text:
Talk:Stephen Sondheim

Opera houses
"Sweeney Todd (1979), Sondheim's most operatic score (and his only show to find a definite foothold in opera houses)..." Didn't A Little Night Music play at NYCO? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.172.255.41 (talk) 00:09, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

¿Is he panning to do a new musical?

Classy but
Good work but needs fantastic much touching up as readability is extremely low.

I found it a bit confusing that some of his works are in the text while others are in the list below. Should this get unified? Sebastian 03:07 Jan 25, 2003 (UTC)
 * Made works list unified. This may be redundant, but I think the complete works list is beneficial. Minor works will be blurbed on the main page and not linked, I think. Dreamword 00:07 Jan 26, 2003 (UTC)

The Lloyd Webber bit is a bit misplaced. They are entirely different artists. Sondheim hasn't been commercially successful but don't think the Webber reference really gets to that point in a pithy way.

Homosexuality never stated
Could someone please reinsert a section on Sonheim being homosexual, preferably with a source? He's listed in categories of gay musicians, LGBQ public figures, ectera - but it is NEVER mentioned in this version of the article. Thanks. Zakolantern 01:15, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Maybe everyone thinks it's obvious.
 * I know typically we're not supposed to edit other user comments but- well, come on. ChrisStansfield 10:11, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

Agreed, it's ludicrous this is never mentioned; it smacks of homophobia that such a central part of the man and his life is missing. Vauxhall1964 (talk) 19:07, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

Agreed - I just found out Bob Fosse was straight (surprise) by reading the article and having details of his personal life mentioned. The omission of any personal details (relationships, etc.) after adolescence is silly in this case. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.248.55.112 (talk) 05:51, 1 October 2009 (UTC)

I agree, there definitely needs to be a mention of this in the body of the article with a reliable source cited, especially if we're going to be including him in LGBT categories. Anyone have a reference handy? — MearsMan  talk  03:22, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

 * See the Personal life section I added today, used direct quotes to avoid any problems with original research/opinion, etc; I think this is well-documented.JeanColumbia (talk) 14:09, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Bump on his head
What's with the bump on his head? It's pretty pronounced and I've done lots of searching and have found no answer except to find I'm not the only one to wonder.--Jhlynes 23:51, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

Homosexuality
Is it really relevant to mention a highly questionnable hypothesis on the cause (if any could be found) of his homosexuality ??

No, it would be discrimination. I mean, you don't put a hypothesis of Francis Ford Coppola, or any other, for beign straight

User:Intones

.

Sotto voce?
I think that's really odd phrasing for one's sexuality. Any suggestions to change that? IvanP 14:35, 13 August 2005 (UTC)

Directors on list of major works
I really think the list of major works should include the director. Harold Prince made a HUGE contribution to the shaping of those shows. Anyone object if I add it?

 * Directors of musicals are usually an integral part of the authorship team. Please do add directors to the list. TheScotch 07:49, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

I've now added directors for most of these myself. TheScotch 19:33, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

Picture
Definately needed in my opinion MikeyB! 19:22, 1 February 2006 (UTC)

Foxy
Is it necessary to go into such detail about Foxy's alleged "sexually predatory" behaviour towards her son?

Yes, it was a mjor factor in the shape of Sondheim's life. She was one of the major reasons he ended up spending so much time with Hammerstein. -Luke Callahan

"Losing My Mind"
Did Liza Minelli's version of "Losing My Mind" ever hit the top 40 in the United States or Europe? I think it might have, which would mean that "Send In The Clowns" wouldn't be his only Top 40 hit. Can anyone verify that? ChrisLK 23:41, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

 * According to Liza Minelli it reached #6 in UK in 1989 and #11 in US Dance charts footie 20:05, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

 * Thanks! I think I'll change the "Send in the Clowns" thing then. ChrisLK 20:52, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

 * I realize this is an old discussion, but many of the songs for Madonna for Dick Tracy did quite well.... —  Music Maker  17:21, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

Harmonic style
I have never heard someone's harmony described as being "angular" the way it is here: "He also displays a penchant for angular harmonies and intricate melodies..." Lush, dense, complex, open, etc., but how can harmony be angular? Is there a better word to use? Wspencer11 17:21, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

 * The passage currently reads "He also displays a penchant for angular harmonies and intricate melodies reminiscent of Bach....".

 * Not only do I not know what an "angular [harmony]" is, I also don't see how Sondheim's melodies are "reminiscent of Bach" (or of Bach's melodies, for that matter). I suspect that the writer doesn't either, and that this is merely blowing smoke. (Actually, I think "intricate" would work better to describe Sondheim's harmonies than to describe his melodies.) TheScotch 09:34, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

That whole section is typically pretentious - in a sophomoric way - of the entire article. Yea, of almost everything at Wikipedia where experts fear to tread and only fools contribute.

NPOV and fact tags
I did a little bit of work on this article; there are many unsourced quotes and statements that need sources. I also tried to work on the POV stuff, if anyone else wants to take a crack at it, feel free. It's a very detailed biographical study, and someone (or several people) obviously took great time and care in writing it, some of the language just needs to be toned down. Ckessler 03:21, 5 August 2006 (UTC)

 * The unsourced statements are definitely all from Meryl Secrest's biography of him from about 10 years ago.

""Sond" means sound, or body of water"
"Sond" is not a German word.

Yes it is, halfwit.

 * I don't speak German, but I can't find 'sond' or words that might be related (sond, sonder) in any online German dictionary. If it's German, it's mikely archaic. 157.131.202.151 (talk) 06:17, 25 February 2022 (UTC)

"We don't know if this is really true," etc.
Don't these count as "weasel words?"

Some random cites
stuff about his mom being a bitch. She said her only regret in life was giving birth to him. http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0786412690&id=BfWyQ39xk0wC&pg=PA109&lpg=PA109&ots=nqequ0AxI0&dq=%22Stephen+Sondheim%22+biography&sig=GCsJh0C2fH3KsSbRM2NPwvmbl7o#PPA109,M1

Personal life beyond childhood
It seems that fears about controversy have really done damage to this entry- there is virtually nothing regarding Sondheim's personal life beyond childhood, and even the details of his childhood are lacking. The facts of Sondheim's relationship with his mother may be disquieting, but they are well-referenced and confirmed by Sondheim himself, so there's hardly a worry about libel. Considering the fact that the most common criticism of Sondheim's output during the 70's and 80's was "coldness," I think his troubled childhood has real relevance to the article. What about his relationship with Mary Rodgers, which both have described as a major turning point in their lives? Or the fact that even though the two were close, Sondheim and Richard Rodgers couldn't stand each other? The complete skirting of the fact of Sondheim's open homosexuality is also more than odd. Sondheim gave a pretty open and revealing interview to the New York Times Magazine a few years ago and there have been other articles that spoke at some length of his long-term relationship with a younger composer (whose name escapes me at the moment.) They were together several years- if Sondheim were heterosexual and had married a long-term lover, especially one of note herself, that would be considered important and appropriate in a biographical entry. It should be considered appropriate in this case, too.

I'd put all of this stuff back in myself, but looking over the history and the talk pages, I feel it would br promptly removed. Could somebody explain why? This deserves real discussion! ChrisStansfield 06:46, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

 * A wikipedia biographical article should concern itself chiefly with the subject's professional career, and it should be pithy. In particular it should refrain from psychological analysis of the subject, whether or not that analysis may be grounds for "libel". Sondheim's friendship with Mary Rodgers and difficult relationship with Richard Rodgers are fairly trivial matters. Yes, they do come up in book-length biographies (Sondheim & Company, etc.), but even there they are typically dealt with only very briefly.

 * Re: "and there have been other articles that spoke at some length of his long-term relationship with a younger composer (whose name escapes me at the moment.) They were together several years- if Sondheim were heterosexual and had married a long-term lover, especially one of note herself, that would be considered important and appropriate in a biographical entry.":

 * If the "younger composer" is the one I'm thinking of (mentioned toward the end of Secrest's book), he wasn't with Sondheim very long, and he wasn't especially a person "of note" in his own right (which is why I can't remember his name either). I think you'll find that most wikipedia biographical articles don't mention spouses at all (certainly none of those I've chiefly authored have), even when the marriages in question have lasted many decades, and judging by Secrest's book Sondheim doesn't appear to have had any really long-term romantic relationships. He lives alone (except for his cook), and appears to have lived alone most of his life. TheScotch 10:09, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

 * With no mention of Mr. Sondheim's personal life as an adult, especially of a romantic/dating/sexual (pick your word) life, this article is guilty of turning him into a metaphorical eunuch, so often done to gay men previously, less so today. It reminds me of how famous gay men, especially Hollywood actors, were treated and reported on in the 50s: girlfriends/wives were arranged, male love interests were never mentioned or referred to as friends, etc. This omission in the current article is retrograde. Savacek (talk) 17:07, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

Only child?
Speaking of lack-of-detail in the childhood section, he is not an only child, he has a brother named Walt.

 * Just to clarify the family situation. Sondheim's father, Herbert, and Alicia Babe had two sons, Herbert Sondheim, Jr, (born in Autumn 1943) and Walter Sondheim (born in Feb. 1946). Herbert Sr. and Alicia were married in a registry office in Stamford, Connecticut, in 1943, having obtained a Mexican divorce earlier. There was a legal separation between Herbert Sr and Foxy (Sondheim's mother) in autumn 1941, and a New York divorce was obtained in 1946. This rather long-winded account is just to set the stage for this: Herbert Jr. and Walter are Stephen Sondheim's HALF brothers. (reference: Stephen Sondheim, A Life, Meryle Secrest, 1998, ISBN 0-385-33412-5, pages 28-30).JeanColumbia 19:53, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

Re: "Herbert Sr. and Alicia were married in a registry office in Stamford, Connecticut, in 1943, having obtained a Mexican divorce earlier.":

That sounds like Merrily We Roll Along: backward. I take it you mean, "Herbert, Sr having obtained a Mexican divorce from Foxy earlier''". TheScotch 10:15, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

 * I looked up some relevant portions in the book via Amazon's 'search inside,' and it indicates that Stephen and the younger kids lived in the same house for several years after Stephen moved in with his father. I was not assaulting the family tree with my original question of only-child-hood, just pointing out that I didn't think the statement in the article was accurate.  I personally do not think that children with half-siblings can accurately be described as "only children" ... don't half siblings count as children?  Is there another word; can you be a half-only-child?  Sure, he was the only child for the first few years, but that's always true until the second child is born.  The sentence in question seems to be from the book review at amazon.com, anyway, rather than a direct source (like the book).  I propose changing it to reflect the family situation.  Again, I'm not taking issue with your distinction about the parentage of the younger two, just saying that the description "an only child" doesn't fit -- not by the definition provided at the linked-to page on "only child."  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.197.31.27 (talk) 16:56, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

In reading the Conversations with Sondheim Frank Rich had with Sondheim, he was quoted saying he was an only child. Shouldn't we base his sibling status on what Sondheim said? He might of had half siblings but was maybe not close with them, or didn't consider them to be family? "I was an only child. I was the youngest and got the best marks in the class -- I won't say the smartest. Right away that means some people love you and some people hate you."

http://partners.nytimes.com/library/magazine/home/20000312mag-sondheim.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.23.57.82 (talk) 17:06, 29 November 2011 (UTC)

Even with half-siblings on the father's side, he remained his mother's only child. WordwizardW (talk) 14:13, 27 November 2021 (UTC)

 * What does "might of had" mean? TheScotch (talk) 09:02, 22 April 2022 (UTC)

Only listens to Bach?
The part in the Maturity section about Sondheim saying he only listens to Bach really needs a citation. Especially since Sondheim donated his record collection of over 13,000 recordings to the Library of Congress and they were not all Bach.--Timmyk0385 16:40, 5 May 2007 (UTC)

I heard Sondheim speak today (6 July 2007) in Sydney and he seemed bemused by the suggestion that Bach was his favourite composer. He expressed a preference for composers from Brahms to Stravinsky, including Ravel and Racmaninoff. 125.255.8.224 15:15, 6 July 2007 (UTC)QP

 * Besides, his Desert Island collection (of recordings, in response to a question from a BBC Radio interviewer) was topped, not by a performance of a Bach work, but by a recording of Porgy and Bess- unsurprising, considering his fairly well-known (I think) admiration/enjoyment/... for George Gershwin's music in general and Porgy and Bess in particular. (It would surprise me if his listening background weren't quite wide, in any case. There's a fair amount more that's tip-of-the-hat-ish-to-Mozart- mostly in subtle, clever ways, if you ask me, but true all the same...- about A Little Night Music than just the title, for instance!) Schissel | Sound the Note! 02:56, 18 May 2014 (UTC)

Trivia section
I have removed the Trivia section - please see WP:BLP for Trivia sections and living persons. --Ozgod 04:31, 15 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I have temporarily reverted the edit. According to WP:BLP: "Biographies of living persons should not have trivia sections. Instead, relevant sourced claims should be woven into the article." (Emphasis mine.) According to Trivia Section: ...Trivia sections are considered by some contributors to be a poor method of laying out an entry and believe that the information would better be presented in the body of the article instead of within a separate section...
 * There is no official ruling on trivia sections. It is a matter of style of presentation that is up for debate by wiki contributors. (Emphasis mine). I agree with you that a trivia section in this case is poor style, but rather than simply delete it, I feel that, as per recommendations, the relevant info (of which there is some) should be incorporated into the main article.  If you can't be bothered to do so, than at least leave it alone for a couple of days until I or someone else can set aside the time necessary to do so. ChrisStansfield 18:05, 15 July 2007 (UTC)

The only entry here I can see being reasonably worked into the article proper is the reference to the "Theatre Arts" school. TheScotch 10:30, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

 * I've now "removed" the others. TheScotch 10:54, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

Now I've gone further and removed the last remaining bit of trivia and with it the section heading (since there's nothing left). I really did try to incorporate it in the article, but after investigation it appeared to me not worthy. It would be different maybe if Sondheim were on the faculty, but he seems to be only nominally connected with the organization. TheScotch 19:11, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

Opening sentence - weasel words?
Sondheim is widely seen as his generation's leading writer of the stage musical...

Wouldn't it be more encyclopedic to open it with something like "Sondheim is an American composer?"

Thoughts? Springreturning 20:41, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

 * I agree with the comments of Springreturning, and rearranged the opening to be less POV and to omit the "weasel" words. JeanColumbia 23:28, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

Expansion
I have expanded some sections a little bit - adding the "work away from Broadway" section, for example, which I think could stand expansion itself. I would really like to add a section on his later personal life, since that bit ends pretty much when he's 16. I have Secrest's biography as a source, and all I want to see is a couple of paragraphs, just to round the article out. I see this was a bone of contention before, so I'll wait on it in case somebody objects.

Also, I am noticing a really adoring tone in a lot of the prose of the article which isn't really appropriate for an encyclopedia; there's also a lot of show jargon ("concept musical" and the like) that I'm trying to either define or eliminate. -67.85.180.72 14:49, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Numbers
From the Manual of Style: "In the body of an article, single-digit whole numbers (from zero to nine) are spelled out; numbers of more than one digit are generally rendered as digits, but may be spelled out if they are expressed in one or two words (sixteen, eighty-four, two hundred, but 3.75, 544, 21 million)."
 * I have therefore changed the "numbers of more than one digit" to comply with the prescribed MOS. JeanColumbia 10:33, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

There is no way in hell ten should not be spelled out except within an arithmetic problem or an accounting spreadsheet. Nineteen could conceivably rendered as a numeral but generally should not be. TheScotch 10:51, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
 * I concede to your obviously rather emotional argument, which seems to mean a great deal to you. You certainly may override the MOS-it's not set in stone, anyway, and I am not the style police. The world is certainly full enough of shoulds. Have a nice day. JeanColumbia 11:27, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

As you quote it, it may be written with odd emphasis. The point of these sorts of stipulations is that the smaller numbers should be spelled out, not that the larger numbers should necessarily be rendered as numerals. (There is no precise cut-off point.) It seems to me you're looking at this backward, and the unfortunate wording of the quote may have helped to give you the wrong impression. TheScotch 11:56, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

 * At risk of belaboring the point, here, for perspective, are some citations:

 * Donald Hall, Writing Well, p.299:

 * "Print out the figures except when they are long to the point of being ridiculous. If you can write that a town has 'one hundred and four thousand inhabitants,' write it. If necessity requires precision, '104,627' will do, and 'one hundred and four thousand, six hundred and twenty-seven' might be precious."

 * Margaret Shertzer, The Elements of Grammar, p. 125:

 * "Spell out numbers from one through ten, except in a series of related numbers. In formal writing, numbers that can be expressed in one or two words are spelled out, but figures may be used in letters or reports."

 * Hodges and Whitten, Harbrace College Handbook, p. 100:

 * "Although usage varies, writers tend to spell out numbers that can be expressed in one word or two; they regularly use figures for other numbers."

 * I submit that since wikipedia is supposed to be an encyclopedia, it needs to use formal prose, and thus the rule should not be worded such that it implies that spelling out one-word or two-word numbers greater than nine is an exceptional practice. TheScotch 05:47, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

Enchanted?
I was watching the Academy Awards and heard that he did work for the 2007 movie "enchanted". Can anyone back up this claim or am I going senile at only 14 years? Thanks, Lazylaces (Talk to me 01:11, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

 * Perhaps you're thinking of Stephen Schwartz? AJD (talk) 02:05, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

1993 Great Performances broadcast of Carnegie Hall concert
I was surprised to see that their is no mention of Sondheim - A Celebration at Carnegie Hall on this page. It was released on DVD and CD as well as being aired on PBS on Great Performances and had a lot of great performers involved.Nrswanson (talk) 19:23, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Opera question
An editor revised the headings of the works section to show (among other edits) that Sweeney Todd and A Little Night Music are Opera. I reverted these changes because I do not believe that it has been established that they are operas. I believe that any such classification should be discussed on the talk page and, per good Wikipedia practice, referenced so as not to be original research (see WP:OR). Here is one reference for Sweeney Todd: "He [Sondheim} considers Sweeney Todd:The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, which opened on Broadway in 1979, a musical, not an opera." Source:[Opera: a critic's guide to the 100 most important works and and the best recordings, Author: Anthony Tommasini, Macmillan, 2004, p. 202]. The title page of the Sweeny Todd script shows:"A musical Thriller". I think in the actual articles on these musicals it would be interesting to note if any writers, scholars, or reviewers called the musical an opera, operetta, chamber operetta, or any variation (with appropriate referencing). JeanColumbia (talk) 12:08, 4 March 2010 (UTC)

 * Sondheim has made various statements about this, sometimes saying that they are musicals when played in a theatre but operas when played in an opera house. But whether or not they are "operas" also depends on what critics and audiences think.  There is certainly no critical consensus that they are operas.  I think the most that can be said is that, on occasion, these pieces, particularly Sweeney, have received operatic treatment.  I definitely agree that they should not be described as operas in general, and I also agree that a well-referenced treatment of the question would be helpful. -- Ssilvers (talk) 18:01, 22 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Thanks! By the way, I saw Sweeney Todd performed by the Wolf Trap Opera Company (and also on Broadway, etc in the more usual "musical theatre" style) and ALNM performed by New York City Opera (and also in several standard "musical theatre" productions), so I can understand where some are coming from with this idea of opera.JeanColumbia (talk) 18:16, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

Happy Birthday, Stephen!
Happy 80th birthday, Mr. Sondheim. -- Ssilvers (talk) 17:58, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

 * Oops! re: Nathan Lane. OK, so did the event really happen?  Did anyone cancel?  Now we can put it in past tense.  -- Ssilvers (talk) 02:18, 27 April 2010 (UTC)

On 31st July, 2010, the BBC broadcast "Sondheim at 80" as Prom 19 in its 2010 season of Promenade Concerts. Is there any way of adding that here? and, if so, where would it go? See Sondheim at 80 I have temporarily put it in the "Revues and Anthologies" section but, because it was a one off, I wasn't sure if that was the best place. Kuitan (talk) 11:53, 1 August 2010 (UTC)

 * Thanks a million for this! I wanted to add it, but was too lazy to get a good reference. How about putting it in the "Honors and awards", subsection "Sondheim at 80"?? If you agree, you can do it or I will.JeanColumbia (talk) 12:15, 1 August 2010 (UTC)

Photo
For goodness sake, doesn't anyone have a photo of Sondheim? -- Ssilvers (talk) 23:05, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

 * Can we use the Hirschfield illustration? -- Ssilvers (talk) 23:13, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

Here he is as a very young man and many other photos. -- Ssilvers (talk) 23:27, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

 * More images: here. -- Ssilvers (talk) 23:31, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

Name from the Shakespeare quote?
Hi all,

I'm trying to introduce appropriate links to the orphaned article All that glitters is not gold (about the familiar quotation from Shakespeare), and I'm guessing the title of Sondheim's musical is taken from there; but I'm not sufficiently familiar with it be sure, or where to introduce it if so. If any of the regular editors of this article could take a look, I'd much appreciate it. --Xover (talk) 13:03, 21 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Hi, I'd be happy to help out but I'm a little confused--what musical are you refering to? (If it's Road Show, which at an early stage was titled Gold, that refers to the "Gold Rush".) JeanColumbia (talk) 13:43, 21 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Thanks. I'm thinking of the musical mentioned in this section (the redlink in the first list item), which is apparently titled All That Glitters. --Xover (talk) 15:33, 21 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Ah! OK, I have just finished looking at three reference books-- Martin Gottfried's Sondheim, Meryle Secrest's Stephen Sondheim: A Life, and Craig Zadan's Sondheim & Co. All 3 write about All That Glitters but none say where Sondheim got the title. I also looked at google books and, although finding many references to the musical, found nothing to show where he got the title. Sorry I can't be more helpful, but I'm stumped. JeanColumbia (talk) 14:22, 22 November 2010 (UTC)

 * Hrm. Is there anything about "All that glitters" in the original play, Beggar on Horseback, on which the Sondheim musical All That Glitters is based (according to

Sondheim.com?) Schissel | Sound the Note! 03:02, 18 May 2014 (UTC)

Reference list
Would anyone oppose if I was replacing  with   on this article? —bender235 (talk) 22:10, 15 December 2010 (UTC)

Les Mis
Why Les Miserables are not even mentioned in this article? One of his major participation's. -- WhiteWriter speaks 23:37, 19 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Sondheim had nothing to do with Les Miz.--Bialytock&Bloom (talk) 00:44, 20 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Agree, I find no references to any involvement by Sondheim with Les Miserables; I looked at several books I have, including the Secrest biography and the Craig Zadan book. Also see the extensive listing at [sondheimguide.com].JeanColumbia (talk) 12:50, 21 April 2011 (UTC)

Images again
There are images of Sondheim here: Hirschfield illustration (see also this); as a very young man and many other photos. More images: here. More Hirschfeld images And some explanation. None of these are free images, so you would need a fair use summary, which is very difficult to make with a living person. The article would have to *discuss* the image so that you could make the case that the image is necessary to illustrate something in particular that is discussed in the article. See Non-free content criteria, especially criterion #8. Ooh! THIS might be a free image. -- Ssilvers (talk) 23:54, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

By George
"But if you want to know why it's terrible," Hammerstein offered, "I'll tell you."

What did Hammerstein tell him about his first musical he wrote? What was bad about it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.23.123.240 (talk) 17:52, 28 November 2011 (UTC)

 * Hrm. Part of the answer seems to be at Sondheim.com - in the documentary Six by Sondheim the composer, without going to lengthy detail, does say that Mr. Hammerstein told him to think of a musical, a lyric, or a song as a play: it needs to have a definite beginning, a middle, and an end, and to have ended somewhere other from where it began (he added a bit more.) Schissel | Sound the Note! 03:11, 18 May 2014 (UTC)

My little pony songs
Why is that under minor works when he only influenced them, not created them? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.137.15.69 (talk) 00:32, 23 October 2012 (UTC)

Hummability issue?
Seems to me that a major omission in this article is that it doesn't mention how most of Sondheim's songs (even the ones with the most clever wordplay and stinging insights) are not hummable or instantly catchy. Reliable sources are as follows:      As opposed to Webber's "Memory," Boublil/Schonberg's "I Dreamed A Dream," the Lopezes' "Let It Go," etc. Any objections before I add this information to the article? --Coolcaesar (talk) 09:10, 3 January 2015 (UTC)

 * VERY subjective "information" for an encyclopedia. What is "hummability" anyway? Very much "in the ear of the beholder", i.e. fails WP:NPOV. This is a biography of a person rather than a critical discussion of his work. All in all, I honestly think (in this context anyway) I'd leave it out.--Soundofmusicals (talk) 00:24, 4 January 2015 (UTC)
 * But it is the single most widely reported criticism of Sondheim's work, and one that reportedly frustrates him so much that he made it a plot point in one of his musicals, Merrily We Roll Along (which actually discusses whether a Broadway composer is required to write hummable music). For example, most middle-class or upper-class Americans can recognize Memory, I Dreamed A Dream, or Let It Go whenever someone hums a few notes, but very few people will recognize No One Is Alone, and even those that vaguely recognize Send in the Clowns are unlikely to recall that Sondheim wrote it. Furthermore, under WP:NOT, Wikipedia is not censored. This is why, for example, we include verifiable negative critiques of Celine Dion and Andrew Lloyd Webber. --Coolcaesar (talk) 06:25, 4 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Don't know where "censorship" comes into it. We simply do not present critical assessments (either favourable or otherwise) of artists' work. In the same way our articles about (say) books, plays, musicals, pictures etc. are (or should be) objective descriptions, not reviews. We can get away with general statements about what the critics said (such as "critical response was favourable/unfavourable/mixed") provided they are well-cited, but to say that a particular song is "hummable", or that "hummability" or any other vague criterion, is typical (or not so typical) of a composer's work is highly subjective, and not the sort of "information" that we normally think of as forming a useful part of an encyclopedia article. The balanced treatment of accusations of plagiarism against Andrew Lloyd Webber and "aggressive sentimentality" against Celine Dion (which I have just read, in a sincere effort to understand where you are coming from) are both in another category really, apart from being doggedly "third party" (X says A but Y says B). Incidentally, if "Send in the clowns" (not to mention a rack of other Sondheim melodies) aren't "hummable" I have no idea what the word is supposed to mean - and as for the idea that many people couldn't tell you where SITC is from, I have been soundly berated for hinting that the score of "Les Mis" WASN'T by ALW but a French chap called Schonberg (who's he?). The ignorance of the aggressively ignorant who know everything without ever checking to make sure they are right should not dictate what an encyclopedia says about a subject (among other considerations, they'll never "look it up" here or anywhere else anyway). We are here to facilitate information, not discuss patent misinformation (see WP:UNDUE). --Soundofmusicals (talk) 02:13, 5 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Um, you're missing the point. Under your own criteria, Wikipedia could never present critical views of artistic works or an artist's body of work, except at a very superficial level.  But we do so all the time, provided that such views are properly attributed and stated in a neutral fashion.
 * I just ran a search on "Sondheim" and "hummable" on Google Books---it looks like this issue is heavily discussed in the published academic literature on Sondheim and by Sondheim himself in his own books on his work. I'll have to figure out how to add citations to those sources when I have the time. Unfortunately, unless you are in the U.S., it is unlikely that you can view those works on Google Books since most countries are very far behind U.S. copyright law in terms of developing the law of fair use.
 * Also, if you read my statement carefully above, I mentioned Send in the Clowns specifically as an example of a Sondheim work that is hummable, so it is really odd that you read my sentence the other way around. (This is clearly implicit in the sentence structure I used.)  Please look at a refresher text on close reading.  --Coolcaesar (talk) 10:14, 11 January 2015 (UTC)
 * The "point" is that an encyclopedia, in particular this one, is very specifically NOT (primarily at least) "concerned with critical views of artistic works or an artist's body of work, except at a very superficial level". When such things are mentioned here at all they are usually incidental to something else, they are "third person" (A says X), and balanced (but B says Y). When we do mention such matters we tend to objectivity: "show S had a Broadway run of only Y performances" is better, and more in keeping with our general ethos than "show s had a poor reception on Broadway". Either is much more likely than "the tunes from show s were utterly unhummable", which would be patent POV. You seem concerned that such matter as "hummability" may be discussed elsewhere, even in Sondheim's own writings. Of course they might. In a review, for instance, writing is (often intensely) subjective and personal - even the most objective review (or other work that is mainly a critical assessment) will be full of stuff that would be inappropriate in an encyclopedia. As I think I already mentioned, so what? An excellent review may have very little material we could use in an encyclopedia article, and of course vice versa - they are simply different animals. Lapses from this standard in Wiki are of course no excuse whatsoever to introduce fresh examples - more likely to indicate stuff that needs rewriting or excising. Finally, I must apologise for my little flippant flight into the personal in re. Send in the clowns. All I meant is that as well as being inappropriate here the idea of Sondheim being "unhummable" is far from being universally sustainable anyway - especially if "hummable" is taken as a synonym for "memorable" rather than "consisting of predictable cadences, lacking unusual intervals, and never deviating from familiar rhythmic patterns - in short, melodic cliche". The germ of truth in all this lies in the fact that many listeners find Sondheim "difficult" because even his most memorable melodies tend to be a little unpredictable, free of the the musical equivalents of always rhyming "love" with "dove" and such like. This assessment is incidentally my own opinion, utterly NPOV, and has no more place in the article than any other "review type" information. --Soundofmusicals (talk) 21:59, 11 January 2015 (UTC)
 * But many great artists do have controversies surrounding their style and encyclopedias do mention those controversies directly even when they involve subjective judgments. For example, Britannica mentions the various perspectives on|William Shakespeare's style.  They also discuss criticism of Picasso.  An encyclopedia that is completely expurgated of any mention of any controversy about any creative person's style would be a very poor encyclopedia.  I see nothing in WP:NOT or WP:NPOV that warrants that.  --Coolcaesar (talk) 08:18, 18 January 2015 (UTC)
 * "Controversies surrounding style" can only very occasionally be raised, much less discussed at any depth, without becoming NPOV. Circumstances really need to be special. Britannica can afford to be a little more subjective than us, since most articles are substantially the work of a single author; an Encyclopedia like The Oxford Companion to Music (originally entirely by one author - Percy Scholes wrote everything but the opera plot synopses) can be a bit more subjective again - but even there the kind of free reign a reviewer has would simply be inappropriate and is largely forgone. --Soundofmusicals (talk) 23:40, 18 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Unlike you, I actually got around to reading up on Sondheim. He acknowledges the hummability critique in his 2010 book Finishing The Hat in his comments on Merrily We Roll Along, where he discusses the song "Opening Doors." In that song, Joe Josephson, a character in the musical, harshly criticizes another character for not writing a hummable melody.  Sondheim notes that the song "Opening Doors" is drawn directly from his own "external life experiences."  He goes on to explain: "In my heyday as a young songwriter, I played many requests at many parties through the short attention span of the requesters and suffered many opinions of producers and directors who felt that their credentials demanded that they have something critical to say. I have spent a good deal of my professional life with the Joe Josephsons of the theater. All young songwriters have, and my heart goes out to them." --Coolcaesar (talk) 22:28, 18 June 2017 (UTC)

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Pic of Hammerstein
We can't tell whether this is the father or the son. Valetude (talk) 22:47, 4 December 2019 (UTC)

Possible improvements to intro
Just passing by as a non-expert, and the intro is very strong, but the transition between the first two sentences feels awkward due to repetition of the same thought (know for work in theater, one of the most important figures in musical theater). What do you think of the following simplification?

 * Stephen Joshua Sondheim (born March 22, 1930) is an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, Sondheim has been praised for having “reinvented the American musical" ...

Also, in the intro last paragraph, more Tonys than any other composer is added as an afterthought but packs more punch than the content of the sentence, and is not specific about what kind of Tony award, what about something like the following?

 * Sondheim has won eight Tony Awards for best musical, more than any other composer. His other awards include an Academy Award, a Special Tony Award, eight Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize, a Laurence Olivier Award, and a 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Thoughts? Cstanford.math (talk) 06:30, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

In the absence of any discussion I went ahead and made the edits, but if they are not good please feel free to revert and post a response here. Cstanford.math (talk) 22:08, 19 September 2021 (UTC)

Knives Out
Knives Out did not win any Oscars. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.122.216.158 (talk) 23:01, 26 November 2021 (UTC)

Birth place
Why is Pakistan listed? 162.83.190.121 (talk) 06:14, 28 November 2021 (UTC)
 * Because: Vandalism.  General Ization Talk  18:48, 28 November 2021 (UTC)
 * Not Vandalstan, then. Martinevans123 (talk) 19:04, 28 November 2021 (UTC)
 * It appears that the birthplace in the article is correct. I did not find any other instances vandalism in the article. Jurisdicta (talk) 05:35, 1 December 2021 (UTC)

The lack here of information about Sondheim's personal life effectively ghettoizes him as a gay person.
I have to agree with user Savacek above that "... this article is guilty of turning him into a metaphorical eunuch, so often done to gay men previously, less so today. It reminds me of how famous gay men, especially Hollywood actors were treated and reported on in the '50s... This omission in the current article is retrograde."

Compare this article's very short (one brief paragraph and a one-sentence mention of his death) "Personal life" section with the comparatively detailed "Personal life" section of the article on Leonard Bernstein.

The lack here of information about Sondheim's personal life is, in my opinion, an egregious omission and effectively ghettoizes him as a gay person. Carlstak (talk) 16:33, 28 November 2021 (UTC)

 * Could you add some? Thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 17:52, 28 November 2021 (UTC)

 * Yes, of course, soon as I have a chance. I wanted to revive the subject in light of the previous, but old (dating to 2005) conversations about this issue, hoping that someone else might get around to it, as I'm still knee deep in reading for expansion of the Bo Diddley article.;-) Carlstak (talk) 19:42, 28 November 2021 (UTC)

text
fix the repeated phrase at ...wit 2600:100F:B027:412:1127:F9EA:6073:314E (talk) 20:13, 29 November 2021 (UTC)
 * Sorry, which phrase? Martinevans123 (talk) 22:07, 29 November 2021 (UTC)

Intro mischaracterization?
The intro describes Sondheim as a lyricist who "becomes" a lyricist and composer after "Gypsy". This badly describes someone who had been writing both music and lyrics since his youth, and had already written both for one unproduced Broadway show ("Saturday Night"). He was a lyricist because the opportunity to write lyrics for "West Side Story and "Gypsy" had presented themselves, and Hammerstein had encouraged him to take them, not because he wasn't already a composer.

I'm not familiar with etiquette and standards for editing long, important articles or I'd have written a better version of the current text. It only requires minor restatement not to be misleading. 157.131.202.151 (talk) 06:54, 25 February 2022 (UTC)

Center for Performing Arts external link
The external link to "sondheimcenter.com" has shown a redirect at archive.org to "fairfieldacc.com" since at least December 2007. The Fairfield ACC's 'About Us' page shows the Sondheim Center more clearly than the home page, so I have revised the external link to "fairfieldacc.com/about" and removed the "dead link" (Dead link|date=October 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes) notation.  O ld B eeg  .. warble ·· 19:20, 19 March 2022 (UTC)

To be candid...
Currently, the article lacks any mention of Sondheim's lyrical contribution to Candide. Phil wink (talk) 02:15, 3 November 2022 (UTC)

 * Is someone going to correct this omission?! 173.88.246.138 (talk) 03:56, 17 September 2023 (UTC)

New York City
please revert per WP:STATUS QUO. NYC hasn't been linked since 's 2021 edit. ‑‑Neveselbert (talk · contribs · email) 23:50, 28 April 2023 (UTC)

 * Yes, MOS:OVERLINK specifically gives "New York City" as an example of a location that does not have to be linked under most circumstances, because it is so well-known. Sunshineisles2 (talk) 20:17, 29 April 2023 (UTC)

Here We Are
Shouldn't we create a page for Sondheim's last musical, Here We Are? 173.88.246.138 (talk) 03:54, 17 September 2023 (UTC)

 * I'd be cautious about calling a posthumous work "last". Sondheim didn't finish this thing, and there are plenty of other unfinished Sondheim works that could conceivably be dredged up and produced later. TheScotch (talk) 01:35, 28 December 2023 (UTC)

Sondheim redirect
The searchterm "Sondheim" currently redirects to a disambiguation. It would make more sense for it to redirect here; the other pages in the disambiguation redirect are extremely limited (4), and they're either related to the Sondheim Theatre (named after Sondheim himself), a small municipality in Germany with under 1000 citizens, or the surname "Sondheim". Gambitenthusiast99 (talk) 19:16, 1 January 2024 (UTC)

The Frogs

Thank you for a fine and thorough piece. In the interest of completeness I suggest you add the history of "The Frogs" from its initial production with the Yale swim team at the Yale pool to the 2005 revival initiated by Nathan Lane to the recent production under the auspicious of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Dedpubserv (talk) 03:59, 11 January 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Stephen Sondheim


text:
Kuniaki Koiso

Kuniaki Koiso was a Japanese politician, military leader and convicted war criminal who served as prime minister of Japan from 1944 to 1945 during World War II. He previously served as governor-general of Korea from 1942 to 1944.

After Japan's surrender in World War II, he was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment. He died in prison in 1950.

Early life
Koiso was born on March 22, 1880, in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, the first son of chief inspector of police and shizoku (former samurai) Koiso Susumu. He attended eight different schools, graduating from Yamagata Middle School (today Yamagata Prefectural Yamagata East High School). He was accepted as an officer candidate in 1898.

Military career
Koiso graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1900 and went on to attend the Army Staff College. Commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the 30th Infantry Regiment in June 1901, he was promoted to Lieutenant in November 1903. During the Russo-Japanese War, he served as Battalion Adjutant in September 1904, Company Commander in March 1905 and was promoted to captain in June 1905.

In November 1910, Koiso graduated from the Army Staff College, 33rd in a class of 55, and returned to the Imperial Japanese Army Academy as an instructor in December 1910.

Reassigned to the Kwantung Army General Staff in September 1912, Koiso was promoted to major and Battalion Commander of the 2d Infantry Regiment in August 1914. He returned to the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Headquarters in June 1915, was promoted to lieutenant colonel in July 1918, and seconded to the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in July 1921. After his promotion to colonel in February 1922, he was sent as a military attaché to Europe in June 1922, returning to assume command of the IJA 51st Division in August 1923. Returning to the Army General Staff in May 1925, he was promoted to major general in December 1926 and lieutenant general in August 1931.

During the 1920s Koiso joined the relatively moderate Tōseiha (Control Faction) led by General Kazushige Ugaki, along with Gen Sugiyama, Yoshijirō Umezu, Tetsuzan Nagata, and Hideki Tōjō as opposed to the more radical Kōdōha (Action Faction) under Sadao Araki.

In February 1932, Koiso became Vice-Minister of War and in August 1932, concurrently Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army. In March 1934, he was transferred to command the IJA 5th Division (Hiroshima). He then assumed command of the Chōsen Army in Korea from December 1935. Promoted to full general in November 1937, he joined the Army General Staff in July 1938.

Colonial affairs and Korea
Koiso left active duty in July 1938. From April to August 1939, he served in the cabinet of Prime Minister Hiranuma Kiichirō as Minister of Colonial Affairs. He returned to the same post again from January to July 1940 under the Yonai administration.

Koiso was appointed Governor-General of Korea, succeeding Jirō Minami, from May 1942 to 1944, during which time he gained the nickname "The Tiger of Korea" for his looks rather than his military prowess. Koiso continued his predecessor's hardline policies, such as imposing the highly unpopular universal military conscription on Koreans, which forced them to fight for the Japanese, on August 1, 1943.

When news of Korean independence reached him after the war, Koiso scoffed "the dream of Korean independence is as foolish as trying to plot the independence of Kyushu or Hokkaido."

Prime Minister
After the Allied landing in Normandy (June 6) and the successful capture of Saipan (9 July), Hideki Tojo resigned and a new cabinet was formed. In selecting a new Prime Minister, the elder statesmen narrowed the candidates down to three: Hisaichi Terauchi (commander of the Southern Expeditionary Army Group), Shunroku Hata (commander of the China Expeditionary Army), and Koiso.

The Army strongly favored General Hisaichi Terauchi; however, they could not afford to recall him to Japan from his role as commander-in-chief of all Japanese forces in Southeast Asia. The civilian government, especially Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal Kōichi Kido and former prime minister Fumimaro Konoe, also did not favor Koiso, due to Koiso's previous involvement with the ultranationalist Sakura Kai and its attempted coup d'état against the government in 1931 (i.e. the "March Incident"). These reservations were shared by the Emperor in his Privy Council meetings. Koiso was supported by two former prime ministers, Mitsumasa Yonai and Hiranuma Kiichirō, and as no consensus could be reached on a more suitable alternative, their arguments prevailed. Moreover, Mitsumasa Yonai was appointed vice-Prime Minister as a way of dealing with strong objections to Koiso.

Koiso attempted to end army-navy rivalry by creating a Supreme Chief of Staff (最高幕僚長), but this was structured to favor the army, thus bitter opposition from the navy doomed the plan. Instead, a Supreme War Guidance Council (最高戦争指導会議) was created (August 4, 1944 – August 22, 1945). Koiso was not taken seriously at Council meetings, where he was openly contradicted by Hata Hikosaburo. Within the top levels of the Imperial Army, rumors circulated that the Koiso Cabinet would only last two months (it lasted nine months).

Koiso's strategy for ending the war was to strike a hard blow against the American Army in the Philippines, forcing negotiations. However, the general entrusted with the defense of the Philippines, Tomoyuki Yamashita, disagreed with the planners in the Southern Expeditionary Army. As such, the Army and Navy could not agree on a coordinated plan. Nevertheless, the defenders were prepared to make considerable sacrifices when Douglas MacArthur invaded Leyte on October 17, with the first kamikaze attack carried out on October 21, and the Japanese Navy losing four aircraft carriers and three battleships during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Although the strategy had failed, Koiso did not change his way of thinking. Late in 1944, Koiso still planned to send Prince Fumimaro Konoe on a peace mission to neutral countries, Switzerland and Sweden, but it came to nothing.

During the remainder of Koiso's premiership in office, Japanese forces continued to suffer a string of defeats on all fronts at the hands of the Allies. Also during his premiership, on 10 November 1944, Wang Jingwei died of pneumonia in a Japanese hospital in Nagoya, which effectively was the end of the Reorganized National Government of China in northern China. For a time, Koiso considered making peace, but he could not find a solution that would appease both the Japanese military and the Allies. Left with little choice but to continue the war effort, Koiso tried to extend his power over the army by attempting to assume the position of War Minister concurrently with that of Prime Minister, but was unable to legally do so as he was on the reserve list. Koiso resigned in April 1945 when American forces invaded Okinawa and his demands to be included in military decisions were rejected, the same date the Imperial Japanese Navy flagship JAPANESE BATTLESHIP Yamato was sunk by American aircraft during Operation Ten-Go.

Later career
Koiso was an ardent supporter of State Shinto along with Heisuke Yanagawa, who directed the Government Imperial Aid Association. He restored the ancient sacred rites in the Sukumo river, near Hakone, the "Preliminary Misogi Rite".

After the end of World War II, Koiso was arrested by the Allied occupation powers and tried by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East for war crimes. Upon conviction as a Class-A war criminal on counts 1, 27, 29, 31, 32 and 55, he was given a sentence of life imprisonment. The Tribunal specifically cited Koiso's decisive role in starting the wars against China and the Allies. "Furthermore, despite the fact that Kuniaki Koiso was not directly responsible for the war crimes committed by the Japanese Army, he took no measures to prevent them or to punish the perpetrators when, as Prime Minister, it was within his power to do so." Koiso died of esophageal cancer in Sugamo Prison in 1950. His grave is at the Aoyama Cemetery in central Tokyo.

Honors
From the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia

 * Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (April 5, 1934)
 * Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure (April 29, 1934)
 * Order of the Golden Kite, 2nd class (April 29, 1934)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Kuniaki Koiso


text: Wikipedia:Access to usage logs

title: Wikipedia:Access to usage logs


text:
Kantarō Suzuki

Baron Kantarō Suzuki (鈴木 貫太郎) was a Japanese admiral and politician. He was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, member and final leader of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association and Prime Minister of Japan from 7 April to 17 August 1945.

Early life
Suzuki was born on 18 January 1868, in Izumi Province (present-day Sakai, Osaka), the first son of local governor (daikan) of Sekiyado Domain Suzuki Yoshinori. He grew up in the city of Sekiyado, Shimōsa Province (present-day Noda, Chiba Prefecture).

Naval career
Suzuki entered the 14th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1884, graduating 13th of 45 cadets in 1887. Suzuki served on the corvettes JAPANESE CORVETTE Tsukuba, JAPANESE CORVETTE Tenryū and cruiser JAPANESE CRUISER Takachiho as a midshipman. On being commissioned as ensign, he served on the corvette JAPANESE CORVETTE Amagi, cruiser Takao, corvette Jingei, ironclad JAPANESE CORVETTE Kongō, and gunboat JAPANESE GUNBOAT Maya. After his promotion to lieutenant on 21 December 1892, he served as chief navigator on the corvettes JAPANESE CORVETTE Kaimon, JAPANESE CORVETTE Hiei, and JAPANESE CORVETTE Kongō.

Suzuki served in the First Sino-Japanese War, commanding a torpedo boat and participated in a night torpedo assault in the Battle of Weihaiwei in 1895. Afterwards, he was promoted to lieutenant commander on 28 June 1898 after graduation from the Naval Staff College and assigned to a number of staff positions including that of naval attaché to Germany from 1901 to 1903. On his return, he was promoted to commander on 26 September 1903. He came to be known as the leading torpedo warfare expert in the Imperial Japanese Navy.

During the Russo-Japanese War, Suzuki commanded Destroyer Division 2 in 1904, which picked up survivors of the Port Arthur Blockade Squadron during the Battle of Port Arthur. He was appointed executive officer of the cruiser JAPANESE CRUISER Kasuga on 26 February 1904, aboard which he participated in the Battle of the Yellow Sea. During the pivotal Battle of Tsushima, Suzuki was commander of Destroyer Division 4 under the IJN 2nd Fleet, which assisted in sinking the Russian battleship RUSSIAN BATTLESHIP Navarin.

After the war, Suzuki was promoted to captain on 28 September 1907 and commanded the destroyer Akashi (1908), followed by the cruiser JAPANESE CRUISER Soya (1909), battleship JAPANESE BATTLESHIP Shikishima (1911) and cruiser JAPANESE CRUISER Tsukuba (1912). Promoted to rear admiral on 23 May 1913 and assigned to command the Maizuru Naval District. Suzuki became Vice Minister of the Navy from 1914 to 1917, during World War I. Promoted to vice admiral on 1 June 1917, he brought the cruisers JAPANESE CRUISER Asama and JAPANESE CRUISER Iwate to San Francisco in early 1918 with 1,000 cadets, and was received by U.S. Navy Rear Admiral William Fullam. The Japanese cruisers then proceeded to South America. After stints as Commandant of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy, Commander of the IJN 2nd Fleet, then the IJN 3rd Fleet, then Kure Naval District, he became a full admiral on 3 August 1923. Suzuki became Commander in Chief of Combined Fleet in 1924. After serving as Chief of Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff from 15 April 1925 to 22 January 1929, he retired and accepted the position as Privy Councillor and Grand Chamberlain from 1929 to 1936.

Suzuki narrowly escaped assassination in the February 26 Incident in 1936; the would-be assassin's bullet remained inside his body for the rest of his life, and was only revealed upon his cremation. Suzuki was opposed to Japan's war with the United States, before and throughout World War II.

Prime Minister

On 7 April 1945, Prime Minister Kuniaki Koiso resigned and Suzuki was appointed to take his place at the age of seventy-seven. He simultaneously held the portfolios for Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Greater East Asia.

Prime Minister Suzuki contributed to the final peace negotiations with the Allied Powers in World War II. He was involved in calling two unprecedented imperial conferences which helped resolve the split within the Japanese Imperial Cabinet over the Potsdam Declaration. He outlined the terms to Emperor Hirohito who had already agreed to accept unconditional surrender. This went strongly against the military faction of the cabinet, who desired to continue the war in hopes of negotiating a more favorable peace agreement. Part of this faction attempted to assassinate Suzuki twice in the Kyūjō Incident on the morning of 15 August 1945.

After the surrender of Japan became public, Suzuki resigned and Prince Higashikuni became the next prime minister. Suzuki was the Chairman of the Privy Council from 7 August 1944 to 7 June 1945 and again after the surrender of Japan from 15 December 1945 to 13 June 1946.

Suzuki died of natural causes on 17 April, 1948. His grave is in his home town of Noda, Chiba. One of his two sons became director of Japan's immigration service, while the other was a successful lawyer.

Honours
From the corresponding Japanese Wikipedia article

Peerages

 * Baron (20 November 1936)

Decorations

 * Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd Class (28 August 1915; Fourth Class: 30 May 1905; Fifth Class: 30 November 1901; Sixth Class: 18 November 1895)
 * Order of the Golden Kite, 3rd Class (1 April 1906; Fifth Class: 18 November 1895)
 * Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (1 April 1916; Second Class: 19 January 1916; Third Class: 1 April 1906)
 * Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers (April 29, 1934)

title: Kantarō Suzuki


text:
Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni

Naruhiko, Prince Higashikuni (東久邇宮稔彦王) was a Japanese imperial prince, a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army and the 30th Prime Minister of Japan from 17 August 1945 to 9 October 1945, a period of 54 days. He is the shortest-serving prime minister, resigning after eight weeks. An uncle-in-law of Emperor Hirohito twice over, Prince Higashikuni was the only member of the Japanese imperial family to head a cabinet and was the last general officer of the Imperial Japanese military to become Prime Minister. He was the founder of the Chiba Institute of Technology. He was one of the longest-lived members of any royal family.

Early life
Prince Naruhiko was born on 3 December 1887 in Kyoto, the ninth son of Prince Kuni Asahiko (Kuni no miya Asahiko Shinnō) and the court lady Terao Utako. His father, Prince Asahiko, was a son of Prince Fushimi Kuniie (Fushimi no miya Kuniie Shinnō), the twentieth head of the Fushimi-no-miya, the oldest of the sesshu shinnōke or cadet branches of the imperial dynasty from whom an emperor might be chosen in default of a direct heir. Prince Naruhiko was a half-brother of Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi, the father of the future Empress Kōjun, the wife of Emperor Shōwa. His other half-brothers, Prince Asaka Yasuhiko, Prince Nashimoto Morimasa, and Prince Kaya Kuninori, all formed new branches of the imperial family (ōke) during the Meiji period.

Marriage and family
Emperor Meiji granted Prince Naruhiko the title Higashikuni-no-miya and permission to start a new branch of the imperial family on 3 November 1906. Prince Naruhiko married the ninth daughter of Emperor Meiji, Toshiko, Princess Yasu (11 May 1896 – 5 March 1978), on 18 May 1915. The couple had four sons.

 * 1) Prince Higashikuni Morihiro (盛厚王); married Shigeko, Princess Teru, the eldest daughter of Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun.
 * 2) Prince Moromasa (師正王); died in the Great Kantō earthquake.
 * 3) Prince Akitsune (彰常王); renounced imperial title and created Marquis Awata Akitsune, 1940
 * 4) Prince Toshihiko (俊彦王); renounced imperial title and created Count Tarama Toshihiko, 1943; relocated to Lins, São Paulo, Brazil, 1950.

Military career
Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko was a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army. In 1908, he graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy as a second lieutenant, was promoted to lieutenant in 1910 and to captain in 1913. In 1914, he graduated from the Army War College. He was commissioned a captain in the 29th Infantry Brigade, and promoted to major in the IJA 7th Division in 1915.

Prince Higashikuni then studied military tactics at the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr and École Polytechnique in Paris France, from 1920 to 1926, during which time he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1920 and to colonel in 1926. Always somewhat of a rebel, Prince Higashikuni's behavior in Paris scandalized the Imperial Court. He had a French mistress, enjoyed fast cars and high living. He left his wife and children in Japan, and the death of his second son did not prompt his return. In 1926, the Imperial Household Ministry dispatched a chamberlain to Paris to collect him.

Upon his return to Japan, he was assigned to the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Headquarters. Promoted to major-general in August 1930 and appointed commander of the 5th Infantry Brigade (1930–1934), he was promoted to lieutenant-general in August 1934 and given command of the IJA 4th Division (1934–1937). After the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, he headed the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (1937–1938), and the IJA 2nd Army stationed in China from 1938–1939. He was promoted to general in August 1939.

According to a memo discovered by historian Yoshiaki Yoshimi, Prince Higashikuni authorized the use of poison gas against the Chinese on 16 August 1938. Prince Higashikuni encouraged and enabled human experiments, providing advice, money, men and equipment. He personally witnessed human experiments conducted by the military physicians during his tours in Manchukuo.

On 13 May 1939 the Imperial General Headquarters authorized the use of poison gas to Japanese Northern China Area Army(大陸指第四百五十二号). Only riot control agents were used till then. Prince Higashikuni moved to the post at home dated 4 January 1939. Promoted to full general, The prince was awarded the Order of the Golden Kite, 1st Class in 1940.

Before Japan entered the Second World War, on 15 October 1941, outgoing Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe proposed Prince Higashikuni to Emperor Shōwa as his successor for prime minister. Konoe believed that only a member of the Imperial Family with a distinguished military background could restrain the pro-war faction led by Generals Hajime Sugiyama, Hideki Tōjō, and Akira Mutō. Prince Higashikuni was also the choice of both Chief of Staffs of the Army and the Navy.

However, both Emperor Shōwa and the Lord Privy Seal, Kido Kōichi, believed that it would be inappropriate for a member of the Imperial Family to serve in that position, as he could be blamed for anything which went wrong in the war. Thus, two days later, the Emperor chose army minister General Hideki Tōjō as Prime Minister. In 1946, he explained this decision: "I actually thought Prince Higashikuni suitable as Chief of Staff of the Army; but I think the appointment of a member of the Imperial house to a political office must be considered very carefully. Above all, in time of peace this is fine, but when there is a fear that there may even be a war, then more importantly, considering the welfare of the imperial house, I wonder about the wisdom of a member of the Imperial family serving [as prime minister]."

Six weeks later, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. During the early stages of the Pacific War, Prince Higashikuni served as commander of the General Defense Command from 1941 to 1944. Prince Higashikuni remained steadfast in his opposition to the war with the Allied powers, and was part of the conspiracy (with Prince Yasuhiko Asaka, Prince Nobuhito Takamatsu, and former Prime Minister Konoe) which finally ousted Tōjō in July 1944 following the fall of Saipan to American forces. The American researchers with SCAP also found out that he had planned towards the end of the war to depose Emperor Shōwa, placing the Crown Prince Akihito on the throne instead, governing the country with himself as regent.

Prime Minister
After the course of the war turned against Japan, and the decision was made to accept the Potsdam Declaration, the Shōwa Emperor appointed Prince Higashikuni to the position of prime minister on 17 August 1945, replacing navy Admiral Kantarō Suzuki. The mission of the Higashikuni Cabinet was twofold: first, to ensure the orderly cessation of hostilities and demobilization of the Japanese armed forces; and second, to reassure the Japanese people that the imperial institution remained secure. Prince Higashikuni resigned in October over a dispute with the Allied occupation forces over the repeal of the 1925 Peace Preservation Law. This law was largely intended to prevent the spread of Communism to Japan.

Life after resignation
On 27 February 1946, Prince Higashikuni gave an interview to the Yomiuri-Hōchi newspaper in which he claimed that many members of the imperial family had approved Emperor Shōwa's abdication, with Nobuhito, Prince Takamatsu serving as regent until Crown Prince Akihito came of age. In the government, only Prime Minister Kijūrō Shidehara and the Imperial Household Minister Yoshitami Matsudaira opposed this. On 4 March 1946, Higashikuni gave a similar interview to the Associated Press (reported in The New York Times) indicating that he had proposed to the Emperor possible dates for abdication. In 1946, Prince Higashikuni asked the emperor for permission to renounce his membership in the Imperial Family and become a commoner. The emperor denied the request. However, along with other members of the Imperial branch families (shinnōke and ōke), Prince Higashikuni lost his title and most of his wealth as a result of the American occupation’s abolition of the princely houses on 17 October 1947.

As a private citizen, Higashikuni operated several unsuccessful retail enterprises (including a provisions store, second-hand goods store, and dressmaker's shop). He even created his own new Zen Buddhism-based religious sect, the Higashikuni-kyo, which was subsequently banned by the American occupation authorities.

The former prince became the honorary chairman of the International Martial Arts Federation (IMAF) in 1957, and honorary president of several other organizations.

In 1958, Higashikuni published his wartime journals under the title, Ichi Kozoku no Senso Nikki (or The War Diary of a Member of the Imperial Family). He published his autobiographical memoirs, Higashikuni Nikki, in 1968.

Death and legacy
Higashikuni died of heart failure in Tokyo on 20 January 1990 at the age of 102 years, 73 days, having outlived his wife, two of his sons, his siblings, and his nephew, Emperor Shōwa. Higashikuni is today mainly remembered as first postwar prime minister of Japan. He is the shortest-serving prime minister, resigning after eight weeks (54 days) and one of the longest-lived prime ministers of all time, along with Antoine Pinay, Willem Drees and Christopher Hornsrud, and at his death was the last surviving full general of the Imperial Japanese Army. From 14 May 1988, when former Netherlands Prime Minister Willem Drees died, until his own death, Higashikuni was the world's oldest living former head of government.

title: Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni


text:
Kijūrō Shidehara

Baron Kijūrō Shidehara (幣原 喜重郎) was a pre–World War II Japanese diplomat and politician. He was prime minister of Japan from 1945 to 1946 and a leading proponent of pacifism in Japan before and after World War II. He was the last Japanese Prime Minister who was a member of the peerage (kazoku). His wife, Masako, was the fourth daughter of Iwasaki Yatarō, founder of the Mitsubishi zaibatsu.

Early life and career
Shidehara was born on 13 September 1872, in Kadoma, Osaka, into a wealthy farming family (gōnō). His brother Taira was the first president of Taihoku Imperial University. Shidehara attended Tokyo Imperial University, and graduated from the Faculty of Law, where he had studied under Hozumi Nobushige. After graduation, he found a position within the Foreign Ministry and was sent as a consul to Chemulpo in Korea in 1896.

In 1903 Shidehara married Masako Iwasaki, who came from the family that founded the Mitsubishi zaibatsu. This made him the brother-in-law of Katō Takaaki, who had also been Prime Minister.

He subsequently served in the Japanese embassy in London, Antwerp, and Washington D.C., and as ambassador to the Netherlands, returning to Japan in 1915.

In 1915, Shidehara was appointed Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and continued in this position during five consecutive administrations. In 1919, he was named ambassador to the United States and was Japan's leading negotiator during the Washington Naval Conference. His negotiations led to the return of Jiaozhou Bay concession to China. However, while he was ambassador, the United States enacted discriminatory immigration laws against Japanese, which created much ill will in Japan.

Shidehara was elevated to the title of danshaku (baron) under the kazoku peerage system in 1920, and appointed to a seat in the House of Peers in 1925.

First term as Foreign Minister
In 1924, Shidehara became Minister of Foreign Affairs in the cabinet of Prime Minister Katō Takaaki and continued in this post under Prime Ministers Wakatsuki Reijirō and Osachi Hamaguchi. Despite growing Japanese militarism, Shidehara attempted to maintain a non-interventionist policy toward China, and good relations with Great Britain and the United States, which he admired. In his initial speech to the Diet of Japan, he pledged to uphold the principles of the League of Nations.

The term "Shidehara diplomacy" came to describe Japan's liberal foreign policy during the 1920s. In October 1925, he surprised other delegates to the Beijing Customs Conference in pushing for agreement to China's demands for tariff autonomy. In March 1927, during the Nanking Incident, he refused to agree to an ultimatum prepared by other foreign powers threatening retaliation for the actions of Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang troops for their attacks on foreign consulates and settlements.

Disgruntlement by the military over Shidehara's China policies was one of the factors that led to the collapse of the administration of Prime Minister Wakatsuki in April 1927. During his diplomatic career, Shidehara was known for his excellent command of the English language. At one press conference, an American reporter was confused regarding the pronunciation of Shidehara's name: the foreign minister replied, "I'm Hi(he)-dehara, and my wife is Shi(she)-dehara." Because his wife was a Quaker, Shidehara was rumoured to be one too.

Second term as Foreign Minister

Shidehara returned as Foreign Minister in 1929, and immediately resumed the non-interventionist policy in China, attempting to restore good relations with Chiang Kai-shek's government now based in Nanjing. This policy was assailed by military interests who believed it was weakening the country, especially after the conclusion of the London Naval Conference 1930, which precipitated a major political crisis.

When Prime Minister Osachi Hamaguchi was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt, Shidehara served as interim prime minister until March 1931. In September 1931, the Kwantung Army invaded and occupied Manchuria in the Manchurian Incident without prior authorization from the central government. This effectively ended the non-interventionist policy towards China, and Shidehara's career as foreign minister.

In October 1931, Shidehara was featured on the cover of Time with the caption "Japan's Man of Peace and War".

Shidehara remained in government as a member of the House of Peers from 1931 to 1945. He maintained a low profile through the end of World War II.

As Prime Minister
At the time of Japan's surrender in 1945, Shidehara was in semi-retirement. However, largely because of his pro-American reputation, he was appointed to serve as Japan's first post-war prime minister, from 9 October 1945 to 22 May 1946. Along with the post of Prime Minister, Shidehara became president of the Progressive Party (Shinpo-tō).

Shidehara's cabinet appointed a non-official committee to look into the question of drafting a new constitution for Japan in line with General Douglas MacArthur's policy directives, but the draft was vetoed by the occupation authorities. According to MacArthur and others, it was Shidehara who originally proposed the inclusion of Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan, a provision which limits Japan's ability to wage war. Shidehara, in his memoirs Gaikō gojūnen ("Fifty-years Diplomacy", 1951) also admitted to his authorship, and described how the idea came to him on a train ride to Tokyo. Already when he was ambassador in Washington, he had become acquainted with the idea of 'outlawing war' in international and constitutional law. One of his famous sayings was: "Let us create a world without war (sensō naki sekai) together with the world-humanity (sekai jinrui).”

However, his supposed conservative economic policies and family ties to the Mitsubishi interests made him unpopular with the leftist movement.

The Shidehara cabinet resigned following Japan's first postwar election, when the Liberal Party of Japan captured most of the votes. Shigeru Yoshida became prime minister in Shidehara's wake.

Shidehara joined the Liberal Party a year later, after Prime Minister Tetsu Katayama formed a socialist government. As one of Katayama's harshest critics, Shidehara was elected speaker of the House of Representatives. He died in this post in 1951.

Honours
From the Japanese Wikipedia article

Peerages

 * Baron (7 September 1920)

Japanese

 * Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure (19 August 1914; Second Class: 24 August 1911)
 * Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (7 September 1920)
 * Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers (12 December 1931)

Foreign

 * Grand Officer of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (Kingdom of Italy; 18 June 1914)
 * Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands; 12 November 1915)
 * Order of the British Empire (United Kingdom; 3 July 1917)
 * Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (Belgium; 11 July 1925)
 * Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun (Peru; 24 August 1926)
 * Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour (France; 1 April 1927)
 * Grand Cross of the Order of the White Lion (Czechoslovakia; 7 February 1928)
 * Grand Cross of the Order of the White Elephant (Siam; 26 September 1931)
 * Grand Cross of the Order of Menelik II (Ethiopia; 24 December 1931)
 * Grand Cross of the Order of Merit for National Foundation (Manchukuo; 1 March 1934)

Court order of precedence

 * Sixth rank (10 October 1903)
 * Senior sixth rank (27 December 1905)
 * Fifth rank (30 March 1908)
 * Senior fifth rank (20 September 1911)
 * Fourth rank (10 December 1915)
 * Third rank (10 November 1922)
 * Senior third rank (1 December 1925)
 * Second rank (16 February 1931)
 * First rank (10 March 1951; posthumous)

title: Kijūrō Shidehara


text:
VC

VC may refer to:

Military decorations

 * Victoria Cross, a military decoration awarded by the United Kingdom and also by certain Commonwealth nations
 * Victoria Cross for Australia
 * Victoria Cross (Canada)
 * Victoria Cross for New Zealand
 * Victorious Cross, Idi Amin's self-bestowed military decoration

Organisations

 * Ocean Airlines (IATA airline designator 2003-2008), Italian cargo airline
 * Voyageur Airways (IATA airline designator since 1968), Canadian charter airline
 * Visual Communications, an Asian-Pacific-American media arts organization in Los Angeles, US
 * Viet Cong (also Victor Charlie or Vietnamese Communists), a political and military organization from the Vietnam War (1959–1975)

Education

 * Vanier College, Canada
 * Vassar College, US
 * Velez College, Philippines
 * Virginia College, US

Places

 * Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (ISO country code), a state in the Caribbean
 * Sri Lanka (ICAO airport prefix code)
 * Watsonian vice-counties, subdivisions of Great Britain or Ireland

Science and technology

 * Vomiting center (area postrema), a structure in the brain
 * Vital capacity, a maximum amount of air a person can expel from the lungs after a maximum inhalation

Chemistry

 * Vanadium carbide, an inorganic compound
 * Vinyl chloride, a chemical used in the production of PVC
 * Victorium, a mixture of the elements gadolinium and terbium
 * Vitamin C, a vitamin

Computing and telecommunications

 * .vc, the country code top level domain (ccTLD) for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
 * VC dimension (Vapnik–Chervonenkis dimension), a measure of the capacity of a statistical classification algorithm
 * Vapnik–Chervonenkis theory, a computational learning theory
 * Version control in software development
 * VideoCore, a processor architecture
 * Videoconferencing
 * Voice chat in online gaming, often shortened to VC
 * Virtual circuit, a telecommunications arrangement
 * Virtual console, a combination of a computer display and keyboard
 * Virtual container, part of the SDH/SONET architecture of multiplexing protocols
 * Microsoft Visual C++, a software development tool produced by Microsoft
 * Volkov Commander, a computer program for managing files

Transportation

 * Holden Commodore (VC), an automobile introduced by Holden in 1980
 * Cruising speed, or VC, in aircraft design

Sports

 * Vancouver Canucks, an NHL Hockey team from Vancouver Canada

Other uses

 * Venture capital or venture capitalist, the financing of growing businesses
 * Vi coactus (V.C., in Latin: "force coacted"), a handwritten signal made on a signed document
 * Vice-Chancellor, the chief executive of a university
 * The Victoria Cross, a British silent film directed by Harold M. Shaw
 * Vietcong, a video game
 * Viet Cong (or VC), a card game, see Tiến lên
 * Virtual Console, a Nintendo video game download service for the Wii, 3DS, and Wii U game consoles

title: VC