Okay, we all know Sweeney Todd is filled with motifs and allusions from other operas, so I figured I could dissect one.

In “Epiphany” the soaring theme that occurs throughout the song is the “I’ll never see Johanna, no I’ll never hug my girl to me…” along with other lyrics speaking of loss. This theme consists of (in this particular key) Ab, G, F,Eb, Ab, G. Ne-ver see Jo-ha-nna. Throughout all the repetitions of this theme, Sweeney is singing about the loss of his daughter, as well as the loss of his love, Lucy.

If you are well-versed in opera, go play that series of notes on the piano, excluding the Eb. Sound familiar?

In Leoncavallo’s I, Pagliacci. Canio sings the famous aria “Vesti La Giubba” (Put on the Costume). Here, Canio has realized that he has lost his love, Nedda, to another man. He sings, at the climax of the song, “Ridi, Pagliaccio, sul tuo amore infranto!” (Laugh, Pagliaccio, at your broken love!) The first half of this phrase contains the series of notes, G, F#, E, G, F#. Ri-di Pag-li-a-ccio. The exact same series of notes and rhythms (minus the Eb/D due to the extra syllable of ”Jo-ha-nna”).

It makes sense that Sondheim made this parallel, seeing as Pagliacci is a clown, and he is telling himself to laugh, put on a happy face, and be joyous for the crowd, while Sweeney is breaking down, and in the process becoming joyous with madness (hence the last line, “And I’m full of Joy!”). This is just one of the allusions Sondheim uses in Sweeney Todd give the audience a familiar reference into how the character feels.  

If that isn’t enough proof for you, listen to the end of Vesti La Giubba, and you’ll hear a theme repeated in octaves, which is E, D#, G#, B played in the same rhythm (proportionally) as “I feel you Joh-ha-nna” (excluding the 6th on the lat syllable). If that’s not proof that Sondheim used themes from Pagliacci  intentionally, I don’t know what is.