Shakespeare and Music

by Christopher Wilson

The next in order is "Orpheus with his lute." Roffe gives it sixteen settings, and A List of all the Songs, etc., twenty-two; the latter boldly states, "By John Fletcher." Act iii., Scene 1 is part of the Fletcher portion of Henry VIII. "Shakespeare wrote only 1168-½ of the 2822 lines of the play; the rest are Fletcher's." The editors responsible for this note are F. J. Furnivall and W. G. Stone.

"Come live with me" (Merry Wives) has been set, according to Roffe, sixteen times, and according to the "List" eighteen—the words being quoted from Kit Marlowe. "The Willow" song from Othello (Roffe six and the "List" eleven) is much older than Shakespeare, and is quoted by him from a long poem now in Percy's Reliques.

Very naturally, since these dates (1867 and 1884) many other settings of songs from Shakespeare's plays have been made. Still, these four, two certainly not Shakespeare's and two quite doubtful Shakespeares, keep ahead in the list of music composed for or concerning the plays. I have referred to the "List," and think it only fair to give an account of it. It was published for "The New Shakespeare Society," and compiled by J. Greenhill, the Rev. W. A. Harrison, and F. J. Furnivall; but unfortunately it was published in 1884, and has not been brought up to date. Here one may find that composers were not content with juggling and altering Shakespeare's perfect lyrics, but chose chunks of blank verse and snippets of sonnets to set, for no earthly purpose that I can see. Some of the composers' selections are quite incomprehensible. Why R. J. Stevens should have chosen Prospero's magnificent lines, beginning "The cloud-capt towers, the gorgeous palaces," and made them into a glee for S.A.T.T.B.B., passes my wit to understand.

Also, why Sir Henry Bishop chose Sonnet 109, "Oh, never say that I was false of heart" (lines 1-4 and 13-14), or Sonnet 29, "When in disgrace with fortune" (lines 1-4 and 9-12), with several verbal alterations. All this tends to show that the composer could not have had the smallest conception of the sonnet form, to cut and chop it about as he has done. Personally, I think that no sonnet ought to be set to music, but I know that quite good musical authorities differ from me, and I am content to say that either the whole sonnet or none of it must be set. It is impossible to cut a word or a sentence out of a sonnet without spoiling its form and balance; and, if these essentials are gone, how can it make a perfect song?

INDEX

Adam, Adolphe, [87].
Alexander, Sir George, [9], [105].
Allitsen, Frances, [6].
Alma-Tadema, [16].
Ardevies, Jules, [76].
Armbruster, Carl, [25].
Arne, Dr, [xiii], [7], [8], [11], [92], [94], [134-136], [141], [157], [159], [160], [164].
Asche, Oscar, [22], [130].
Atterbury, Luffman, [73].
Attwood, [65].
Auber, [67].
Bach, [xi], [86].
Balfe, [80], [81], [137].
Balling, [5], [55].
Bannister, [xi].
Barbier, [29], [118].
Barker, Granville, [95].
Barratt, Augustus, [156], [164].
Battishill, [94].
Bavaria, King of, [56], [70].
Bazzini, [51], [52].
Beecham, Sir Thomas, [100].
Beethoven, [xi], [14], [15], [58], [123].
Bellini, [119], [120].
Benayet, [98], [99].
Benda, [128].
Benson, Sir Frank, [5], [22], [54], [55], [88], [130], [141].
Bentley, [22].
Berio, Marquis de, [107].
Berlioz, [3], [25], [36], [50-52], [56], [98], [100], [119], [122-126], [129], [142-144].
Berlioz, Louis, [98].
Bernhoff, [100].
Berton, [138].
Bethmann, [68].
Bishop, Sir Henry, [xiii], [1], [5], [7], [8], [10-12], [13], [63], [65], [92-96], [130],
[153-155], [158-160], [166].
Blau, [104].
Bloch, [59], [61].
Blow, [39].
Boieldieu, [87].
Boito, [29], [32], [50], [56], [83], [84], [108], [111].
Bourchier, [78].
Braham, [80], [130].
Brahms, [155], [156].
Brayton, Lily, [130].
Brian, Havergal, [3].
Bridge, [38].
Broughton, The Misses, [43].
Browning, Robert, [27], [86], [154].
Bruch, Max, [17], [161].
Bülow, von, [47].
Burney, Dr, [28], [29].
Butt, Clara, [6].
Callcott, D., [154].
Calvert, [77].
Campbell, Mrs Patrick, [78].
Canepa, [117].
Capelli, [7].
Carlyle, [126].
Carré, Albert, [60].
Carré, Michel, [18], [29], [118].
Chaplin, [51].
Chelard, [56], [57].
Cherubini, [125], [137].
Chilcot, T., [5], [71].
Chorley, [68].
Choudens, Paul, [18].
Cibber, Colley, [29], [31].
Cimino, G. T., [74].
Clark, Hamilton, [22].
Clément, [1], [14], [32], [47].
Coleridge Taylor, [114], [157].
Collier, J., [6].
Collin, Baron von, [xi], [14], [58].
Cooke, Dr, [88], [94], [130], [131].
Coppa, [120].
Corder, Frederick, [145], [146], [156].
Corelli, Archangelo, [28].
Corfe, [65].
Costa, [120].
Crescentini, [120].
Crotch, [13].
Cumberland, [3].
Cummings, W. H., [54].
Dalayrac, [121].
Dante, [108].
Davenant, [29], [54], [134], [142].
Davison, [68].
Davy, [135], [136].
Debussy, [100].
Deffès, L., [17], [75], [76].
Dent, [99].
Déschamps, [124].
Dickens, C., [141].
D'Ivry, Marquis, [121].
Dixon, C., [72].
Doppler, [20].
Dryden, [134], [136], [142].
Duggan, [146].
Dumas, A., [27].
Duvernoy, A., [138].
Dvorák, [107].
Eberlin, J. E., [117].
Eccles, John, [55].
Edward VII., [121].
Edwards, Richard, [118].
Eggers, J., [58].
Elgar, Sir Edward, [40].
Elias, J. F., [137].
Enna, August, [2].
Erdmann, J. V., [130].
Faccio, [29], [32].
Fauré, G., [78], [79].
Ferrand, H., [98], [99].
Fibich, Zdenko, [112], [113], [138].
FitzGerald, [57].
Fleg, [59].
Fletcher, [43], [45], [46], [71], [72], [96], [154], [156], [165].
Forbes-Robertson, [25], [127].
Ford, T., [154].
Frank, Ernst, [132].
Frederick the Great, [27].
Fuller-Maitland, [5].
Furnivall, F. J., [46], [47], [165], [166].
Gade, [2], [38].
Gainsborough, [72].
Galliard, [71].
Garal, Pierre de, [31].
Gasparini, [28], [29].
George III., [73].
German, E., [9], [37], [38], [42-44], [105], [115], [116], [127], [128].
Giordani, [72].
Girard, [143].
Godfrey, A., [62].
Goethe, [143].
Goetz, [130].
Gounod, [118], [119], [129].
Graun, [2], [21], [27].
Greene, Plunket, [156].
Greenhill, [47], [165].
Grieg, [35], [38].
Grisi, [80], [81], [137].
Grove, [1], [18], [32], [70], [72], [73], [110], [137].
Guglielmi, [122].
Guillaume, [34].
Hale, [140], [141].
Halévy, [32], [76], [137].
Handel, [xi], [2], [27], [38], [47], [73], [90], [91], [93], [94], [130], [134].
Haraucourt, [78], [79].
Harrison, [47], [166].
Hatton, [42], [87], [157].
Hauk, Minnie, [133].
Haydn, [120], [141], [155].
Henry VIII., [45].
Henschel, Sir George, [22], [23], [117].
Hignard, A., [31].
Hodson, Henrietta, [141].
Hohenzollern-Hechingen, Prince of, [51].
Holbrooke, Joseph, [128].
Horn, [xiii], [12], [80], [88].
Hueffer, Francis, [108], [111].
Humperdinck, [77], [108], [112], [142], [151], [152], [161].
Humphrey, [xi], [39].
Immerman, [137].
Irving, Sir Henry, [15], [16], [22], [37], [43], [55].
Irving, H. B., [22].
Jackson, [72].
Johnson, Noel, [130].
Johnson, Robert, [xi], [xii], [134], [136].
Joncières, Victorin de, [27].
Jonson, Ben, [136].
Judith, Mme., [28].
Kean, Mrs C., [42].
Kemble, Fanny, [57].
Kemble, J. P., [57], [135].
Kemp, Dr, [10].
Kipling, [89].
Kirchner, [9], [70].
Kreutzer, K., [51].
Kreutzer, R., [2].
Krug, Arnold, [112].
Lablache, [80], [137].
Laboix, [14].
Lampe, J. F., [92].
Lampe, Mrs, [92].
Larousse, [1], [14], [32], [47], [138].
Laurence, Dr, [136].
Leborne, [28].
Lennen, [87].
Leonhardt, Caroline, [63].
Leopold I., [148].
Leveridge, [55].
Levey, [57].
Linley, [5], [135], [136], [141], [164].
Lisle, Rouget de, [56].
Liszt, [34], [57], [62], [65].
Locke, [xi], [54], [55], [134].
Longhurst, Master, [158].
Loubbert, [143].
Lucas, [9], [146].
Lumley, [137].
MacDowell, E. A., [37].
Macfarren, [20], [45], [160].
Mackenzie, Sir A. C., [15], [16], [31], [152].
Maeterlinck, [108].
Maggioni, [80].
Mansfield, Richard, [115], [116].
Marescalchi, [128].
Marlowe, [12], [154], [165].
Marshall, Julian, [148].
Martin Harvey, Sir John, [26], [27].
Mascagni, [19].
Massenet, [31].
Maurel, Victor, [84], [109].
Mendelssohn, [43], [63], [65], [75], [88], [89], [96], [97], [124], [137].
Mercadante, [40].
Meredith, George, [112].
Metzler, [45].
Meurice, Paul, [27].
Meyerbeer, [27], [63], [115].
Missa, [18], [19].
Moke, Miss, [142].
Monnel, [121].
Moody, [21].
Morgan, M., [40].
Morley, [124].
Mosenthal, [81].
Mozart, [86].
Napoleon I., [120].
Nicolai, [80], [81], [82].
Nicolini, [28].
Novello, [54].
O'Neill, [26], [27].
Paganini, [124].
Parry, [80].
Pelham, [39].
Pepys, [38].
Percy, Bishop, [106], [165].
Perrier, [28].
Peters, [63].
Piave, [56].
Pierson, H. H., [63], [126], [127].
Pinsuti, C., [74].
Plançon, Pol, [102], [118].
Playford, [71].
Pleyel, Mme., [143].
Plimmer, W. G., [112].
Podesta, C., [104].
Porta, [128].
Portland, Earl of, [28].
Pounds, Courtice, [164].
Prout, E., [48].
Prussia, King of, [89].
Puget, P., [104].
Purcell, Dan, [55], [77].
Purcell, H., [xi], [12], [54], [55], [71], [77], [90], [134], [135], [136], [148], [149], [164].
Raff, [63], [107], [126].
Rameau, [130].
Ravenscroft, [154].
Reinhardt, [77], [151], [161].
Richter, [37], [152].
Ricordi, [85].
Riemann, [1], [18], [32], [47], [110].
Roffe, [165].
Romani, [119].
Ronald, Landon, [40].
Rosa, Carl, [99], [133].
Rosse, Frederick, [78].
Rossini, [45], [106], [107], [108].
Rousseau, [159].
Rôze, Raymond, [47], [48].
Rubens, Paul, [156].
Rubini, [80].
Rumling, Von, [128].
Saint Georges, [87].
Saint Saëns, [43].
Salvayre, [115].
Sankey, [21].
Santley, Sir Charles, [146].
Sardinia, King of, [50].
Scarlatti, D., [29].
Schott, [70].
Schroeder-Devrient, [57].
Schubert, [5], [19], [20], [45], [160].
Schumann, [47], [48], [62], [63], [131].
Schuster, [128].
Schwanenberg, [128].
Scribe, [137].
Ségur, [121].
Shadwell, [29], [134], [142], [148], [149].
Sharp, Cecil, [95].
Shaw, Bernard, [47].
Silvestre, A., [137].
Smetana, [116].
Smith, J. C., [7], [90-92], [134-136].
Smithson, Henrietta, [123].
Smyth, Dr Ethel, [5].
Sontag, [137].
Spaight, [146].
Spohr, [62-63].
Squire, Barclay, [7], [34], [47], [128], [148].
Stadfeldt, [34].
Stanford, Sir Charles V., [100], [103], [156].
Steibelt, [120], [121].
Stephens, [11].
Stevens, [166].
Stevenson, Sir John, [73].
Stone, [165].
Strauss, R., [65], [66], [100], [112].
Stuart, Otho, [22].
Sturgis, Julian, [100], [103].
Sullivan, Sir Arthur, [45], [55], [77], [141], [142], [157].
Svendsen, [128].
Tamagno, [109].
Tamburini, [80].
Taubert, Emil, [150].
Taubert, Wilhelm, [58], [141], [142], [150].
Taylor, Coleridge, [114], [157].
Terry, Ellen, [37], [44], [55].
Thomas, Ambroise, [29], [30], [31].
Tindal, W., [73].
Tree, Sir Herbert, [22], [23], [47], [88], [114], [156].
Troutbeck, the Rev. J., [36].
Tschaikowsky, [23], [25], [35], [125], [126], [144].
Vaccaj, N., [120], [121].
Verdi, [2], [40], [50], [51], [55], [56], [80], [83-86], [106], [108], [111], [112], [115].
Veracini, F. M., [7].
Viardot, Mme., [27], [57].
Vogler, Abt, [27], [154].
Wagner, [2], [28], [30], [56], [57], [60], [62], [65], [67-70], [81], [84], [86], [108], [112], [125].
Wagner, Cosima, [55].
Webb, Gilbert, [41].
Weber, [27], [88], [89].
Weingartner, F., [52].
Weiss, [5].
Weldon, John, [71].
Wilde, Oscar, [100].
Wilson, Dr John, [71].
Winter, Peter von, [154].
Wolff, [51].
Wood, Sir Henry, [2].
Young, Isabella, [92].
Zeno, Apostolo, [28].
Ziani, [7].
Zingarelli, [120].

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