When composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim passed away in 2021, he left behind a collection of more than 5,000 items – including notebooks, scrapbooks of newspaper clippings, and even birthday songs he wrote for friends – documenting his life and work in American musical theater. Sondheim had agreed to leave his manuscripts to the Library of Congress following a visit there in 1993, and the collection officially opened to the public this past July 1. Sondheim’s papers join those of other musical theater icons, many with whom he collaborated, including Leonard Bernstein, Oscar Hammerstein and director Harold Prince, which can also be found in the library’s research collections.
A Tempo host Rachel Katz checked in with Senior Music Specialist Mark Horowitz, who gave Sondheim that tour, about what can be found in the collection, its significance, and what type of research is already being done.
