Something Wonderful (song)
Encyclopedia
"Something Wonderful" is a show tune
from the 1951
Rodgers and Hammerstein
musical
The King and I
.
The song was first sung in the original Broadway production by Dorothy Sarnoff
, who played Lady Thiang. Later, in the 1956 film adaptation
starring Deborah Kerr
and Yul Brynner
it was sung by Terry Saunders as Lady Thiang. Terry Saunders was the stage name for Terry Termini, a young woman who got her start out of the Brooklyn, New York area.
In the show, Lady Thiang, the King's head wife, sings this song to Anna Leonowens
to persuade her to accept the King for what he is, despite his faults. In a sense, these lyrics have echoes of the song "What's the Use of Wond'rin'" from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel
, which also deal with the issue of women standing by their husbands despite all their faults. Musically, the heavy chords
that punctuate the accompaniment bear some pre-echoes of the song Climb Ev'ry Mountain
from The Sound of Music
. This is notable because both these songs are inspirational songs sung by the earth-mother characters, who have similar singing voices. Both songs are also the last songs heard in their respective shows, even though Something Wonderful is played as an instrumental rendition to underscore the final scene of the King at his deathbed.
Show tune
A show tune is a popular song originally written as part of the score of a "show" , especially if the piece in question has become a "standard", more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context...
from the 1951
1951 in music
-Events:*January 29 – Nilla Pizzi wins the first annual Sanremo Music Festival with "Grazie dei fiori".*February – The first complete performance of Charles Ives's Second Symphony is given in Carnegie Hall by the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leonard Bernstein.*March – Alan...
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
The King and I
The King and I
The King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...
.
The song was first sung in the original Broadway production by Dorothy Sarnoff
Dorothy Sarnoff
Dorothy Sarnoff was an American operatic soprano, musical theatre actress, and self-help guru. She had an active performing career from the late 1930s through the 1950s, during which time she sang in several operas with the New York City Opera and created several roles on Broadway, most notably...
, who played Lady Thiang. Later, in the 1956 film adaptation
The King and I (1956 film)
The King and I is a 1956 musical film made by 20th Century Fox, directed by Walter Lang and produced by Charles Brackett and Darryl F. Zanuck. The screenplay by Ernest Lehman is based on the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II musical The King and I, based in turn on the book Anna and the King...
starring Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr, CBE was a Scottish film and television actress from Glasgow. She won the Sarah Siddons Award for her Chicago performance as Laura Reynolds in Tea and Sympathy, a role which she originated on Broadway, a Golden Globe Award for the motion picture The King and I, and was a three-time...
and Yul Brynner
Yul Brynner
Yul Brynner was a Russian-born actor of stage and film. He was best known for his portrayal of Mongkut, king of Siam, in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for the film version; he also played the role more than 4,500 times on...
it was sung by Terry Saunders as Lady Thiang. Terry Saunders was the stage name for Terry Termini, a young woman who got her start out of the Brooklyn, New York area.
In the show, Lady Thiang, the King's head wife, sings this song to Anna Leonowens
Anna Leonowens
Anna Leonowens was an English travel writer, educator, and social activist. She worked in Siam from 1862 to 1868, where she taught the wives and children of Mongkut, king of Siam. She also co-founded the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design...
to persuade her to accept the King for what he is, despite his faults. In a sense, these lyrics have echoes of the song "What's the Use of Wond'rin'" from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel
Carousel (musical)
Carousel is the second stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II . The work premiered in 1945 and was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline...
, which also deal with the issue of women standing by their husbands despite all their faults. Musically, the heavy chords
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
that punctuate the accompaniment bear some pre-echoes of the song Climb Ev'ry Mountain
Climb Ev'ry Mountain
"Climb Ev'ry Mountain" is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music. Here it is sung at the close of the first act by the Mother Abbess...
from The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
. This is notable because both these songs are inspirational songs sung by the earth-mother characters, who have similar singing voices. Both songs are also the last songs heard in their respective shows, even though Something Wonderful is played as an instrumental rendition to underscore the final scene of the King at his deathbed.
Recordings
- Doris DayDoris DayDoris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
recorded this song for her 1960 album What Every Girl Should Know. - Nina SimoneNina SimoneEunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
has covered the song in her 1964 album Broadway-Blues-BalladsBroadway-Blues-BalladsBroadway-Blues-Ballads is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone . It was her second album for Philips. In contrast to her first Philips album, the live In Concert, which was politically laden with civil rights motifs, this studio album is more playful... - Barbra StreisandBarbra StreisandBarbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
also covered the song on her 1985 quadruple-platinumPlatinumPlatinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...
album The Broadway AlbumThe Broadway AlbumThe Broadway Album is the twenty-fourth studio album by director, composer, actress and singer Barbra Streisand, released by Columbia Records on November 4, 1985. Consisting mainly of classic show tunes, the album marked a major shift in Barbra Streisand's career. Streisand had spent ten years...
as the finale of her King and I medley that also contains elements of "I Have DreamedI Have Dreamed (song)"I Have Dreamed" is a show tune from the 1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, The King and I. In the original Broadway production it was sung by Doretta Morrow and Larry Douglas. It has since become a standard, with many artists recording the song...
" and "We Kiss in a ShadowWe Kiss in a Shadow"We Kiss in a Shadow" is a show tune from the 1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, The King and I.In this song, Tuptim and Lun Tha declare their love for each other, even though they fear that the King of Siam would know about it....
". The album containing Streisand's King and I medley hit the #1 position on the Billboard 200Billboard 200The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
album chart and sold over four million copies, per the BJS Music Guide. - Carly SimonCarly SimonCarly Elisabeth Simon is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records, and has since been the recipient of two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for her work...
covered the song on My RomanceMy Romance (album)My Romance is an album by the U.S. singer-songwriter Carly Simon, released in 1990. It is her fourteenth studio album, and her sixteenth album overall, as well as being her second album devoted to standards.-Track listing:...
, her 1990 album of standards. - Liza MinnelliLiza MinnelliLiza May Minnelli is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli....
, on her 20022002 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2002.-Events:*February 3 – U2 perform during the halftime show for Super Bowl XXXVI...
live album Liza's BackLiza's BackLiza's Back is a live album by Liza Minnelli recorded on June 2, 2002.It was produced by her then husband, David Gest, and released on CD in the same year by J Records....