Musical of the Month

Jerry Bock's Demo Recordings: Fiddler on the Roof by Doug Reside, Curator, Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman CenterOctober 1, 2014

Composer Jerry Bock (R) & lyricist Sheldon Harnick (L) performing at 100th birthday tribute to legendary Broadway director George Abbott, "Happy Birthday, Mr. Abbott!." (New York) Image ID: swope_1191891
Composer Jerry Bock (R) & lyricist Sheldon Harnick (L) performing at 100th birthday tribute to legendary Broadway director George Abbott, "Happy Birthday, Mr. Abbott!." (New York).
Image ID: swope_1191891

A few months ago, I posted three demo recordings of Fiorello! from the Jerry Bock recordings in the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound.  This month, in honor of Fiddler's 50th anniversary, I am happy to share six demos of Fiddler on the Roof.  These recordings are discussed in Alisa Solomon's excellent book, Wonder of Wonders: A Cultural History of Fiddler on the Roof and some similar recordings have been previously released on the Harbinger Records album: "Sheldon Harnick:  Hidden Treasures."  Today you can hear the show develop from Bock's musical seeds  in demos 1,3,5, and 6 to more fully realized demos with lyrics in demos 2 and 4. Enjoy!

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Reusing old songs for Fiddler

Submitted by Michael Mooney (not verified) on June 10, 2015 - 2:04am

I'm puzzled by JBCOMPO31-11. It was clearly written for Apple Tree. Were they considering using it in Fiddler since it wasn't used in Apple Tree?

Reusing old songs for Fiddler

Submitted by Bob (not verified) on July 29, 2015 - 1:12pm

It was used in Fiddler. When Messiah Comes," but was cut out of town.