Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In

Galt MacDermot

Subtitle: From the American Love-Rock Musical Hair

General Info

Year: 1966 / 1970
Duration: c. 3:00
Difficulty: II (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Rock band
Publisher: United Artists
Cost: Score and Parts – Out of print

For availability information, see Discussion tab, above.

Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Cornet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II-III
Bass Trombone
Tuba
Percussion, including:

Bass Drum
Crash Cymbals
Snare Drum
Tambourine

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado and music by Galt MacDermot.

The work reflects the creators' observations of the hippie counterculture and sexual revolution of the late 1960s, and several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement. The musical's profanity, its depiction of the use of illegal drugs, its treatment of sexuality, its irreverence for the American flag, and its nude scene caused much comment and controversy. The musical broke new ground in musical theatre by defining the genre of "rock musical", using a racially integrated cast, and inviting the audience onstage for a "Be-In" finale.

Hair tells the story of the "tribe", a group of politically active, long-haired hippies of the "Age of Aquarius" living a bohemian life in New York City and fighting against conscription into the Vietnam War. Claude, his good friend Berger, their roommate Sheila and their friends struggle to balance their young lives, loves, and the sexual revolution with their rebellion against the war and their conservative parents and society. Ultimately, Claude must decide whether to resist the draft as his friends have done, or to succumb to the pressures of his parents (and conservative America) to serve in Vietnam, compromising his pacifist principles and risking his life.

- Program Note from Wikipedia

Media

(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

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Works for Winds by This Composer

Aquarius
Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (arr. Polster) (1966/1970)
Hair: Selection (arr. Kjaernes) (2010)

Resources

Galt MacDermot website Accessed 14 May 2021
Hair (musical), Wikipedia Accessed 14 May 2021
MacDermot, G.; Rado, J.; Ragni, G,; Polster, I. (1970). Aquarius; Let the Sunshine In: From the American Love-Rock Musical "Hair" [score]. United Artists Music: New York.