The Schuyler Sisters

Last updated
"The Schuyler Sisters"
Song by Renée Elise Goldsberry, Phillipa Soo, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Leslie Odom Jr., and the cast of Hamilton
from the album Hamilton
Released2015
Genre
Length3:07
Songwriter(s) Lin-Manuel Miranda
Audio
"The Schuyler Sisters" on YouTube

"The Schuyler Sisters" is the fifth song from Act 1 of the musical Hamilton , based on the life of Alexander Hamilton, which premiered on Broadway in 2015. Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote both the music and lyrics to the song.

Contents

Background

Musical director Alex Lacamoire explained that the song originally had a throwback Daft Punk/Pharrell quality, but after viewing a series of Vines with the three actresses improvising on Destiny's Child songs, he reworked the song to give it similar characteristics, then let the sisters add their own harmonies to the tune; he "realized there's nothing in the song as cool as the harmonies the girls do when they're messing around, so we... just let them riff". [1]

Synopsis

The song introduces the three Schuyler sisters: Angelica, Eliza, and Peggy, their different personalities and views, and how they are excited to be in a new age, [2] "amidst the powder keg of the early days of the revolution". [3] Burr tries to flirt with Angelica, but Angelica rejects him and instead professes how she wants a "revelation" instead of a "revolution."

Style

The New Yorker described the sisters as a "Destiny's Child-esque R&B girl group." [4] Pitchfork said the song wouldn't sound out of place in an album by Wyclef protégé City High. [5] The Guardian said the number "combines TLC with the Andrews Sisters and a hat tip to 'Three Little Maids From School Are We'". [6] WIUX described it as "a pre-pre-feminist power anthem". [7]

Critical reception

Entertainment Monthly says this song marks the moment when "the album really kicks it into high gear." [8] Jeff Lunden of Byline said that this is the song he keeps "more or less in constant rotation". [9] When Miranda appeared on the West Wing Weekly podcast, he said the line "I'm looking for a mind at work" was taken from the TV series The West Wing .

Certifications

Certifications for "The Schuyler Sisters"
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [10] Gold400,000
United States (RIAA) [11] 2× Platinum2,000,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Related Research Articles

The Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album has been awarded since 1959. The award is generally given to the album's producers, principal vocalist(s), and the composer and lyricist if they have written a new score which comprises 51% or more playing time of the album, though the number of recipients has varied over the category's tenure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angelica Schuyler Church</span> American socialite (1756–1814)

Angelica Church was an American socialite. She was the eldest daughter of Continental Army General Philip Schuyler, and a sister of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton and sister-in-law of Alexander Hamilton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lin-Manuel Miranda</span> American songwriter, actor, and librettist (born 1980)

Lin-Manuel Miranda is an American songwriter, actor, singer, filmmaker, rapper and librettist. He created the Broadway musicals In the Heights (2005) and Hamilton (2015), and the soundtracks for the animated films Moana (2016), Vivo, and Encanto. He has received numerous accolades including a Pulitzer Prize, three Tony Awards, two Laurence Olivier Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and five Grammy Awards, along with nominations for two Academy Awards. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Lacamoire</span> American composer

Alex Lacamoire is a Cuban-American composer, arranger, conductor, musical director, music copyist, and orchestrator who has worked on many shows both on and off-Broadway. He is the recipient of multiple Tony and Grammy Awards for his work on shows such as In the Heights (2008), Hamilton (2016), and Dear Evan Hansen (2017). Lacamoire was awarded the Kennedy Center Honor in 2018.

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References

  1. Jones, Nate. "Nerding Out With Hamilton Musical Director, Alex Lacamoire", Vulture (NY Magazine), January 13, 2016
  2. "Going H.A.M.: A Track-By-Track Review Of The 'Hamilton' Soundtrack". Vibe. 20 October 2015.
  3. "Hamilton the Musical review". Noted in NYC. 2 April 2015.
  4. Michael Schulman (6 August 2015). "The Women of "Hamilton"". The New Yorker.
  5. "Various Artists". Pitchfork.
  6. Alexis Soloski (18 February 2015). "Hamilton review – founding father gets a hip-hop makeover". the Guardian.
  7. "Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording)". 29 October 2015.
  8. Dominick, Nora (22 September 2015). "A Day Spent Listening to 'Hamilton'". Emertainment Monthly. Archived from the original on 2016-03-09.
  9. "Song From Broadway Musical 'Hamilton' Celebrates Founding Mothers". NPR.org. 25 December 2015.
  10. "British single certifications – Goldsberry/Soo/Cephas-Jones – The Schuyler Sisters". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  11. "American single certifications – Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton – The Schuyler Sisters". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved October 1, 2023.