Selections from Les Misérables

Selections from Les Misérables is a medley, written in 1987 by Warren Barker (see below), of five songs from the blockbuster 1980 musical.

​ Les Misérables, colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz is a sung-through musical based on the 1862 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo. The original French musical premiered in Paris in 1980. Its English-language adaptation has been running in London since October 1985, making it the longest-running musical in the West End and the second longest-running musical in the world after the original Off-Broadway run of The Fantasticks.

Set in early 19th-century France, Les Misérables is the story of Jean Valjean, a French peasant, and his desire for redemption, released in 1815 after serving nineteen years in jail, five for stealing a loaf of bread for his sister's starving child, the other fourteen for numerous escape attempts. Valjean decides to break his parole and start his life anew after a bishop inspires him with a tremendous act of mercy. But a police inspector named Javert refuses to let him escape justice and pursues him for most of the play. Along the way, Valjean and a slew of characters are swept into a revolutionary period in France, where a group of young idealists attempt to overthrow the government at a street barricade in Paris.

After a brief introduction suggesting the final song of the medley, the first song of the medley is “At the End of the Day”. The song occurs rather early in Act One of the musical, after a lengthy Prologue. The music is fast and intricate, with different melodies coinciding as sung by various groups of poor women and men, female workers, solos by certain workers, and repetitious instrumentation. The song laments the unfairness of the exploitation of the poor and workers by the upper classes. “At the end of the day you're another day older; that's all you can say for the life of the poor… At the end of the day you're another day colder, and the shirt on your back doesn't keep out the chill.”

The second song in the medley is “I Dreamed a Dream”. It is one of the play's most famous numbers, sung by a character named Fantine during the first act. Most of the music is soft and melancholic, but towards the end becomes louder and taut with frustration and anguish. She cries aloud about the wretched state of her life since being abandoned by her daughter Cosette's father, and her unfair mistreatment at the factory where she has just been shamed and forced out onto the street.

The next song in the medley, “Master of the House”, is also one of the better-known songs of the musical. It introduces the Thénardiers, who are supposedly caring for Cosette, and the crooked way that they operate their inn. The song is preceded by a lengthy introduction sung largely by regulars at the inn and then the Thénardiers, who reveal their greed and corruption.

The fourth song in the medley, “On My Own”, occurs in the second act of the musical. In the song, Eponine, the grown daughter of the Thénardiers, expresses her unrequited love for her best friend, Marius, and how she dreams of being at his side but knows his love is for Cosette and not for her.

The final song in the medley, “Do You Hear the People Sing”, is first sung in Act I by a student firebrand and the other students as they prepare themselves to launch a rebellion in the streets of Paris. The song is sung again in the finale as the final song of the musical. This second version is sung by the entire cast with revised lyrics, and becomes progressively louder with each stanza. The song is a revolutionary call for people to overcome unfair treatment. The “barricades” referred to in the song are erected by the rebel students in the streets of Paris in the musical's second act. They are to draw the National Guard into combat and ignite a civilian uprising to overthrow the government, but their rebellion eventually fails.

The music for Les Misérables was written by Claude-Michel Schönberg (b. 1944), a French record producer, actor, singer, songwriter, and musical theatre composer, best known for his collaborations with lyricist Alain Boublil. In 1978, he and Boublil conceived the idea for a stage musical version of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables. The original production was staged at the Palais de Sports in Paris in 1980. In 1985 and 1987 respectively, the musical opened in London and on Broadway, to acclaim in each instance. The Broadway production was nominated for twelve Tony Awards in 1987 and won eight, including Best Musical and Best Original Score.

Arranger Warren Barker (1923 -2006) was born in Oakland, California. He attended the University of California at Los Angeles. At the age of 24, he was appointed chief arranger for the National Broadcasting Company’s prime musical program of the time, The Railroad Hour, a position he held for six years. Barker was also associated with 20th Century Fox, Metro Goldwyn-Mayer and Columbia Studios as a composer arranger-conductor for motion pictures and television. He composed and conducted music for more that thirty television series including seven years as composer-conductor for the highly rated comedy series, Bewitched. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences honored him in 1970 for his original music written for the award winning series, My World and Welcome to It, based on the life of James Thurber. He was a member of the arranging staff for the Oscar winning motion picture Hello Dolly. He also served as conductor-arranger and recording artist for Warner Bros. and Capitol Records. His compositions and arrangements have been performed and recorded by a variety of musical artists from Frank Sinatra to the Hollywood Bowl and Cincinnati Pops Orchestras. He received writing commissions from many outstanding music organizations including The United States Air Force Band, The Royal Australian Navy Band, the Northshore Concert Band, and the Norwegian Army Staff Band. Barker wrote or arranged more than 300 pieces for concert band; we frequently perform pieces by him.