(0h03m47s) "Memory" is a show tune from the 1981 Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats sung by the character Grizabella, a one-time glamour cat who is now a shell of her former self. The song is a nostalgic remembrance of her glorious past and a declaration of her wishes to start a new life. Sung briefly in the first act and in full near the end of the show, "Memory" is the climax of the musical, and by far its most popular and well-known song.
The lyrics, written by Cats director Trevor Nunn, were based on T. S. Eliot's poems "Preludes" and "Rhapsody on a Windy Night". Lloyd Webber's former writing partner, Tim Rice and then-current collaborator Don Black submitted lyrics to the show's producers for consideration, however, Nunn's version was favoured.
Lloyd Webber, fearing that the tune sounded too similar to a work of Puccini, asked his father's opinion. According to Lloyd Webber, his father responded, "It sounds like a million dollars!"
Prior to its inclusion in Cats, the tune was ear-marked for earlier Lloyd Webber projects, including a ballad for Perón in Evita and as a song for Max in his original 1970s draft of Sunset Boulevard.
In its original orchestration, the song's climax is in the key of D-flat major: the composer's favorite.
The arrangement of the lyrics in the show were changed after the initial recordings of the track, with the first verse beginning, "Midnight, not a sound from the pavement..." being used in only the brief, Act I rendition of the song and a new verse, "Memory, turn your face to the moonlight..." in its place for the Act II performance. Furthermore, the original second bridge section became the first and a new second bridge instated. Consequently, the arrangement of the lyrics for a recording usually depends on whether the artist has played the role on stage.
The song is often incorrectly referred to as "Memories"; the correct title is the singular "Memory". [info courtesy: wikipedia.org] clip video [Plus d'informations] [Moins d'informations] |
