Barbra Streisand's Favorite Songwriters

The Bergmans snuggle with Barbra Streisand. — Bergman Family Photo

For the new album, the Bergmans described how Streisand winnowed down the final song choices by listening to and singing dozens of possibilities in the rehearsal space called "Grandma's House" at her Malibu, Calif. home. "She would call every few weeks and ask if we had any more," laughed Alan Bergman. The final cut includes a haunting version of "Windmills of Your Mind" with an a cappella opening that demonstrates Streisand's voice at its purest.

After listening once again to the new version of "Windmills" on their home stereo, Marilyn Bergman paused and quietly noted, "It's not just her voice. It's her intelligence and her spectacular ability as an actress and director of herself to bring meaning to a song."

Many people ask the Bergmans about their ability as husband and wife to spend almost every day, alone together, in the room over their garage, writing words to go along with music from composers such as Michel Legrand, Marvin Hamlisch, Quincy Jones and John Williams. A surprising amount of that time, the couple said, was spent in silence — solving the riddle of the next line.

"It's effortless," said Alan Bergman. "In simple language, one washes, one dries. That's the way it is."