Hamilton Songbook: Vocal Selections (English Edition)

Need a singer but great arrangements that help capture the feel of the show.Missing a few songs that would have been nice but understand that there is already a lot of stuff in there!

I've been eagerly awaiting the vocal selections since I first saw "Hamilton" last August, and for the most part it does not disappoint. 17 songs are included in their full, uncut performance versions with all solo and ensemble vocals. The piano arrangements (by composer Lin-Manuel Miranda and the show's brilliant musical director, Alex Lacamoire) effectively track the show's orchestrations and are not for beginners but also not beyond a good sight-reader. Note that the piano part is accompaniment, not meant for a solo - so you can either sing along (out loud or in your head), have someone else sing, or just play the vocal line in place of the right-hand arrangement.I do feel some letdown at the songs that are not included, most particularly the Act One closer "Non-Stop," the Act Two closer "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story," "The Story of Tonight," and the eminently singable "Say No To This." (Some of the other omissions are more understandable, as they rely more on rhythm than orchestration and would be difficult to transcribe.) And it would have been nice to include a few production photographs at the front (for a dazzling array of those, you'll have to pick up ). But what's here is so good that it's hard to quibble, and I know I will enjoy many hours at the piano recreating my experience of this astonishing musical.The songs included are:Alexander HamiltonMy ShotThe Schuyler SistersYou'll Be BackHelplessSatisfiedWait For ItThat Would Be EnoughHistory Has Its Eyes On YouDear TheodosiaWhat'd I MissThe Room Where It HappensWashington On Your SideOne Last TimeHurricaneBurnIt's Quiet Uptown

"Hamilton: Vocal Selections" provides vocal scores for 17 songs in Hamilton: An American Musical. (See the end of this review for a full list of songs.) The book includes vocal lines for the main characters and usually puts all the ensemble's vocal parts together on one musical staff. The orchestration is reduced to a piano part, and some songs (e.g. "The Schuyler Sisters", "Washington on Your Side") also include some notation for drums, claps, finger snaps, and other percussive sounds.The piano parts range in difficulty from intermediate to intermediate-advanced. The score includes chords as well as a very faithful reduction of the orchestra parts.All songs, as far as I can tell, are in the same keys as they are on the Broadway cast recording.Most of the songs are presented exactly as they sound on the Broadway cast recording. A few songs (e.g. "Helpless") have a few extra bars of introduction. "That Would Be Enough" has been modified into a solo for Eliza; after the first two bars, the score cuts straight to the line "Look at where you are". I don't believe any other songs in this book have been abridged in a significant way, although in "Helpless" and "Satisfied", the parts with the dialogue between Angelica, Eliza, and Hamilton ("Where are you taking me?" "I'm about to change your life", etc.) have been excised.The Kindle version of this book is basically scans of the pages of the print book. I do NOT recommend getting the Kindle version of this book unless you have a very big tablet to view it on.There are some nice treats in the score that can't be conveyed in a soundtrack. Some of my favorites are the tempo marking for "Burn" ("Moderate 2, icy") and the bit of "The Room Where It Happens" where the score reads "[ENSEMBLE screams in chaos]".Lin-Manuel Miranda, Alex Lacamoire, and Hal Leonard have produced an attractive, thick, and faithful songbook for Hamilton. I hope you enjoy playing through this songbook as much as I have been, and I hope this review helps you decide if the book is right for you.Song list:Alexander HamiltonMy ShotThe Schuyler SistersYou'll Be BackHelplessSatisfiedWait for ItThat Would Be EnoughHistory Has Its Eyes on YouDear TheodosiaWhat'd I MissThe Room Where It HappensWashington on Your SideOne Last TimeHurricaneBurnIt's Quiet Uptown

Molto ben fatto, peccato manchino alcuni brani