Musical selections in The Wizard of Oz

Publicity still showing music for The Wizard of Oz being recorded -- ironically, for a deleted scene, the "Triumphant Return".

The songs from the 1939 musical fantasy film The Wizard of Oz have taken their place among the most famous and instantly recognizable American popular songs of all time, and the film's principal song, Over the Rainbow, is perhaps the most famous song ever written for a film. Music and lyrics were by Harold Arlen and E.Y. "Yip" Harburg, who won an Academy Award for Best Song for "Over the Rainbow".

Herbert Stothart, who underscored the film, won an Academy Award for Best Original Score, perhaps the only time that the instrumental underscoring for a musical film has actually won an Oscar. Some of that underscoring was, of course, based on Harburg and Arlen's songs. Georgie Stoll was the associate conductor and screen credits were given to George Bassman, Murray Cutter (who did "Over the Rainbow"), Ken Darby and Paul Marquardt for orchestral and vocal arrangements. As usual, Roger Edens was heavily involved as the unbilled musical associate of Freed. Incidental music was contributed by Stoll, Bassman, Robert Stringer^[1] and also Conrad Salinger.^{[citation needed]}

The songs were recorded in a studio before filming. Several of the recordings were completed while Buddy Ebsen was still with the cast. So while he had to be dropped from the cast due to illness from the aluminum powder makeup, his singing voice remains on the soundtrack. In the group vocals of "We're off to See the Wizard," his voice is easy to detect. Ray Bolger (and also Jack Haley, who had a solo but was not in the group vocal) were speakers with a distinct Boston accent and did not pronounce the r in wizard. Buddy Ebsen was a Midwesterner, like Judy Garland, and pronounced the r.

Although an orchestra underscores the entire film, approximately the last third of the movie contains no songs. Once Dorothy and her cohorts are handed the task of killing the Wicked Witch, the mood of the film goes a bit darker. This was not originally intended -- the last three songs in the film, "The Jitterbug," the vocal reprise of "Over The Rainbow," and "The Triumphant Return" were all excised from the film before its official release.

E. Y. Harburg and Harold Arlen. "We're Off To See The Wizard (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)" Sheet music cover.

Song previews

The songs were first heard on radio on a program called MGM: Leo Is On the Air a few months prior to the film's release. Brunswick Records had earlier recorded a single of Over the Rainbow as well as The Jitterbug, a song eventually deleted from the film, but MGM had suppressed the recording because they wanted to preview the songs themselves. The radio preview proved a huge success and, through repeated live radio playings, "Over the Rainbow" soared to the top of the hit parade charts even before audiences saw the film.^[2]

An obviously staged "backstage glimpse" at the planning and making of the film, hosted by Robert Young, and featuring Judy Garland, lyricist E.Y. Harburg, and composer Harold Arlen, was the subject of an episode of the Good News of 1939 radio program. This program also gave a sneak preview of some of the music, but interspersed it with comedy skits by such artists as Fannie Brice. Ms. Brice, in her radio persona of Baby Snooks, was featured in a skit in which Lancelot Higgins (Hanley Stafford) tried to tell her the story of The Wizard of Oz, but was constantly interrupted (and kept from attending the film's premiere) by the toddler. The entire program, as well as the Leo is On the Air episode, is included as a supplement on the Wizard of Oz DVD.

1940 Decca Studio Album

The first record album of music from the film was not a soundtrack album in the sense that the term is used today, or even an original cast album, although it is sometimes erroneously called so. ^[3] It was, instead, a sort of cover version - a U.S. Decca four-record 78 RPM studio cast album of songs from the film released in 1940, featuring Judy Garland as Dorothy, but with the Ken Darby Singers in other roles. (Darby had also been one of the actual film's music arrangers.) This album was about twenty minutes in length. There was no overture included, only the songs, and most of them were not placed in the same order that they were heard in the film. The album also used some introductory song verses which had not been included in the motion picture. Two songs heard in the film as finally released were omitted from the album - Optimistic Voices and If I Were King of the Forest; however, the album did include the song The Jitterbug, which had been deleted from the film. It also used, oddly enough, dialogue which never appeared in the movie - at one point, during "The Merry Old Land of Oz", Dorothy says: "We can't go to see the Wizard like this! We're all dirty!", after which the group supposedly enters the Wash and Brush Up room in the Emerald City. ^[4] The reprise of Over the Rainbow and the Triumphal return sequence were also not included.

The orchestra on the album was conducted by Victor Young, and the orchestrations were completely different from those used in the film, as were some of the vocal arrangements. In the "Munchkinland" medley, the Ken Darby Singers provided the voices of the Munchkins, but they were not altered to sound "chipmunk"-like, as in the film. The role of Glinda was sung by an unnamed soprano with an operatic voice, and in the song "If I Only Had A Heart", the role of the Tin Man was sung by a tenor whose voice bordered on falsetto. The two songs Garland sang on the album, Over the Rainbow and The Jitterbug, had already been released as a 78-RPM single in 1939 only a month after the film's premiere,^[5] and were incorporated into the album. (This single had nothing to do with the Brunswick Records recording that had been suppressed by MGM.) On the rest of the 1940 album, an unnamed soloist took the role of Dorothy.

This first Wizard of Oz movie album was quite a success, and after being reissued in a 45 -RPM version ^[5] and as a 10-inch LP, it was finally re-released in 1956 ^[6] as one side of a 12-inch 33 1/3 RPM LP, the other side occupied by cover versions of songs from Disney's Pinocchio, (1940) with Cliff Edwards, the film's Jiminy Cricket, as lead soloist. (Perhaps not so coincidentally, this is also the year that MGM Records first released an authentic soundtrack album made from the film.)

The 1940 Decca "cover album" stayed in print throughout the 1950s, even after the authentic soundtrack album of The Wizard of Oz was released. Judy Garland's 1939 cover versions of Over the Rainbow and The Jitterbug were released years later on the 1994 Decca box set The Complete Decca Masters (plus), which featured all of Garland's Decca singles and several alternate takes. The Decca single of Over the Rainbow has been released on an MCA compact disc entitled 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection - The Best of Judy Garland, among various other compilations; the rest of the 1940 album of The Wizard of Oz has yet to be issued on CD, however.

MGM Soundtrack Album

In 1956 - the year that the film was first shown on TV - MGM Records released their own authentic 40-minute LP soundtrack album from the film, which featured not only most of the songs, but enough dialogue for listeners to be able to follow the story, almost exactly as heard on the movie soundtrack. There were a few minor edits in this 1956 edition, i.e., Aunt Em's two lines "Dorothy, please, we're trying to count!" [referring to their farm chickens], and "Dorothy, Dorothy, we're busy!" were turned into the single line "Dorothy, Dorothy, we're busy! Please, we're trying to count!". The songs Optimistic Voices and The Merry Old Land of Oz, and the Tin Man's instrumental dance to If I Only Had a Heart were omitted from the LP release; also gone were half of the Munchkinland medley, the entire Professor Marvel sequence, the moments during the tornado scene during which Dorothy sees people - including Miss Gulch - flying past her window, the talking apple trees scene, the appearance of the Witch on the roof of the Tin Man's cottage, the poppy field sequence, the moment when the Lion reads "Surrender Dorothy" in the sky, and the scene in the Haunted Forest in which the Tin Man is mysteriously lifted into the air. Also gone was the moment in which the Scarecrow says "They tore my legs off and they threw them over there", etc., and the Tin Man answers "Well, that's you all over", and the scene in which Dorothy's friends are scaling the cliff in order to get to the witch's castle, as well as many tiny bits from the film.

This soundtrack recording eventually supplanted the 1940 studio album. Throughout the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, it was constantly reprinted and re-released (each time with different cover art work), and the album eventually appeared in an expanded version on CD in 1989, released by CBS Records instead of MGM. The 1989 release also contained the original deleted film version of The Jitterbug, albeit without its full intro, as a bonus track. In 1998, to coincide with a digitally restored and remastered theatrical reissue, the album was reissued on Rhino Records as The Songs And Story Of The Wizard Of Oz. The album was edited from the reissues digital stereo soundtrack, created from surviving multiple recording stems, and as such was the first ever album to feature many of the songs in true stereo sound.

MGM 1963 Studio Album

In 1963, MGM Records issued an entirely new LP recording featuring four selections from The Wizard of Oz ^[7], this one a true cover version with none of the film's cast. Also included on the album were selections from Victor Herbert's Babes in Toyland. This album quickly sank into obscurity and has never been issued on CD. It featured such artists as Jackson Beck.

Rhino Records Deluxe Soundtrack Album

In 1995, all previous albums of The Wizard of Oz were supplanted by Rhino Records' extensive, new 2-CD soundtrack album featuring not only all the songs, but all of Herbert Stothart's background music, as well as outtake pieces of music, the opening and closing credits music, all of the songs cut from the film during its sneak previews, and demos for the songs. (See tracklisting below.) In all, this album played for well over two hours, longer than the actual film. All of the songs and music, except for the demos, were presented in the exact order that they would have been heard in the film had it not been slightly trimmed before release.

The 1995 album contains no spoken dialogue. One vocal not heard on the album is the Guards' chanting of "O - Ee- Yah, Eoh - Ah!" outside the Wicked Witch's castle, as only the instrumental music track is included. Also unheard is the "Lions and tigers and bears!" chant. Another oddity is that although a full track of "Cyclone" instrumental is used, in lieu of the film's shortened soundtrack which has an audible edit, only one of the two tracks for the segment was located, so the mix is different from the "normal" version.

A single-disc version was also produced, containing only the vocal selections, the main title, the "Cyclone" instrumental, and the score for the final scene where Dorothy goes home. The single-disc still contained all of the vocal outtakes, with the exception of the "Over The Rainbow" reprise, and extended versions of songs, but discarded almost all of the background score. Despite the existence of multi-track recordings, which had been made in order to create a more full and balanced monaural track for the film, none of the music on either release was mixed in stereo.

In 1998, when the film received a complete digital video and audio restoration, including a new stereo mix, Rhino Records released The Songs And Story Of "The Wizard Of Oz", which expanded the 1956 MGM album even further, taking off The Jitterbug, adding the deleted dance music from "If I Only Had A Brain", and including additional bits of dialogue absent from previous releases. This was also the first time that the Oz songs were made available on CD in stereo, some in simulated stereo, and some in true stereo thanks to the existence of most of MGM's original multi-track recordings of the music from the film.

Music in the film

Vocals composed for the film

• Over the Rainbow - Dorothy (Judy Garland)
• Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are - Glinda (Billie Burke, erroneously reported dubbed by Lorraine Bridges) / The Munchkins (Singer's Midgets, billed as The Singer Midgets in the film's closing credits)
• It Really Was No Miracle - Judy Garland and the Munchkins
• Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead - The Munchkins
• The Lullaby League - Three Munchkin girls (Betty Rome, Carol Tevis, Lorraine Bridges)
• The Lollipop Guild - Three Munchkin boys (Billy Bletcher, Jerry Maren, Cliff Edwards)
• We Welcome You to Munchkinland - The Munchkins
• You're Off to See the Wizard - The Munchkins
• If I Only Had a Brain - Scarecrow (Ray Bolger)/Judy Garland
• We're Off to See the Wizard - Judy Garland / Ray Bolger / Buddy Ebsen (pre-recorded) / Bert Lahr
• If I Only Had a Heart - Tin Man (Jack Haley)
• If I Only Had the Nerve- Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr)
• Optimistic Voices - unseen chorus
• The Merry Old Land of Oz - Carriage Driver at Emerald City (Frank Morgan) / Judy Garland / Ray Bolger / Bert Lahr / Jack Haley / Citizens of the Emerald City
• If I Were King of the Forest - Bert Lahr, Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley
• The Jitterbug (cut from the film) - Judy Garland / Ray Bolger / Jack Haley / Bert Lahr
• Over the Rainbow (Reprise) (cut from the film) - Judy Garland
• Hail Hail The Witch Is Dead / The Merry Old Land Of Oz (Reprise) (cut from the film; a brief moment from this can be seen in the 1949 re-release trailer for the film) - Head Winkie Guard (dubbed by Ken Darby)/Citizens of the Emerald City

Instrumentals in the film:

• In addition to the well-known vocals by Harburg and Arlen, nearly the entire film was underscored by arranger Herbert Stothart, using a mixture of instrumental-only leitmotifs composed for some of the characters; instrumental references to some of the vocals; and traditional and classical pieces. Much of the following information (which is by no means an exhaustive list) is taken from the Deluxe CD liner notes.

Composed for the film:

• Opening credits medley: Glinda's theme, dynamic full-orchestra version, played over the MGM Leo the Lion logo; followed by segments of "Ding, Dong, the Witch is Dead" played slowly and majestically, so that the song is almost unrecognizable; they lead into "Over the Rainbow", then we hear "It Really Was No Miracle", "Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are" and "It Really Was No Miracle" again, followed by original music while the film's foreword appears on the screen.
• Miss Gulch's / Witch's theme - repeated every time Miss Gulch or the witch appears. This repeated seven-note motif is actually a "crippled" variation (inverted and compressed in range) of the musical figure for "We're off to see the Wizard".
• Orientale theme - for Professor Marvel and for The Wizard
• Glinda's theme - 6-note pattern repeated several times rapidly each time Glinda arrives or leaves in her bubble: G, D, E, B-flat, G, C-sharp.
• Closing credits medley: Glinda's theme (full orchestra) / Over the Rainbow

Music not composed specifically for the film:

• "The Happy Farmer", i.e. Fröhlicher Landmann, von der Arbeit zurückkehrend, "The Happy Farmer Returning from Work" from Schumann's Album for the Young - opening scene, establishing scenes in Kansas, and during "ride" in cyclone
• "My Castle's in the Courtyard" (nursery rhyme) - in sequence leading up to "Over the Rainbow"
• "The Whistler And His Dog" (by Septimus Winner) a.k.a. "Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone?" - when Toto escapes from Miss Gulch's basket as she pedals on her bicycle to the sheriff
• "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree" (by Harry Williams and Egbert Van Alstyne) - when Dorothy and the Scarecrow find themselves in an apple orchard
• Scherzo Opus 16 #2 (by Mendelssohn) - when Toto escapes from the castle
• "Night on Bald Mountain" (by Mussorgsky) - during chase scenes at the witch's castle
• "Gaudeamus Igitur" (traditional) - a few bars when the Wizard awards the Scarecrow his honorary degree
• "Home! Sweet Home!" (by John Howard Payne and Henry Bishop) - as Dorothy says the words and clicks her heels, and in the final scene in Kansas. In the final moments of this scene, a horn intones "Home Sweet Home" in counterpoint to the final strain of "Over The Rainbow."

Tracklisting for Rhino Deluxe Edition

Rhino Deluxe Edition cover

This set does not include any spoken dialogue. Its main purpose is to present the songs as well as the pure audio background music from the movie. The set is quite extensive as it contains many "extended versions" of songs and background music with which most people are familiar. All of the songs from the movie are presented on the set in their full, and even some extended, vocal versions. Vocal tracks are identified (vocal) in bold type; other tracks are instrumentals.

Disc One:

1. Main Title
2. Trouble in School - (extended version)
3. Farmyard - (outtake)
4. Over the Rainbow - vocal
5. Miss Gulch - (extended version)
6. Leaving Home
7. Crystal Gazing
8. Cyclone - (extended version)
9. Munchkinland
10. I'm Not a Witch
11. Come Out, Come Out... - vocal
12. It Really Was No Miracle - vocal
13. We Thank You Very Sweetly - vocal
14. Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead - vocal
15. As Mayor of the Munchkin City - vocal
16. As Coroner, I Must Aver - vocal
17. Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead (Reprise) - vocal
18. Lullaby League, The - vocal
19. Lollipop Guild, The - vocal
20. We Welcome You to Munchkinland - vocal
21. Threatening Witch - (extended version)
22. Leaving Munchkinland
23. Good Fairy Vanishes
24. Follow The Yellow Brick Road / You're Off To See The Wizard - vocal
25. Cornfield, The
26. If I Only Had a Brain - (extended version) - vocal
27. We're Off to See the Wizard - (duo) - vocal
28. Apple Orchard, The - (extended version)
29. If I Only Had a Heart - (extended version) - vocal
30. Witch on Roof - (extended version)
31. Bees & Tin Woodman Lament - (partial outtake)
32. We're Off to See the Wizard - (trio) - vocal
33. Into the Forest of Wild Beasts
34. Lion's Confession, The - (outtake)
35. If I Only Had the Nerve - vocal
36. We're Off to See the Wizard - (quartet) - vocal
37. Poppies
38. Spell, The - (extended version)
39. Optimistic Voices - vocal
40. Sign On The Gate / The City Gates Open - (extended version)
41. Merry Old Land of Oz, The - vocal
42. Change Of The Guard (Outtake) / Wizard's Exit
43. If I Were King of the Forest - vocal
44. At the Gates of Emerald City - (extended version)
45. Magic Smoke Chords
46. Terrified Lion

Disc Two:

1. Haunted Forest, The - (extended version)
2. Jitterbug, The - (outtake) - vocal
3. Jitterbug's Attack, The - (extended version)
4. Witch's Castle, The - (extended version)
5. Toto Brings News
6. Over The Rainbow (Reprise) - vocal (outtake)
7. March of the Winkies
8. Dorothy's Rescue - (extended version)
9. On the Castle Wall - (extended version)
10. Ding-Dong! Emerald City - vocal (outtake)
11. The Wizard's Expose / Emerald City Graduation Exercises
12. Fill-In Awards / I Was Floating Through Space / Balloon Ascension / Second Cheer
13. I Hereby Decree
14. Delirious Escape / Delirious Escape Continued / End Title
15. Main Title - (alternate take with unused tag)
16. Over the Rainbow - (partial take) - vocal
17. Over the Rainbow - (alternate take) - vocal
18. Cyclone - (final film version)
19. Munchkinland Insert - (alternate tag)
20. I'm Not a Witch - (alternate version)
21. Munchkinland Musical Sequence - (rehearsal demo) - vocal
22. Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead - (alternate a cappella choir version) - vocal
23. Lollipop Guild, The - (original Munchkin actors' voices) - vocal
24. Follow The Yellow Brick Road / You're Off To See The Wizard - (orchestral angles)
25. If I Only Had a Brain - (unused dance music)
26. If I Only Had a Heart - (unused version) - vocal by Buddy Ebsen
27. Lion's Confession, The - (alternate take outtake/ alternate arrangement)
28. Poppies - (alternate version with heavenly choir)
29. Optimistic Voices - (rehearsal demo) - vocal
30. Optimistic Voices - (alternate vocal arrangement) - vocal
31. Merry Old Land of Oz, The - (orchestral angles)
32. If I Were King of the Forest - (alternate take partial take/alternate vocal tag) - vocal
33. If I Were King of the Forest - (alternate vocal tag) - vocal
34. Jitterbug, The - (choreography rehearsal)
35. Over the Rainbow (Reprise) - (outtake/ alternate version) - vocal
36. Ding Dong! Emerald City - (alternate version)
37. End Title - (alternate version)

See also

• Stage musicals using most of the songs from the film:
  • The Wizard of Oz (1942 musical)
  • The Wizard of Oz (1987 musical)
  • The Wizard of Oz (2011 musical)

References

1. ^ Harmetz, Aljean, The Making of The Wizard of Oz, Hyperion, NY, 1977, pp. 92-7.
2. ^ The OzCampaign
3. ^ http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/oz/ozsect2.html
4. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C1CjOq-t0k
5. ^ ^{a b} http://www.thejudyroom.com/discography/decca/oz78.html
6. ^ http://www.thejudyroom.com/oz/media/discography.html
7. ^ http://www.castalbums.org/shows/504

External links

• The Judy Garland Online Discography "Wizard of Oz" soundtrack pages
• The Judy Garland Online Discography "Wizard of Oz" on Decca Records pages