The Bard and the Cello
Sunday, November 25th by scott maliaShakespeare opens his charming comedy Twelfth Night with the oft-quoted line, “If music be the food of love, play on.” Though spoken by the romantically challenged Duke Orsino, the line has taken on a life of its own. Given how often people discuss the musicality of Shakespeare’s verse, perhaps it is appropriate that this particular quote has become so famous. Apparently, some have taken the sentiment to the next level. Cello phenom Matt Haimovitz is currently performing “After Shakespeare,” a collection of musical pieces directly inspired by different Shakespearean texts. Many of the big guns are included, such as Othello, King Lear, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The pieces are designed to reflect the emotions of specific scenes, characters and moments from The Bard’s classic works.
Combining music and Shakespeare is nothing new. Aside from the ballets, operas and other musical adaptations that the plays have inspired, the originals themselves often had musical components. The Fool in Twelfth Night sings and Ophelia’s madness in Hamlet is conveyed through song. Like the soliloquies, these musical interludes create moments of transcendence when the characters can communicate more directly with the audience. Given the lyrical nature of Shakespeare’s writing, the plays are as close to music as another form can be. Haimovitz approaches these qualities from the opposite direction, by finding the music without leaning on the words. Still, it is the words that are the root of the inspiration for these pieces. In The Bard’s hands, music is not only the food of love, but also pain, fear, pity and a host of other human emotions.
November 26th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
How wonderful! Music and Shakespeare go together like…well, the first thing that popped into my head was peanut butter and jelly, which isn’t particularly poetic and definitely is an understatement!
In our school’s production of “Much Ado About Nothing,” my 10-year-old daughter sang the “Pardon, Goddess of the Night” song in the scene in front of Hero’s supposed tomb. It moved people to tears because this little girl was singing this very sad song for a girl who was supposedly slandered to death. The words as well as the music evoked pity and pathos - just what this director was going for!
Another neat CD set is “Shakespeare at the Movies,” which provides 2 discs of various themes from…you guessed it…Shakespearean movies! From the Olivier’s and Branagh’s “Henry V” films to “Shakespeare In Love,” this CD set gives any Shakespeare film lover a bountiful feast of music to enjoy!