Stephen Sondheim suggested evening the percentage at two percent each, but Sondheim refused because he wanted the credit. Sondheim later said he wished "someone stuffed a handkerchief in my mouth because it would have been nice to get that extra percentage". After "West Side Story" opened, Shevelove lamented the lack of "low-brow comedy" on Broadway and mentioned a possible musical based on Plautus' Roman comedies. When Sondheim was interested in the idea he called a friend, Larry Gelbart, to co-write the script. The show went through a number of drafts, and was interrupted briefly by Sondheim's next project. In 1959, Sondheim was
Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (Bernstein) Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (Bernstein) Leonard Bernstein's Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, written during 1941-42 and published in 1942, was Bernstein's first published piece. It is dedicated to clarinetist David Oppenheim, whom Bernstein met while studying conducting with Serge Koussevitzky at Tanglewood during the summers of 1940 and 1941. The piece is about ten minutes in length and consists of two consecutive movements. The first movement is a lyrical "grazioso," opening with a musical line reminiscent of Paul Hindemith, who was the composer-in-residence at Tanglewood in 1941, and hinting at the influence of Copland and the idyllic Tanglewood atmosphere.