured that was used for Show Boat?

It featured two unhappy relationships, it depicted the downtrodden situation of African Americans, and it even addressed the uncomfortable issue of interracial marriage, which was still illegal in many parts of the South

What did none of the topics seen in Edna Ferber’s dramatic novel seem to be suitable for?

Broadway audiences who were accustomed to frivolous musical comedies

What was Ferber’s reaction to Show Boat being created from her novel?

She was horrified, fearing that her story would be made trivial; she was envisioning the kind of mindless entertainments that Broadway had previously offered

What helped win Ferber over on the idea of Show Boat?

Kern’s music

What did Kern swear to Ferber?

Their show would maintain the highest musical and dramatic standards

How did Ferber give Kern and Hammerstein permission to adapt her novel?

Reluctantly

How did Ferber describe the incident that convinced her that she had made the right decision on turning her novel into Show Boat?

“Jerome Kern appeared in my apartment late one afternoon with a strange look of quiet exultation in his eyes. He sat down at the piano… and sang “Ol’ Man River.” The music mounted, mounted, and I give you my word my hair stood on end, the tears came to my eyes, I breathed like a heroine in a melodrama. This was great music. This was music that would outlast Jerome Kern’s day and mine.”

When did Jerome Kern appear at Ferber’s apartment?

Late afternoon

What did Jerome Kern appear with when he went to Ferber’s apartment one afternoon?

A strange look of quiet exultation

What did Kern play at Ferber’s apartment?

He sang “Ol’ Man River” at the piano

What was Ferber’s reaction to hearing “Ol’ Man River”?

Her hair stood on end, the tears came to her eyes, she breathed like a heroine in a melodrama

What helped to depict the Show Boat’s movement through time?

The breadth of musical styles, since the tunes range from “old-fashioned” numbers characteristic of the 19th century to “modern” jazz pieces of the 1920s

What does Show Boat’s story concern?

A floating theater, the Cotton Blossom, that sails from town to town along the Mississippi

Who owns the boat in Show Boat?

Cap’n Andy

Who does Cap’n Andy employ in Show Boat?

Julie and her husband Steve as the stars of his shows

What song plays a role in the drama of Show Boat?

“Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”

When did “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” release?

1927

How much did it cost to see Show Boat?

60 cents

Who played the role of Julie in the stage show and first film version of Show Boat?

Helen Morgan

Who tries to woo Julie in Show Boat, despite the fact that she’s married?

A worker on the boat, Pete, tries to woo her with gifts, but she turns them down

Where are the gang docked when Pete gets his revenge in Show Boat?

Natchez, Mississippi

How does Pete get his revenge in Show Boat?

Revealing to a local sheriff that Julie is half-Black, making her marriage to Steve illegal in that state

What do Julie and Steve do in Show Boat rather than cause trouble when Pete gets his revenge?

Leave the show boat

What does the remainder of Show Boat focus on?

The troubled relationship between Cap’n Andy’s daughter Magnolia and Gaylord, whose gambling addiction eventually destroys their marriage and forces Magnolia into supporting herself and her child as a musical entertainer

What is a particularly impressive illustration of the power of musical style presented by?

“Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”

When is “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man’s” melody first heard in Show Boat?

As background scoring—without words—when Pete notices that Queenie (the show boat’s Black cook) is wearing a brooch that he had given to Julie

Who is Queenie in Show Boat?

The show boat’s Black cook

What is Pete’s reaction to realizing that Julie is rejecting his advances with gifts?

He’s angry

When the audience first hears “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” what does the audience not know in Show Boat?

Of the tune’s significance, but it is starting t be subtly linked in our ears with Julie

When does the audience hear some of the words in “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” in Show Boat?

When Magnolia excitedly announces that she is in love with the handsome young Gaylord (whom she has just met)

What does Julie warn Magnolia of in Show Boat?

That Gaylord may not be reliable, but Magnolia declares that she will simply stop loving him if that’s the case

What does Julie tell Magnolia about turning off one’s feelings in Show Boat?

It’s not that easy, and she sings a bit of “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” to prove her point

What is Queenie startled to hear in Show Boat?

Julie knows the melody in “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man,” since it’s a Black song—a tune that white people don’t usually sing

What is the first hint of Julie’s racial background in Show Boat?

She’s uncomfortable to be questioned about how she knows about the melody in “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”

What does Julie say when Queenie asks her if she knows the whole song “Can’t Help Lovin' Dat Man”?

Of course she does

What happens after Julie sings the first choruses of “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”?

Other Black members of the cast take over various verses

What happens two scenes after “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” is sung fully?

The sheriff publicly announces the information he has received from Pete—that Julie has a white father and an African-American mother—and we at last understand how it is that Julie grew up knowing “Can’t Help Lovin' Dat Man”

Who created “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”?

Jerome Kern

What style of music is “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”?

A bluesy style

What was carefully chosen in “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” to reflect Julie’s black ancestry?

The bluesy style of music

What is “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” labeled in the earliest published score of Show Boat?

Tempo di Blues

Did Jerome Kern use the 12 bar blues structure for “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”?

No

What is the only real blues element in “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”?

The presence of blue notes that waver between the conventional and flattened scale tones

Is there a cast recording of the 1927 production of Show Boat?

No

Who sung the listening example “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”?

Helen Morgan

What is the recording of “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” structured in?

Five-part rondo form of A-B-A-C-A, preceded by a vocal introduction

When are the rondo refrains in “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”?

A

What do Kern and Hammerstein do during the rondo refrains (A) in “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”?

They set the poetry in 3 phrases, perhaps giving a nod to the 3-line lyrics of most blues songs

What does the use of “Dat” in “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” reflect?

The dialect known as African American Vernacular English

What does Morgan say differently in her commercial recording of “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”?

She uses the standard English pronunciation of “th-”

Why did Helen Morgan not say “dat” in the commercial recording of “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”?

She did not feel that she was acting a role in the recording studio

What does music play a different, unifying role in in regards to “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”?

The drama

What is unsurprising about Show Boat?

For a musical focused on people whose lives are connected to a show boat, the river is a constant and essential presence

What is the musical motif Kern assigned to the river itself in Show Boat?

An upward leap of a perfect fourth

What does the first phrase of the A refrain in “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” refer to?

The fish that swim in the river, so that segment of the melody employs the river’s motif

What key signature is the river motif in “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”?

Eb Major

How does Kern make a subtle point about “power” in “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”?

By embedding the river’s motif within this particular song: the river is powerful, and so is love

What did historian Geoffrey Block explain about “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”?

“Kern uses this perfect fourth to connect the force of the natural world with the central human theme of the work embodied in ‘Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man’: a woman in love is destined to love her man forever, even when he abandons her.”

What was deeper and more thoughtful than the typical musical comedies of the 1920s?

The subtextual messages in “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”

What was far removed from what most listeners would previously have considered to be entertainment in Show Boat?

The often-uncomfortable subject matter of “marriages destroyed by private demons (compulsive gambling) and public ills (institutional racism)”

How many performances did Show Boat have?

572

What did Show Boast demonstrate about audiences?

They were ready for increased realism—that a musical could be “taken as seriously as theater”

What’s the structure of “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”?

Instrumental intro, Vocal intro, A, Interlude, B, A, C, A’, Coda

What mode is the intro of “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” in?

Minor mode

What word differs in text from the theatrical version in “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”?

Hack

What is a hack mentioned in “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”?

A horse-drawn cab

How does the vocal intro of “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” end?

With a woodwind response

How does the ‘A’ before the interlude in “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” start?

Refrain begins with leaps of a fourth; second musical subphrase moves downward in a sequence; third subphrase has blues notes (underlined); offbeat banjo accompaniment

How does the ‘A’ before the interlude in “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” end?

A repetition of ‘a’ melody

What happens in the interlude in “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” start?

Instruments foreshadow ‘b’ melody; many blue notes

What happens in the ‘B’ phrase of “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”?

First episode has more conjunct melody with chromatic pitches to emulate blue notes

What happens in the ‘C’ phrase of “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”?

Second episode features phrases that use repeated notes ending with large upward disjunct leaps

How does “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” end?

A coda with a short orchestral tag

What words are emphasized in “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”?

Lovin’, man, sisters, Mister, that, angels, away, day