Search results
Shakespeare also used songs to establish the character or mental state of the singer. Ariel simply describes himself in “Where the bee sucks.”. Iago uses songs to give himself the appearance of a rough soldier. Most significantly, Ophelia’s snatches of folk song demonstrate the regressive breakdown of her personality.
Music in the plays of William Shakespeare includes both music incidental to the plot, as song and dance, and also additional supplied both by Shakespeare's own company and subsequent performers. [ 1 ] This music is distinct from musical settings of Shakespeare's sonnets by later composers.
To find out more, I had the opportunity to interview Guy Woolfenden, a renowned theatre composer. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company as a music director in 1961, and was Head of Music and resident composer from 1963 to 1998. He wrote 150 scores for the RSC, composing music for every Shakespeare play at least once.
Enjoy the following selection of songs from Shakespeare's works. Come, thou monarch of the vine, Plumpy Bacchuswith pink eyne! In thy fats our cares be drown'd, With thy grapes our hairs be crown'd: Cup us, till the world go round, Cup us, till the world go round! (Antony and Cleopatra, 2.7.127-32)
- Romeo and Juliet. THE PLAY. When Romeo and Juliet meet, they fall instantly in love. The catch is that their families, the Montagues and the Capulets, are sworn enemies, so they marry in secret with the help of Friar Laurence.
- Hamlet. THE PLAY. Hamlet learns his father was murdered when his ghost appears in Elsinore castle. Swearing revenge on his uncle Claudius, the murderer, Hamlet presents a play to the court in which the play-King is murdered.
- Macbeth. THE PLAY. Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy is also one of his goriest. When the Three Witches foretell that he will become King of Scotland, Macbeth becomes consumed with ambition to make that happen as soon as possible, goaded on by the odious Lady Macbeth.
- Othello. THE PLAY. When Othello, a Moorish knight in the Venetian army, promotes the young Cassio above his standard-bearer Iago, little does he know the demons he is about to unleash.
In this final video, Jennifer discusses music that has been influenced by Shakespeare. From classical pieces to Taylor Swift, Shakespeare's themes, characters and words provide a lot of food for the imagination and have been the inspiration for countless songs over the centuries. Listen to performances of two pieces that Jennifer wrote for a ...
People also ask
What music is used in Shakespeare's plays?
Who composed the music for Shakespeare's plays?
How many songs did Shakespeare write?
How does Shakespeare use songs?
Who recorded the original songs of Shakespeare?
Did Shakespeare write music?
Feb 14, 2022 · His dictionary (with Michela Calore) Music in Shakespeare, first published in 2005, has been reissued in its third impression as one of the Arden Shakespeare Dictionaries (2014). His book Shakespeare’s Musical Imagery (2011) investigates categories and thematics in musical metaphor and contextual reference throughout the plays and poems. His ...
