Counterpoint Duet: Difference between revisions

* [[Stephen Schwartz]]:

** "All For The Best" from ''[[Godspell]]'' (and a semi-example with "Tower of Babble" from the same show, with eight counterpoint lines)

* [[Stephen Sondheim]]:

** "Who Could Be Blue/Little White House", a [[Cut Song]] from ''Follies''

** Topped by "Now/Later/Soon" in ''[[A Little Night Music]]'', which gives us a counterpoint ''trio'' of three songs with only the slightest common elements...

*** Except that only Anne actually sings her exact part again; Fredrik and Henrik both sing heavily modified versions of their parts in order to fit with hers. But this song certainly fits the spirit of this trope if not the letter.

* "Truly Scrumptious/Doll on a Music Box" from ''[[Chitty Chitty Bang Bang]]''. Bonus points for the actors involved doing extremely good jobs portraying their characters' disguises (a marionette and a clockwork doll, respectively).

* "Devil Take the Hindmost" from [[Love Never Dies]]. Reprised as a quartet which fits the same trope.

** Another one is "A Heart Full of Love", where Eponine sings a counterpoint to Marius and Cosette's love song about how Marius will never love her. It's only a semi-example because she starts midway through the song and does not sing independently before the counterpoint.

* "Lida Rose/Will I Ever Tell You?" from ''[[The Music Man]]'' (barbershop quartet against Marian).

* "Another Day" from ''[[Rent]]''

* "Bon Voyage/There's No Cure Like Travel" from ''[[Anything Goes]]''

* "I Believe In You" from ''[[How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying]].''

* "[[Anti Christmas Carol|A Fairytale of New York]]" by The Pogues.

* The combination reprise of "Under Your Spell" and "Standing" from the [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]] Musical Episode "Once More With Feeling".

** Not to mention Spike and Buffy in the "Coda".

** And the end of "A Man's Gotta Do" features a Counterpart ''Trio'', between Captain Hammer, Penny, and Dr. Horrible.

* In ''[[A Very Potter Musical]]'', Ron and Draco sing "Granger Danger," a song about how seeing Hermione at the Yule Ball has made them both fall in love with her.

** On the other hand, ''[[The Secret Garden]]'' has the two male leads singing about "Lily's Eyes".

* [[Mitch Benn]] parodies this in the duet part of his "West End Musical" parody (which is also supposed to be a [[Distant Duet]]).

'''Both''': And the last line is in two-part harmony. }}

* In Celtic Thunder's song "That's a Woman", two of the men play opposing views on how a woman is and should be treated. One thinks they're nothing but good and should be treated gently, and another thinking that they're nothing but bad and should be treated in kind.

* ''[[Hairspray]]'' (the 2007 movie) has a reprise of Big Blonde and Beautiful, during which Edna and Velma sing about their plans to seduce Wilbur for ''very'' different reasons.

* "This Isn't My Idea" from ''[[The Swan Princess]]'', in which Odette and Derek, as children, lament how their parents are forcing them to spend time together. It later turns into [[Duet Bonding]] as they grow older and fall in love.

* 'Party Conversation' in ''[[When Midnight Strikes]]''. Murial tells Edward "I'm gonna make love to you...". He panics and starts backing away while singing inanely about everything '''but''' making love. Both tunes are reprised in counterpoint before they join together as Edward gives in.

* In [[Miss Saigon]], the song "I Still Believe" is sung by Kim and Ellen. Kim is alone in a hovel singing about how much she loves and misses Chris, praying and still fervently believing that he will come back for her. Ellen is halfway around the world in a comfortable bedroom, sitting right next to the sleeping Chris. Subverted in that the only counterpoint is the setting. Ellen's lyrics show that she is just as lonely and desperate as Kim (Chris' trauma over the loss of Kim has caused him to push Ellen away) and just as fervent in her belief that one day Chris will trust her enough to confide in her.

* In [[Next to Normal]], the song "Who's Crazy?/My Psychopharmacologist and I" is primarily sung by Diana and Dan, with the other actors as ensembles. Dan is reflecting on how and why Diana was having treatments while Diana was telling the audience her path of treatments.

** "You Don't Know/I Am The One".

** "Out There"

** "Heaven's Light" and "Hellfire"

* Used quite often in [[Gilbert and Sullivan]] operettas, for example in "Climbing over Rocky Mountain" from ''The Pirates of Penzance''.

 

 

* "Fugue for Tinhorns" from ''[[Guys and Dolls]]'', which is more of a round than anything.

* "I Am So Proud" from ''[[Gilbert and Sullivan|The Mikado]]'' starts off as a counterpoint trio.

* "Go Ye Heroes" plus "When the Foeman Bares His Steel" from [[Gilbert and Sullivan|The Pirates of Penzance]] probably qualifies here.

** Later in ''Wicked,'' Elphaba and Glinda sing in counterpoint briefly in "For Good" - they have separate refrains, but combine them for the finale, in which it is also in counterpoint to the Ozians reprising "No One Mourns The Wicked".

** The opening version of NOMTW also has Glinda in counterpoint with the Munchkins for the final chorus.

* "Yesterday I Loved You" from [[Once Upon a Mattress]] comes close but the melody of "In A Little While" is slightly modified to fit. In the revival there is also a point where Lady Larken joins Sir Harry in a harmony.

* "Christmas Bells" from [[Rent]] also fits here.

** The musical version of ''The Producers'' does something similar.

** And the end of Act One in the ''[[Scrubs]] [[Musical Episode]].

* "Where Do We Go From Here" from ''[[Zombie Prom]]'' is an ensemble version.

* Beethoven's opera ''[[Fidelio]]'' has a famous Canon Quartet: four characters expressing their different concerns over the same situation.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Musical Number Index]]

[[Category:Music Tropes]]

[[Category:Counterpoint Duet]]