Album Notes

Hearkening back to the music of the silent movie era, "Music for Melodrama" presents a collection of original themes composed to accompany the drama by Christopher Bond that gave birth to the Sondheim musical of the same name. Purity, betrayal, courage, insanity, love, revenge: all are celebrated in this original score, performed in this live recording upon both the piano and the king of instruments.

Premiered at the California Institute of Technology, "Music for Melodrama" presents one of the only original "soundtracks" for the saga of Sweeney Todd composed since Sondheim's award-winning score.

Robert W. Parker is a prizewinning, critically acclaimed composer and performer with over twenty-five years' experience in musical theater and thirty years' experience as a liturgical musician. Called "a delight" by the press from Connecticut to California, he has performed for Presidential inaugurations, appeared on stages throughout Europe, the Caribbean, and Japan, and has been seen (and heard) on both national and international television.

The music of Robert Parker is dedicated to rediscovering the classical sound, making music that is totally traditional, yet totally new.