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The late Herbert Kretzmer, who penned the English lyrics for Les Misérables, believed he was not given enough credit for adapting the initial French production into the widely acclaimed English adaptation, letters have shown.

They were found in the collection of Kretzmer, who died in 2020 aged 95, after it was contributed to Cambridge University Library.

A correspondence that Kretzmer penned to stage producer Cameron Mackintosh in 1987 mentioned "unpleasant actions taken by others to downgrade my credit and input".

"I think it will clarify matters if I explain, for the initial and I trust only time, the straight and confirmable truth about the creation of the English version of the musical," he expressed.

"Not many people have had the opportunity to contrast my English adaptation, line by line with the original Paris libretto.

"So let me, as succinctly as I can, point out the indication for declaring that, in terms of the real words now being sung regularly in both cities, there is very little indeed that can be described as direct translation.

"The musical in English is practically a fresh, revised musical."

He characterized it as "an extensive amount of content that is so entirely reconceived and reworked that there is no longer major correspondence between my text and the original French version."

"I regret that this letter has to be written at all, but in consideration of the unpleasant actions taken by others to downgrade my credit and contribution, I must stress that Les Miserables is not a production converted or revised, but a show transformed," he stated.

Text alterations found

Dr Liz Savage, archive specialist at the university, helped to catalogue the musical sections of the archive.

She identified many modifications in Kretzmer's second draft of the musical, including modifying "ordinary" to "angry" in the tune Do You Hear The People Sing?

The tune, which has been chanted in demonstrations internationally, begins: "Do you hear the people sing?/ Singing the song of angry men."

The archive also shows how Kretzmer tried out various other words originally, including "brave" and "dauntless", before choosing "furious".

Documents also indicate that the number Stars was in jeopardy of being removed, before urging from Kretzmer and others to keep it, writing: "We need to completely separate ourselves from the choice to cut Stars. We disagree that the production is diminished by the inclusion of this tune."

Kretzmer's wife, Sybil, said: "The reputation of the institution reflects the effect and impact of Herbert's work, and we believe the collection will be conserved by the Library and live on for future generations, just like Les Miserables itself."

Additional Findings

The collection also includes a document from 1985 about auditions, which discloses Brian Blessed was included in evaluated for parts in the initial production, noting he "has been working diligently on his vocal abilities, and has made significant improvements".

It also states Fiddler On The Roof actor Chaim Topol and the horror film star Max von Sydow "will, hopefully, be able to come to London... to review the roles of Jean Valjean and Javert".

The archive also features letters from prominent figures including stars Frank Sinatra and Peter Sellers, and images captured by director Stanley Kubrick, together with Kretzmer's clippings from his writing career and his theatre career.

The originally from South Africa British lyricist also penned the lyrics to the 1960 song Goodness Gracious Me, made famous by Sellers and Sophia Loren. He also collaborated with artist from France Charles Aznavour on his successful 1974 song She.