Children of Eden: Vocal Selections (Essential Musicals) (Paperback)

~ Stephen Schwartz (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Musical from the multi Grammy and Oscar winning composer/lyricist of Godspell, Pippin, The Prince of Egypt, The Magic Show, The Baker's Wife, and more. Book includes a biography. Titles are: Ain't It Good * Children of Eden * Close to Home * The Hardest Part of Love * In the Beginning * In Pursuit of Excellence * In Whatever Time We Have * Lost in the Wilderness * Spark of Creation * Stranger to the Rain * Wastland * A World Without You.

Product Details

• Paperback: 88 pages
• Publisher: Alfred Publishing Company (July 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0769270085
• ISBN-13: 978-0769270081
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 9.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #893,510 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars excellent music, March 29, 2000

By A Customer

The Children of Eden vocal selections are wonderful. If you haven't heard the music, make sure you do - it's some of the greatest ever. My only complaint is that the selections left out some of the best songs, namely "Generations."

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Accurate keyboard reductions, May 22, 2005

By	Matthew Smedal (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Like most of Schwartz's published music, the selections included in this collection are scored well for voice and keyboard alone. The vocal line in never interpolated into the accompaniment figure, allowing the pianist to have much more fun than is often the case with coma-inducing boom-chick reductions. Because of this, the aspiring pianist may have a more difficult time reading the music than his/her trained counterpart, but none of the music should prove overly demanding for anyone who has seriously studied the instrument. The music feels great under the fingers, and-as is the case with most of Schwartz's scores-proves to be a good study in rock/pop pianism.

The ever-popular "Lost in the Wilderness" is scored a whole step lower than the original show key (here it is in G Major). The vocal ornamentation at the end of the "Lost" bridge isn't written out and there are several places in "Stranger to the Rain" where the music director of the cast album allowed vocal liberties that are not represented in the printed music (whether or not you like them we can assume that they weren't Mr. Schwartz's ideas). All in all a good a good source of material.

0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FANTASTIC!, November 18, 2002

By	Rob (NJ) - See all my reviews

Im actually in a production of this play right now, and theres only one thing better than listening to the cd, and its seeing it! I highly recommend this and my other favorite Schwartz show Godspell. My favorite song is "The Wasteland" not because thats my solo, but because its a brilliantly written piece of music.