Spotlight on
Rodgers & Hammerstein
Rodgers & Hammerstein were a well-known American songwriting team. Composer Richard Rodgers (1902 – 1979) and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895 – 1960) created a large canon of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the “Golden Age” of Broadway. For example, Oklahama!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music became extraordinary achievements. In all, Rodgers and Hammerstein received for their stage shows and film versions an astonishing thirty-four Tony Awards, fifteen Academy Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, and two Grammys.
Before collaborating in their professional partnership, both Rodgers and Hammerstein had independent writing success. Rodgers had previously worked for some twenty years with lyricist Lorenz Hart, which produced other Broadway successes such as A Connecticut Yankee (1927), Babes in Arms (1937), The Boys from Syracuse (1938), Pal Joey (1940), and By Jupiter (1942), as well as many successful film projects.
Rodgers & Hammerstein
Rodgers & Hammerstein were a well-known American songwriting team. Composer Richard Rodgers (1902 – 1979) and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895 – 1960) created a large canon of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the “Golden Age” of Broadway. For example, Oklahama!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music became extraordinary achievements. In all, Rodgers and Hammerstein received for their stage shows and film versions an astonishing thirty-four Tony Awards, fifteen Academy Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, and two Grammys.
Before collaborating in their professional partnership, both Rodgers and Hammerstein had independent writing success. Rodgers had previously worked for some twenty years with lyricist Lorenz Hart, which produced other Broadway successes such as A Connecticut Yankee (1927), Babes in Arms (1937), The Boys from Syracuse (1938), Pal Joey (1940), and By Jupiter (1942), as well as many successful film projects.
