Stephen Sondheim, “Sunday in the Park with George”

Exploring the Influence of Text and Music on Meaning in “Sunday in the Park with George”

by Emma Morini | February 24, 2021

In his article “The Blossoms of ‘Trockne Blumen’”, Lawrence M. Zbikowski explores the interaction between music and text in early nineteenth-century song. He argues that, while “correspondences between music and text are not absolute, but general,” music does have the ability to generate meaning, even if just in a general sense. This means that music has an impact on our understanding of the text in a song. Zbikowski elaborates on this idea by introducing Conceptual Integration Networks (CINs), which create mental spaces that incite certain images in the listener’s mind, thus coordinating analyses of both text and music.

Stephen Sondheim’s “Sunday in the Park with George,” from his musical Sunday in the Park with George, is a great example of how music and text work together to create a blended space whose meaning may not come across from the music or text alone. This song is the opening number of the show, which introduces the audience to George (an artist fixated on his work) and Dot (his lover who is modelling for his painting in the park). The song establishes the relationship dynamics between the two and reveals to the audience Dot’s frustration with the treatment she receives from George due to his fixation with completing his painting.

In this scene, it is apparent in the text that Dot is frustrated and uncomfortable: “A trickle of sweat. The back of the head. He always does this. Now the foot is dead.” The descriptive text throughout this song truly highlights the uncomfortable conditions that Dot faces. The vivid imagery in the lyrics evokes an unpleasant feeling and creates a sense of sympathy for Dot in the listener. The accompaniment—with its spare texture and dissonant, unusual harmonies—supports this feeling evoked by the text. Furthermore, it highlights the restrictive feeling Dot experiences. For a more detailed analysis, this song can be described using the following CIN:

As stated earlier, the text highlights the feelings of discomfort, frustration, and boredom experienced by Dot through her descriptions of the hot weather and how her outfit further restricts her. Through the text, one can also see how adoring she is of George despite her sometimes conflicting feelings about him: “Artists are bizarre. Fixed. Cold. That's you, George, you're bizarre. Fixed. Cold. I like that in a man. Fixed. Cold.” This specific line highlights this inner conflict, as the harsh characteristics possessed by artists, including George, are the ones she struggles with most, but also the ones she admires. Looking at the music for the first section of the song, we see the sparse and dissonant accompaniment mentioned earlier:

In the first three measures, the piano only plays one chord per bar. Each of these chords is dissonant and staccato, and even later in the song, when the texture of the accompaniment thickens, the notes played are of short duration, and many of them are still staccato. The accompaniment throughout most of this song is stiff, stagnant, and not flowing.

The generic space this music and text create describe character, emotion, and relationship. This means that, together, they introduce Dot’s and George’s personalities, reveal Dot’s emotional state, and give the listener an insight into the couple’s relationship dynamics. The blended space in the CIN elaborates on what is revealed about these characteristics. The staccato chords in the accompaniment, when blended with Dot’s descriptions of her physical discomfort and mental frustration, punctuate her statements and highlight the emotion behind them. Furthermore, their dissonance is an indication of Dot’s disconnection from George; she expresses herself and attempts to communicate with him, but he does not receive these messages. He is in a world of his own. Also, the texture of the accompaniment is an illustration of Dot’s physical restriction, both due to her modeling position and her uncomfortable dress. The lack of movement in the piano reflects the lack of movement in the scene.

The texture of the accompaniment is quite pointillistic in nature as a result of the sixteenth and eighth notes that prevail in it, as well as the staccato texture. This illustrates that, although the text is revealing of Dot’s thoughts and wishes, the scene and music still very much take place in George’s world. George, in fact, is clearly in his own world throughout this scene. This connection is due to the fact that George’s paintings are pointillistic, and George himself is inspired by Georges Seurat, a 19th-century French pointillist artist.

In this section of the song, the music simply highlights the text’s meaning, but in other sections of the song, such as measures 26-33, the music reveals further meaning that is not as obvious in the text alone. Here, Dot states:

Well, there are worse things
Than staring at the water on a Sunday
There are worse things
Than staring at the water
As you're posing for a picture
Being painted by your lover
In the middle of the summer
On an island in the river on a Sunday!

Through the text alone, one may think that she is simply attempting to be as positive as possible, taking in the pleasant aspects of the situation. This is, in fact, what is conveyed by the text space of the CIN. The music space, however, contains an accompaniment still dominated by a staccato texture, planting the scene firmly in George’s world, even while the texture thickens and the tempo speeds up. Furthermore, the dynamics grow in intensity throughout this section. In the blended space, combining the meaning of the text with the evolution of the music reveals Dot’s increasing frustration through the quickening pace of the melody and accompaniment, as well as the increasing flow of sixteenth notes in Dot’s speech. The dynamics’ growing intensity further establishes this mounting frustration that is implied by the text but made overt by the music.

The last interesting instance of coordinated analysis of music and text is in measures 65-96, a section of which can be seen below. This section of the song transitions from the key of E major to the key of D flat major.

Here, the text moves from describing Dot’s annoyance and discomfort to illustrating George’s positive qualities which she admires and adores. She describes everything she loves about George, and her reason for being with him despite his aloofness is finally made clear. The music space highlights an even more dramatic change. The staccato texture is completely gone, favouring a flowing and melodic quality. Additionally, as mentioned earlier, the key transitions to D flat major, which, containing six flats in the key signature, is a more ‘round’ and soft sounding key. This change is an indication that Dot has transitioned from expressing her thoughts in George’s world to being in her own world altogether. Now, she is fully in control of herself. This is further highlighted in the stage performance by her character literally breaking out of her dress and being able to move around freely. In the blended space, the text and music create an image of freedom, love, and calm. This is a stark contrast to the emotions illustrated in the blended space throughout the other sections of the song.

While the text alone does illustrate a change in Dot’s mental state here, it is the music that makes the change so drastic, and only with the change of the accompaniment’s texture can the listener grasp the extent of the shift in the blended space. The section of the score below displays the climax of this section. Dot proclaims what she loves most about George, letting her passion run free, and the accompaniment follows her, moving into legato sixteenth notes for the first and only time in the song. This displays the epitome of Dot’s “world”—that is, her thoughts, as well as her freedom to fully express her feelings when she previously could not in George’s world.

In analyzing Stephen Sondheim’s “Sunday in the Park with George” it becomes clear that the analysis of music and text together is incredibly important when analyzing a song. The text and song both contribute their individual meanings, but it is in analyzing the generic space and, most of all, the blended space of a song that one can really grasp the full effect that it is trying to convey. The music can further the text’s meaning as well as completely change it, giving it an extra layer of depth that the listener will consciously or subconsciously appreciate. To this effect, Lawrence M. Zbikowski’s argument regarding the importance of the interaction between music and text in song is incredibly relevant, and it unlocks a new layer of meaning when explored further in the analysis of a piece such as “Sunday in the Park with George.”