| "Some Enchanted Evening" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| from the albumSouth Pacific | |
| Published | 1949 |
| Composer | Richard Rodgers |
| Lyricist | Oscar Hammerstein II |
"Some Enchanted Evening" is ashow tune from the 1949Rodgers and HammersteinmusicalSouth Pacific. It has been described as "the single biggest popular hit to come out of any Rodgers and Hammerstein show."[1]Andrew Lloyd Webber describes it as the "greatest song ever written for a musical".[2]
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, then dreaming of hearing her laughter and finally of feeling her call him. 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." The song has been called "a marvelous distillation of love at first sight [but also] a reflection for mature people who've known it and lived it".[3]
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 duringWorld War II. Emile falls in love with Ensign Nellie Forbush, an optimistic and naive young American navy nurse fromLittle 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 formerMetropolitan Opera starEzio Pinza. Pinza won theTony Award for Best Actor in 1950 for this role,[4] and the song made him a favorite with audiences and listeners who normally did not attend or listen to opera.[5] In the 2001 London revival of the show,Philip Quast won anOlivier Award for Best Actor for his role as Emile,[6] and seven years later, international opera singerPaulo Szot won a Tony for his portrayal in the 2008 New York revival.[7]
In thefilm version ofSouth 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.[8] In the film, the song is sung by Metropolitan Opera bassGiorgio Tozzi, who dubbed the singing for actorRossano Brazzi.[9] Tozzi's version finished at No. 28 on the 2004American Film Institute list and television special,AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs, selecting the top 100 songs in American cinema.[10]
According toPopular 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.[11]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 aseize-the-opportunity lyric:[1] "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 ofSouth Pacific,Lehman Engel remembered thatOscar 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".[12]
Many popular singers have recorded and performed "Some Enchanted Evening".[13]Perry Como's version was a#1 hit in 1949,[14] andFrank Sinatra recorded the song several times.
The song's title has been used as the name for albums, such as one byBlue Öyster Cult, one byArt Garfunkel and a cast album and PBS special of therevue"Some Enchanted Evening" – The Songs of Rodgers & Hammerstein.[23] It was used as the name for television episodes in such TV series asThe Simpsons,Last of the Summer Wine,Man About the House, andBless This House.[citation needed]
The song has been sung in films and on TV shows, for example byHarrison Ford in the filmAmerican Graffiti (1978 reissue),[24] by Alan Alda's character Hawkeye on MASH in season 4 episode 18 "Hawkeye", by an itinerant chanteuse inCrossing Delancey (1988),[25] byJon Bon Jovi onAlly McBeal in the episode "Homecoming" (2002)[26] and byBert in episode 102 onThe Muppet Show (1977) toConnie Stevens.[27][28] In April 2023, the song featured in theBBC Radio 4 seriesSoul Music.[29]
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