Color and light is the classic example of a Sondheim scene. It is dialogue intertwined with music, which makes his style much more intricate, almost through composed. The piece starts with George, at his painting, dabbing at his work, accompanied by a series of staccato eighth notes in a quasi-chromatic motif, which is the motif of his art work, also found in “Finishing the Hat,” in which the motif is varied and fought against. The motif is chromatic in harmony for a reason, George’s color schemes are so varied (rather: “anti” monochromatic), that Sondheim chose this series of notes during his work sessions to show the differences and the particularities in his painting. The motif persists, just like George’s work ethic, with little pauses to speak his mantra (Order, Design, Composition) and then continues over the persistent motif, until finally he sings, “more red” shortly (two eighth notes, being F and Gb, again a chromatic interval). This matches the accompanying motif and also highlights the color, “red.” Color is sacred to George, so the colors are agogically accented by the movements of the pitch. The same is done with “A little more red.” He sings “blue” in the series of notes the motif contains, chaotically in eighth notes, and then breaks free with less movement on “Even, even.” 4 quarter notes, one of the most simplistic rhythms besides half notes and whole notes. This climb continues until he breaks free with, “Color and light” (the two things most holy to George). Each phrase George speaks is followed by an attack by the strings and piano, an Eb (add 9) chord over a Bb (all the while over the eighth note motif). The chord itself is not terribly dissonant, but the way the upper part of the chord is voiced makes it so. The F is doubled, and it is in first inversion, which puts a G on bottom and an F on top. This combination of voicing and pitch doubling makes this a haunting, almost jarring attack. This is foreshadowing to the kind of accents in “Finishing the Hat,” where there is a battle between motifs, this is the outside world calling to him, which is soon to be Dot in the coming scene. George continues to work and becomes consumed with his painting, speaking to his creation, all the while being underscored by the motif from “Sunday in the Park with George” and “Finishing the Hat,” which is what I consider the passion motif, whether it be George’s passion for his work, or Dot’s passion for George.
This fades in to the similar motif, but with Dot now sitting at her mirror getting ready for the Follies. She sings “more rouge” in the same two note pattern George sang “more red,” thus showing Dot’s adolescent love of looks and all things superficial. The motif then stops and Dot sings “if my legs were longer, if my bust was smaller, if my hands were graceful, if my waist was thinner, if my hips were fatter, if my voice was warm, if I could concentrate-“all over the regret motif, which, in this key, is a G major 9 to an A 6/9 without the 3rd. This motif is all over the score, present in almost every song, most notably in “Lesson #8” and “Sunday in the Park with George.” Here Dot is displaying her insecurities, which makes her feel somewhat not good enough for George, almost as if she is trying to find the reason George is not as fascinated with her as he is with his work. But alas, in her naivety, she sings “I’d be in the Follies.” She sings this over an insanely fast accompaniment, almost unstable (in 2/4, the half note beating at 112 bpm). The speed of the accompaniment paired with the chromatic, dissonant counter melody underneath (at times creating many, many diminished 5ths) mirrors Dot’s unsteadiness and immaturity. She comes to realization that her fantasy of being in the Follies is silly, and sings about this, again, over the regret motif. The music then breaks into the eighth note motif and goes back to George, working chaotically, in which he sings the entire series of the eighth note motif, chromaticism and all, showing his persistence with the work. The string attacks repeat again, as George knows Dot is waiting- once more, the real world beckoning to him. Dot then sings about George over the first chord of the regret motif, singing, “But it’s warm inside his eyes” followed by George singing “hotter” (over a completely different second chord of the motif, on purpose- just remember that) An important lyrical note here is that Dot sings “warm” while George sings “hotter.” Both are close in meaning but have extremely different connotations, Dot’s warmth is in regards to her love for George, but George is in the world of his painting, outside on the Isle of La Grande Jatte, on a hot Sunday. The two couldn’t be further apart. The motif continues in its normal fashion as Dot sings her pain about being an object to George, “and he burns you with his eyes…and you’re studied like the light, and you look inside the eyes, and you catch him here and there, but he’s never really there.” The two soon converge in counterpoint and both sing in harmony “I could look at him/her forever.” Once again, Sondheim writing harmonies mainly when two people are speaking the same words, but they have two different meanings. Dot is in love, but George is in awe of how Dot can be drawn. After this harmony is sung, the passion motif comes in (now symbolizing two different passions) and concludes with a heavily orchestrated G9 chord, voiced almost as an F chord with a diminished fifth added, thus alluding to George’s decision about to be made. He inevitably picks his painting over the Follies and Dot storms out. He goes to his painting, and has a moment of regret, with “damn.” But in the end, George makes his decision with two words, “well…red.” The eighth note motif continues with the string attacks becoming more and more consistent and rhythmic, battering George wildly. However, in the last two measures, George is “consumed by light” and the eighth note motif plays heavily throughout all the voices of the orchestra, showing the painting’s triumph.
