Marat/Sade - Musical Score

Musical Score

Marat/Sade is a play with music. This follows much in the path of Bertolt Brecht where the songs comment on themes and issues of the play. Unlike a traditional musical format, the songs do not further the plot or expositional development of character in the play. In contrast, they often add an alienation effect, interrupting the action of the play and offering historical, social and political commentary. Richard Peaslee composed music for the original English-language production of Marat/Sade directed by Peter Brook. Although there is no official score to the play in any language, the success of the Brook-directed Royal Shakespeare Company production and film caused the Peaslee score to be popular for English-language productions. Sections of the Peaslee score have been included in trade copies of the Skelton/Mitchell English translation (based on the text used for the Royal Shakespeare Company productions). The full score is available from ECS Publishing/Galaxy Music Corporation. The original Royal Shakespeare Company production was so popular that some of the songs from the show were recorded as a medley by Judy Collins on her album In My Life.

Recordings of the songs were made by the cast of the original Royal Shakespeare Company production and film. The first recording of the show was a three LP set released in 1964 by Caedmon Records. This was a complete audio recording of the original Broadway production. The second release was a single soundtrack album LP of the film score, released by Caedmon/United Artists Records.

The third release was a CD compilation of two 1966 Brook/Peaslee Royal Shakespeare Company productions: Marat/Sade and US, released by Premier Recordings. The songs, as included on the CD released by Premier Recordings in 1992:

  1. Homage to Marat
  2. The Corday Waltz
  3. Song and Mime of Corday's Arrival in Paris
  4. The People's Reaction
  5. Those Fat Monkeys
  6. Poor Old Marat
  7. One Day It Will Come to Pass
  8. Poor Marat in Your Bathtub Seat
  9. Poor Old Marat (Reprise)
  10. Copulation Round
  11. Fifteen Glorious Years (interpolating the "Marseillaise")
  12. Finale

This track list omits Royal Anthem (which appears on all other recordings) and does not specifically mention The Tumbrel Song either individually or as a part of Song and Mime of Corday's Arrival in Paris. The cast of this recording includes Patrick Magee, Glenda Jackson, and Freddie Jones. (The accompanying production, US, is about an American soldier "zappin' the Cong" in the Vietnam War.)

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