If Rodgers and Hammerstein were responsible for the construction of the Golden Age musical formula, composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim was inarguably responsible for deconstructing the musical and thereby revealing a subtler and more intellectual and yet more acutely visceral side of human nature through his songs.
He made his Broadway debut writing the lyrics to the groundbreaking musical West Side Story in 1957, then again provided the lyrics for Gypsy in 1959, but really wanted to write both lyrics and music for shows, which he did over the next six decades, writing the scores to thirteen Broadway musicals, as well as songs for film and TV.