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Some Enchanted Evening
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Wikipedia article
"'Some Enchanted Evening'" is a show tune from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical 'South Pacific'. It has been described as "the single biggest popular hit to come out of any Rodgers and Hammerstein show."Mast, Gerald. [https://archive.org/details/canthelpsingin00mast 'Can't Help Singin': The American Musical on Stage and Screen'], Overlook Press (1987), p. 206, excerpted in: Block, Geoffrey. [https://books.google.com/books?id=QLxEdG6HJ9sC&pg=PA91 'The Richard Rodgers Reader'], p. 91, Oxford University Press (2006). Andrew Lloyd Webber describes it as the "greatest song ever written for a musical".
The song is a three-verse solo for the leading male character, Emile, in which he describes first seeing a stranger, knowing that he will see her again, and dreaming of her laughter. He sings that when you find your "true love", you must "fly to her side, and make her your own, / Or all through your life you may dream all alone."
In 'South Pacific'
The song appears in the first act of the musical. It is sung as a solo by the show's male lead, Emile de Becque, a middle-aged French expatriate who has become a plantation owner on a South Pacific island during World War II. Emile falls in love with Ensign Nellie Forbush, an optimistic and naive young American navy nurse from Little Rock, Arkansas. The two have known each other for only a few weeks, and each worries that the other may not return his or her love. In the song, Emile expresses his romantic feelings for Nellie, recalling how they met at an officers' club dance and instantly were attracted to each other. He describes a man seeing a stranger and instantly knowing he will see her again, hearing her laughter and dreaming of it. He says that when you find your "true love", you must "fly to her side, and make her your own"; otherwise, all your life you will "dream all alone". He later asks her to marry him. The song is then reprised several times during the show by Nellie and/or Emile as their relationship experiences setbacks and reconciliations.
In the original Broadway production, "Some Enchanted Evening" was sung by former Metropolitan Opera bass Ezio Pinza. Pinza won the Tony Award for Best Actor in 1950 for this role,[http://www.tonyawards.com/p/tonys_search?start=0&year=&award=&lname=&fname=&show=%3Ci%3ESouth+Pacific%3C%2Fi%3E 'South Pacific' 1950 Tony winners], Tony Awards official website, accessed April 4, 2012 and the song made him a favorite with audiences and listeners who normally did not attend or listen to opera.Eaton, Quaintance. [https://books.google.com/books?id=pfQXAQAAIAAJ&q=%22bereaved+the+opera+house+of+a+true%22&dq=%22bereaved+the+opera+house+of+a+true%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZJV-T5vFGIiIiAKDocGPAw&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAA 'The Miracle of the Met: An Informal History of the Metropolitan Opera, 1883-1967']. Greenwood Press, 1976. p. 227. In the 2001 London revival of the show, Philip Quast won an Olivier Award for Best Actor for his role as Emile,[http://www.olivierawards.com/about/previous-winners/view/item98540/olivier-winners-2002/ "Olivier Winners 2002"] , Olivier Awards official website, accessed April 7, 2012 and seven years later, international opera singer Paulo Szot won a Tony for his portrayal in the 2008 New York revival.
In the film version of 'South Pacific', the first and second scenes of the play are switched around. Because of the switch, Emile enters later in the film, and "Some Enchanted Evening" is not heard until nearly 45 minutes into the film, while in the original stage version it is heard about 15 minutes after Act I begins.Pressley, Nelson. [https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/266059251.html?dids=266059251:266059251&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Dec+15%2C+2002&author=Nelson+Pressley&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=An+Era's++Bias%2C+Cast++In+Bali+Ha'i++Relief%3B+With+'South+Pacific%2C'++Arena+Stage+Takes+On++A+Troubling+Zeitgeist&pqatl=google "An Era's Bias, Cast In Bali Ha'i Relief; With 'South Pacific', Arena Stage Takes On A Troubling Zeitgeist"]. 'Washington Post'. December 15, 2002. In the film, the song is sung by another Metropolitan Opera bass, Giorgio Tozzi, who dubbed the singing for actor Rossano Brazzi.[http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/90961/South-Pacific/articles.html "'South Pacific' (1958)"]. TCM.com, accessed April 6, 2012 Tozzi's version finished at No. 28 on the 2004 American Film Institute list and television special, 'AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs', selecting the top 100 songs in American cinema.[http://www.afi.com/100Years/songs.aspx "AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Songs"], American Film Institute, June 22, 2004, accessed October 7, 2014
Analysis
According to 'Popular Music in America', the song's "lush orchestration, expansive form, and above all its soaring melody" allow the singer and character (Emile) to "linger in the moment" of immediate infatuation.Campbell, Michael. [https://books.google.com/books?id=nIZSM3zxNUEC&pg=PA132 'Popular Music in America: And the Beat Goes on'], p. 132, Cengage Learning, 2008 Gerald Mast's history of the American musical notes that the song is a climactic moment which reveals that two characters have fallen in love, and it expresses a seize-the-opportunity lyric: "When you find your true love ... Then fly to her side / And make her your own". According to the running commentary on the 2006 Fox DVD release of the 1958 film version of 'South Pacific', Lehman Engel remembered that Oscar Hammerstein II wanted to write a song based around verbs but waited ten years to do so before he wrote this song, in which the verses are built around the verbs "see", "hear" and "fly".In the 2006 Fox DVD release of the 1958 film version, running commentary of the film is provided on the first disc by Ted Chapin and Gerard Alessandrini. Alessondrini mentions that Hammerstein told Engel that he wanted to write a lyric focusing on verbs ten years before he wrote 'South Pacific'.
Selected recorded versions
Many popular singers have recorded and performed "Some Enchanted Evening".[http://www.rnh.com/song/3430/Some-Enchanted-Evening Link to numerous recordings of the song], Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization website, accessed March 18, 2012 Perry Como's version was a #1 hit in 1949,[http://musicvf.com/song.php?id=32546 Perry Como, "Some Enchanted Evening"], Music VF.com, accessed April 7, 2012 and Frank Sinatra recorded the song several times.
*Ezio Pinza (recorded April 18, 1949, Original Broadway cast recording of 'South Pacific'). His single version reached No. 7 in the Billboard charts in 1949.
*Perry Como (1949). His single reached No. 1 in 1949
*Frank Sinatra (1949), (1963, including a duet with Rosemary Clooney), (1967). The 1949 version reached the No. 6 position in the Billboard charts.
*Bing Crosby (1949), recorded March 10, 1949 and reached No. 3 in the Billboard charts during a 20-week stay.
*Jo Stafford - 'Autumn in New York' (1950). Her single version reached No. 4 in the Billboard charts in 1949.
*Giorgio Tozzi (1958 for the film soundtrack; 1967 for the Lincoln Center revival cast recording with Florence Henderson)
*Andy Williams (from the 1958 album, 'Andy Williams Sings Rodgers and Hammerstein')
*Jay & The Americans (1965). The Group's single version reached No. 13 on the Hot 100, Billboard charts in 1965.
*Jos Carreras (1986) for a studio cast recording of 'South Pacific' with Kiri Te Kanawa, Mandy Patinkin and Sarah Vaughan
*Willie Nelson included it on his 1988 album, 'What a Wonderful World'
*Barbra Streisand (from her No. 1 1993 album 'Back to Broadway')
*The Temptations (1995, 'For Lovers Only')
*Bryn Terfel 'Something Wonderful: Bryn Terfel Sings Rodgers and Hammerstein' (1996)
*Philip Quast for the 2002 London revival cast recording of 'South Pacific'
*Art Garfunkel (from his 2007 album 'Some Enchanted Evening')
*Paulo Szot 'South Pacific' (The New Broadway Cast) (2008)
*Bob Dylan (from his No.1 2015 album 'Shadows in the Night')
In popular culture
The song's title has been used as the name for albums, such as one by Blue yster Cult, one by Art Garfunkel and a cast album and PBS special of the revue '"Some Enchanted Evening" The Songs of Rodgers & Hammerstein'.[http://www.rnh.com/show/91 "Some Enchanted Evening The Songs of Rodgers & Hammerstein"], Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, accessed December 24, 2013; and [http://www.rnh.com/news/587/Centennial-Summer "Centennial Summer"], Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, May 1, 1995, accessed December 24, 2013 It was used as the name for television episodes in such TV series as 'The Simpsons', 'Last of the Summer Wine', 'Man About the House', and 'Bless This House'. The song has been sung in films and on TV shows, for example by Harrison Ford in the film 'American Graffiti' (1978 reissue),Pfeiffer, Lee and Michael Lewis, [https://books.google.com/books?id=DBxQmo2T7PoC&pg=PA59 'The Films of Harrison Ford'], Citadel Press, 2002, p. 59 by an itinerant chanteuse in 'Crossing Delancey' (1988),Dinicola, Dan. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1917&dat=19880929&id=MmItAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gogFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2558,7617340 "'Crossing Delancey' is Refreshing"], 'Schenectady Gazette', September 29, 1988, accessed April 7, 2012 by Jon Bon Jovi on 'Ally McBeal' in the episode "Homecoming" (2002)[http://www.tv.com/shows/ally-mcbeal/homecoming-116591/ "'Ally McBeal': 'Homecoming'"], TV.com (CBS), accessed April 7, 2012 and by Bert in episode 102 on 'The Muppet Show' (1977) to Connie Stevens.[http://www.retroist.com/2012/03/29/rare-appearances-of-bert-and-ernie-on-the-muppet-show/ "Rare Appearances of Bert and Ernie on The Muppet Show"], Retroist, March 29, 2012Chapman, Phillip. [http://www.muppetcentral.com/guides/episodes/tms/season1/2_stevens.shtml "Connie Stevens - Episode 2"], Muppet Central Guides, accessed April 7, 2012
Notes
References
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