Send in the Clowns (arr. Lackey)

From Wind Repertory Project
Stephen Sondheim

Stephen Sondheim (arr. Jerry Lackey)


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General Info

Year: 1973
Duration: c. 4:50
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra
Publisher: Leota Arts Management
Cost: Score and Parts - Unknown


Instrumentation

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Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Send in the Clowns is a song written by Stephen Sondheim for the 1973 musical A Little Night Music, an adaptation of Ingmar Bergman's film Smiles of a Summer Night. It is a ballad from Act Two, in which the character Desirée reflects on the ironies and disappointments of her life. Among other things, she looks back on an affair years earlier with the lawyer Fredrik, who was deeply in love with her but whose marriage proposals she had rejected. Meeting him after so long, she realizes she is in love with him and finally ready to marry him, but now it is he who rejects her: he is in an unconsummated marriage with a much younger woman. Desirée proposes marriage to rescue him from this situation, but he declines, citing his dedication to his bride. Reacting to his rejection, Desirée sings this song. The song is later reprised as a coda after Fredrik's young wife runs away with his son, and Fredrik is finally free to accept Desirée's offer.

The "clowns" in the title do not refer to circus clowns. Instead, they symbolize fools.

- Program Note from Wikipedia


Media

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State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

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  • La Porte (Ind.) City Band (Charles Steck, conductor; David Ratajik, clarinet) - 31 July 2019


Works for Winds by This Composer


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