Aladdin

Menken's score for Aladdin moves between sweeping, Middle Eastern-flavored orchestral writing for the film's magic-carpet and adventure scenes and the show's four main songs: 'Arabian Nights,' the scene-setting opener; 'Friend Like Me,' a brassy, big-band-inflected number for the Genie; 'One Jump Ahead,' a fast, rhythmic chase theme for Aladdin; and 'A Whole New World,' the film's romantic centerpiece and best-known song, built on a simple, soaring melody that climbs steadily to its final high note. If the orchestra performs live alongside a screening of the film, as some presentations of this program do, expect the music to be timed exactly to match chases, comic bits and emotional beats as they appear on screen; if instead the concert presents a suite of highlights, expect the same melodies condensed into a shorter concert sequence without the film.

Alan Menken composed the score for Disney's animated Aladdin, released in 1992, with songs co-written by lyricist Howard Ashman, who died before the film's completion, and Tim Rice, who finished the lyrics Ashman had not completed. The film won Menken two Academy Awards, for Best Original Score and for the song 'A Whole New World,' continuing the run of successful Disney animated musicals Menken had begun with The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. In the years since, orchestras have regularly performed the score live alongside a projection of the film, or in concert suites of its songs, as part of a wider trend of live-to-picture film concerts.