Musical Theatre: Composers & Lyricists

We have many books and e-books on composers and lyricists.  Most books about composers are in the ML 410 area, alphabetically by composer.  See the reference librarian for assistance. 

Berlin, Irving

• Barrett, Mary Ellin.  Irving Berlin:  A Daughter’s Memoir.  (ML410 .B499 B37 1994)
• Bergreen, Laurence.  As Thousands Cheer:  The Life of Irving Berlin.  (ML410.B499 B5 1996)
• Freedland, Michael.  Irving Berlin.  (ML410 .B499 F74 1974)
• Jablonski, Edward.  Irving Berlin:  American Troubadour.  (ML410 .B499 J33 1999)

Bernstein, Leonard

• Burton, Humphrey.  Leonard Bernstein.  (ML410 .B566 B9 1995)
• Secrest, Meryle.  Leonard Bernstein:  A Life.  (ML410 .B566 S43 1994)

Gershwin, George & Ira

• Furia, Philip.  Ira Gershwin:  The Art of the Lyricist.  Oxford University Press, 1997.  (e-book)
• Gershwin, Ira.  Lyrics on Several Occasions... (ML 54.6 .G28 L9 1959)
• Pollack, Howard.  George Gershwin:  His Life and Work.  (ML410 .G288 P65 2007)
• Schwartz, Charles. Gershwin, His Life and Music.  (ML410 .G288 S33)
• Wyatt, Robert.  The George Gershwin Reader.  (ML410 .G288 G47 2004)

Harburg, E.Y.

• Alonso, Harriet H.  Yip Harburg.  Wesleyan University Press, 2012.  (E-book)

Herman, Jerry

• Citron, Stephen.  Jerry Herman:  Poet of the Showtune., Yale University Press, 2003.  E-book
• Herman, Jerry.  Jerry Herman:  The Lyrics:  A Celebration.  Routledge, 2003.  E-book

Kander & Ebb

• Kander, Ebb, and Fred Lawrence.  Colored Lights:  Forty Years of Words and Music, Show Biz, Collaboration, and All That Jazz.  (ML410 .K163 A3 2003)
• Leve, James.  Kander and Ebb.  Yale University Press, 2009.  E-book.

Kern, Jerome

• Banfield, Stephen.  Jerome Kern.  (ML410.K385 B36 2006, also available as an e-book)
• Freedland, Michael.  Jerome Kern  (ML410 .K385 F7 1981)
• Hischak, Thomas S.  The Jerome Kern Encyclopedia (ML 410 .K385 H57 2013; also available as an e-book)

Lerner, Alan Jay

• Jablonski, Edward.  Alan Jay Lerner:  A Biography.  (ML423 .L300 J3 1996)
• McHugh, Dominic.  Loverly:  The Life and Times of My Fair Lady.  Oxford University Press, 2012.  E-book

Lloyd Webber, Andrew.

• Snelson, John.  Andrew Lloyd Webber.  (ML410 .L788 S64 2004; also available as an e-book)
• Walsh, Michael.  Andrew Lloyd Webber:  His Life and Works:  A Critical Biography.  (ML410 .L78 W3 1997)

Mercer, Johnny

• Eskew, Glenn T.  Johnny Mercer:  Southern Songwriter for the World.  (ML423 .M446 E75 2013)
• Mercer, Johnny.  The Complete Lyrics of Johnny Mercer.  (ML54.6 .M45 C66 2009)

Porter, Cole

• McBrien, William.  Cole Porter:  A Biography.  (ML410 .P7844 M33 1998)

Rogers & Hammerstein (& Hart)

• Block, Geoffrey.  Richard Rodgers.  (ML410 .R6315 B56 2003; also available as an e-book)
• Block Geoffrey.  The Richard Rodgers Reader.  Oxford University Press, 2002.  E-book
• Fordin, Hugh.  Getting to Know Him:  A Biography of Oscar Hammerstein (introduction by Stephen Sondheim) (ML 423 .H24 F7 1995)
• Hart, Lorenz.  The Complete Lyrics of Lorenz Hart.  (Oversize ML 54.6 .H4 H4 1986)
• Hischak, Thomas S.  The Rodgers & Hammerstein Encyclopedia.  Greenwood Press, 2007.  E-book
• Hyland, William.  Richard Rodgers.  (ML410 .R6315 H95 1998)
• Mordden, Ethan.  Rodgers & Hammerstein.  (ML410 .R6315 M7 1995)
• Nolan, Frederick.  Lorenz Hart:  A Poet on Broadway.  Oxford University Press, 1995.  E-book
• Nolan, Frederick W.  The Sound of Their Music:  The Story of Rodgers & Hammerstein.  (ML410 .R6315 N64)
• Rodgers, Richard.  Musical Stages:  An Autobiography.  (ML410 .R6315 A3 [1975] and ML410 .R6315 A3 2002)
• Secrest, Meryle.  Somewhere for Me:  A Biography of Richard Rodgers.  (ML410 .R6315 S43 2001)
• Symonds, Dominic.  We’ll Have Manhattan:  The Early Works of Rodgers & Hart, 1919-1931.  (ML410 .R6315 S96 2015)

Schwartz, Stephen

• De Giere, Carol.  Defying Gravity:  The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz, from Godspell to Wicked.  (ML410 .S42 D4 2008)
• Laird, Paul R.  The Musical Theatre of Stephen Schwartz:  From Godspell to Wicked and Beyond.  (ML410 .S42 L36 2014; also available as an e-book)
• Laird, Paul R.  Wicked:  A Musical Biography.  (ML410 .S42 L38 2011)

Sondheim, Stephen – see this page for resources on Sondheim

Weill, Kurt

• Hinton, Stephen.  Weill’s Musical Theater:  Stages of Reform.  University of California Press, 2012.  E-book
• Hirsch, Foster.  Kurt Weill on Stage:  From Berlin to Broadway.  (ML410 .W395 H577 2002)

 

Other books:

• Furia, Philip.  Poets of Tin Pan Alley:  A History of America’s Great Lyricists.  Oxford University Press, 1992.  E-book
• Jenness, David.  Classic American Popular Song.  (ML 3477 .J46 2005)
• Zinsser, William.  Easy to Remember:  The Great American Songwriters and Their Songs. (ML 3477 .Z577 2001)

 

The Dictionary of Literary Biography Complete Online has a volume on pre-1960 American lyricists, with articles on most of the lyricists named above, and others such as Comden & Green, Dorothy Fields, Sheldon Harnick, and Frank Loesser.

Art of the American Musical:  Conversations with the Creators (Rutgers University Press, 2005) contains interviews with several songwriters, including: