Helen BushbyCulture reporter
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Herbert Kretzmer died in 2020 and his archive has been donated to Cambridge University
The late Herbert Kretzmer, who wrote the English libretto for Les Misérables, felt he was not given enough credit for transforming the original French musical into the hugely popular English-language version, letters have revealed.
They were found in the archive of Kretzmer, who died in 2020 aged 95, after it was donated to Cambridge University Library.
A letter that Kretzmer wrote to theatre producer Cameron Mackintosh in 1987 referenced “unpleasant actions taken by others to downgrade my credit and contribution”.
“I think it will clarify matters if I spell out, for the first and I hope only time, the straight and verifiable facts about the authorship of the English version of Les Miserables,” he wrote.
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The enduringly popular show has been performed around the world over the past 40 years
“Not many people have had the opportunity to compare my English version, page for page, with the original Paris libretto.
“So let me, as briefly as I can, point out the evidence for declaring that, in terms of the actual lyrics now being sung nightly in New York and London, there is very little indeed that can be called translation.
“Les Miserables in English is virtually a new, rewritten show.”
He described it as “a mass of material that is so totally reconceived and rewritten that there is no longer any substantial similarity between my lyrics and the 1980 Paris model”.
“I regret that this letter has to be written at all, but in view of the unpleasant actions taken by others to downgrade my credit and contribution, I must emphasise that Les Miserables is not a show translated or re-written, but a show reborn,” he said.
The Times quoted Mackintosh as saying in reference to the correspondence in the archive: “Herbie has a very strong moral compass as a person. He has the very quality to reflect in popular song and lyric the ethos of Victor Hugo.”
Les Misérables was adapted from Hugo’s 1862 novel for a French album in 1980 and a stage show the following year. The English-language version of the musical opened in London in 1985.
The archive also includes a 1985 memo about auditions, which reveals Brian Blessed was among those discussed for roles in the original cast, stating he “has been working hard on his voice, and has made considerable improvements”.
It also says Fiddler On The Roof actor Chaim Topol and Exorcist actor Max von Sydow “will, hopefully, be available to come to London… to discuss the roles of Jean Valjean and Javert”.
The archive also features letters from huge names including actors Frank Sinatra and Peter Sellers, and photographs taken by director Stanley Kubrick, along with Kretzmer’s cuttings from his newspaper work and his theatre career.
The South African-born English writer also penned the lyrics to the 1960 song Goodness Gracious Me, made famous by Sellers and Sophia Loren. He also worked with French singer Charles Aznavour on his 1974 hit She.
Word changes discovered
Dr Liz Savage, special collections assistant at Cambridge University Library, helped to catalogue the Les Misérables sections of the archive.
She found many edits in Kretzmer’s second draft of the musical, including changing “common” to “angry” in the song Do You Hear The People Sing?
The song, which has been sung in protests around the world, begins: “Do you hear the people sing?/ Singing the song of angry men.”
The archive also reveals how Kretzmer tried out various other words first, including “valiant” and “fearless”, before deciding on “angry”.
Documents also show that the song Stars was in danger of being cut, before pressure from Kretzmer and others to keep it, writing: “We must altogether disassociate ourselves from the decision to cut Stars. We do not agree that the show is weakened by the inclusion of this song.”
Kretzmer’s widow, Sybil, said: “The prestige of Cambridge University reflects the impact and influence of Herbert’s work, and we know the archive will be preserved by the Library and live on for generations to come, just like Les Miserables itself.”
