I'm a stranger here myself

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Mary Martin sang I'm a Stranger Here Myself as the first singer on Broadway

I'm a Stranger Here Myself ( I am even a stranger ) is a song from the musical One Touch of Venus by Kurt Weill (music) and Ogden Nash (text) from the year 1943. It is written for the main character Venus, a marble sculpture that comes to life after a man's kiss. The song was composed for a mezzo-soprano voice with orchestra and is also very popular with classical singers. It is often given as an encore at concerts and is one of the most popular jazz standards . In the performances of the musical at the Imperial Theater on New York's Broadway from 1943 to 1945, the actress and singer Mary Martin sang this musical number with great success.

Musical structure

The song tells of the reflections of a woman who is not sure whether her love for a man will be taken seriously and reciprocated. It consists of seven stanzas in a slow blues rhythm, five of which end with the refrain "I'm a stranger here myself". It takes a good three minutes. Kurt Weill composed the melody in the key of G minor and provided the tempo Moderato assai (very moderate). The piece consists of 76 bars , which are given a rhythmic tension through syncopation . After an instrumental introduction of two bars in the pitch ( mezzo forte ), the singing voice first begins ( piano , soft): “Tell me, is love a popular suggestion, or merely an obsolete art?” The singers change according to their acting interpretation of the musical figure Venus the dynamics of the song several times. As a rule, the last movement of the text, the refrain, is presented in an ascending melody, in contrast to Weill's notation, in the manner of a musical finale with a strong tone and triumph, supported by the orchestra in a tutti , which ends the piece with a three-bar epilogue .

Interpretations (examples)

Numerous female singers interpreted this Weill song, and it is performed repeatedly in many arrangements and instrumentations. The soprano Teresa Stratas sang the song accompanied by a chamber orchestra ; more recent interpretations were made by the Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter in 2006, and an idiosyncratic interpretation for voice and accordion was provided by Flemish singer Sarah Algoet in 2010 with accordionist Ludo Mariën. From the field of jazz and rock music, there are recordings by Dee Dee Bridgewater , Toto Blanke , Helen Schneider and Ute Lemper . Most of the time, however, “I'm a Stranger Here Myself” can be heard in the classical line-up, singing voice with piano accompaniment.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "London Theater: In Touch of Venus , A Touch of Class" by Sheridan Morley, Review of the London Revival, " The New York Times ", August 8, 2001
  2. ^ Sy Feldman: Kurt Weill - A Centennial Anthology , Volume 1, Alfred Publishing , Los Angeles 1999, pp. 145 ff.
  3. ^ "I'm a Stranger Here Myself," Teresa Stratas on YouTube
  4. ^ "I'm a Stranger Here Myself", Anne Sofie von Otter
  5. ^ "I'm a Stranger Here Myself", Sarah Algoet on YouTube
  6. ^ "I'm a Stranger Here Myself," Mary Kathryn Monday on YouTube