Shakespeare's Musicke sung in authentic Elizabethan pronunciation
The Camerata of London



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Meridian CDE 84198
1990









The Winters Tale

01 - John WILSON. Lawne as white as driven snow   [1.43]
Cheerful Ayres and Ballads, 1660


Henry V

02 - Battaglia   [3.27]
instr., drums, shawms, sackbut


Merry Wives of Windsor

03 - Come live with me   [3.30]
melody William CORKINE, Second Book of Ayres

04 - John DOWLAND. Fortune my foe   [3.08]
instr., series of lute variations on the melody


Othello

05 - The Willow Song   [5.40]
ms. British Library


Romeo and Juliet

06 - Anthony HOLBORNE. Heart's Ease   [2.25]
instr., 'broken consort': violin, recorders, viols and lute

07 - Richard EDWARDS. Where griping grief   [3.12]
A Paradyse of Daynty Devises, 1577


The Tempest

08 - Robert JOHNSON. Full fathom life   [1.45]

09 - Robert JOHNSON. Where the bee sucks   [1.13]


Henry IV

10 - O death rock me asleep   [6.23]
ms. British Library


Twelfth Night

11 - Thomas MORLEY. O Mistress Mine   [2.36]
Consort Lessons, 1599

12 - John DOWLAND. Galliard: Battle Galliard   [2.00]

13 - Robert JONES. Farewell dear love   [4.38]
Songs and Ayres", 1601


Cymbeline

14 - Anthony HOLBORNE. Pavan: Last will and Testament   [2.55]

15 - Robert JOHNSON. Hark, hark, the lark   [1.31]


Hamlet

16 - John DOWLAND. Robin   [4.03]
instr., Robin or Bonny sweet robin, trad. set by DOWLAND

17 - How should I your true love know?   [1.52]

18 - Tomorrow is St. Valentine's day   [3.18]

19 - John DOWLAND. Walsingham   [5.26]


Measure for measure

20 - John WILSON or Robert JOHNSON. (attr.). Take o take those lips away   [1.38]


As you like it

21 - Thomas MORLEY. It was a lover and his lass   [3.08]
Ayres or Little Short Songs





Simon Giles, treble
David Dyer, tenor

Camerata of London
Barry Mason
Giles Lewin, violin, recorder, shawm
Bill Lyons, recorder, shawm
Martin Pope, sackbut, recorder
Philip Thorby, bass viol, shawm
David Miller, lute
Glenda Simpson, viol
Neil Rowlands, Keith Giles, percussion
Barry Mason, lute, therobo, baroque guitar




Musical Supervision by Roger Geffen
Recorded and produced by John Shuttleworth
Assistant Engineers; Richard Hughes & lestyn Rees
Digitally recorded al St. Edward the Confessors Church, Mortingharn, using an AKG C24 microphone
Cover picture oy Glenda Simpson
Meridian Records, 1990





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SHAKESPEARE'S MUSICKE

"I pray you let me heare your musicke for have often gone to plaies more for musicke's sake than for action." This quotation from 1605 was addressed to a group of actors and shows clearly the importance of music in the English theatre of the early seventeenth century. In Shakespeare's plays alone there are over 400 references to music; be it to specific songs or pieces that were to be performed as part of the action, calls to arms for soldiers, exit or entrance music, instructions on how to dance the galliard, or casual references to popular songs, catches and ballads that would have been totally familiar to his audiences.

In his works Shakespeare takes us through the full gamut of the musical world, and like other cultured Elizabethans he was aware of its many different levels, from the philosophical "music of the spheres" to a sublime love song or a saucy peddler's ballad.

On this recording we have endeavoured to perform the music as Shakespeare might have heard it, using original instruments, and boy treble for the female songs. This, of course, is because in Shakespeare's time women were not allowed to act professionally on the stage. The female roles were always played by trained boy actors; incredible as it may seem today the demanding roles of Lady Macbeth, Desdemona and Ophelia were all originally interpreted by boys.

We have also used an authentic pronunciation of the period; obviously in determining a pronunciation for texts that were written nearly four hundred years ago there must be a measure of speculation. However, the pronunciation we have used is based on many years of study by the late Professor Dobson of Oxford, and also on practical application in performances of Elizabethan music by members of the Camerata of London. What can be stated with certainty is that this pronunciation, with its pungent short vowels and characteristic rolled "r"s would be familiar to Shakespeare himself, his actors and his audiences in a way that a modern English pronunciation could never be.

Music was such an integral part of the Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre that many interesting descriptions of musicians survive. For example we know that in 1598 the band called the "Admiral's Men" included 3 shawms, one drum, a treble and bass viol, a bandora, a sackbut and bells - an ensemble very similar to that used for some of the instrumental pieces on this recording. During the whole period a great variety of instrumental combinations and mixed consorts existed in the theatre, because of the variations in the physical nature of the venues. Some playhouses were small and roofed and this meant that music performed in them was played on instruments suitable for indoor use: lute, recorders, and viol, whilst in the "open" playhouses the employment of drums, shawm bands and "outdoor" instruments was essential.

This recording represents various aspects of music on the Shakespearean stage. Not all the pieces were composed for Shakespeare's own productions, indeed at this distance of time it is very hard to make definitive statements, as very little detailed evidence of the specific pieces performed in any one production survives. Suffice it to say that the music we have chosen, the style of performance, the instrumentation and the musical forms used are as close to the Shakespearean age as present research permits.



THE MUSIC

Lawns as white is a peddler's song. Attributed to Dr John Wilson, the song is found in his "Cheerful Ayres and Ballade of 1660. From his connection with the theatre it seems likely that Wilson was the singer "Jackie Wilson" whose name is mentioned in the folio edition of 1623. The song is written in the new dramatic, declamatory style prevalent in England at the beginning of the seventeenth century.

Battaglia is played on the "loud" instrumental consort of drums, shawms and sackbut typical of the open air theatres. It imitates the sound of battle.

Come live with me, a pastoral song quoted in the "Merry Wives of Windsor". The melody is from William Corkine's "Second Book of Ayres" of 1612.

Fortune my foe was a popular ballad; the intermingling of the serious and popular traditions at this period is clearly shown, not only by Shakespeare, who lets Falstaff casually quote the title, but also by the fact that the courtly musician, John Dowland, chose to set the melody as a series of lute variations.

The Willow Song is sung by Desdemona just before the final catastrophe in "Othello". The song itself is very old, and was probably well known to Shakespeare who used it to heighten the pathos of the drama. This version is taken from a manuscript in the British Library.

Heart's Ease. In Romeo and Juliet, the servant Peter, in dialogue with a group of musicians calls for the popular Almain "Heart's Ease". In this setting by Holborne the instrumentation we have used is that of a "broken consort" - violin, recorders, viols and lute.

Where griping grief. This beautiful setting by Richard Edwards was published in "A Paradyse of Daynty Devises" in 1577. The first verse is sung by Peter in "Romeo and Juliet"; the text of the song brings forth a typical Shakespearean play on words - Peter: "Why music with her silver sound?" Hugh Rebek: say silver sound because musicians sound for silver".

Full fathom five and Where the bee sucks are two contrasted and charming songs sung by that "insubstantial creature of the air", Ariel in "The Tempest". The composer Robert Johnson was a member of Shakespeare's company "The King's Men" from 1609 until 1623, and was a musician closely associated with both the public theatre and the courtly maske. These two songs were probably used in the first performance of "The Tempest" in 1611.

O death rock me asleep. This song is referred to by Pistol in "Henry IV" when he says "Then death rock me asleep, abridge my doleful days." The setting used here with its repetitive, bell-like lute accompaniment comes from a manuscript in the British Library.

O mistress mine is another well known song of the period. The melody is anonymous, but it appears in a number of contemporary versions. We have chosen to use the setting by Thomas Morley, from his "Consort Lessons" of 1599.

The Battle Galliard is an arrangement of the galliard by John Dowland. The play "Twelfth Night" abounds in music and musical references. Indeed, its opening lines are "If music be the food of love play on." In a discussion of dances, many of the popular dances of the time are also mentioned, including the galliard, coranto, jig and sink-a pace. Farewell dear love is quoted by Sir Toby Belch; the music is taken from Robert Jones's "Songs and Ayres" of 1601.

Last Will and Testament. The instrumentation of this pavan is typical of that used in the covered or "indoor" theatres; an intimate mixture of "quiet" instruments - recorders and viols. In the play "Cymbeline", musicians are called for and are asked to play "...a very excellent good conceited thing:" in other words a polyphonic piece such as the pavan and "....after a wonderful, sweet air with admirable rich words to it." - the song Hark, hark the lark. Both the pavan and the song are examples of Shakespeare's use of music as a theatrical device. The music acts as relief from the atmosphere of tragedy which pervades the previous scene - it is also used to mark the passing of time, night being transformed into day.

How should I your true love know?
is sung by the mad Ophelia, and the song is given the stage direction "Ophelia - her hair hanging down, sings and plays upon a lute." The melody is another ancient ballad tune which attracted the serious Elizabethan musicians. William Byrd made a setting of it, as did John Dowland; calling the ballad by its traditional name of "Walsingham" he used the simple melody as a basis for his brilliantly complex set of lute variations.

Robin or "Bonny sweet robin" is a traditional melody set by Dowland. Ophelia quotes part of the text in her deranged ramblings. This quotation together with the jig she sings, Tomorrow is St. Valentine's Day, testify to her insanity, as the bawdy texts of both of these pieces are unbecoming to one so chaste.

Take o take those lips away. This beautiful song has been attributed to John Wilson, as well as to Robert Johnson; both musicians closely connected with the Shakespearean theatre. The song, performed in "Measure for Measure" by a boy musician is sung to the jilted Marianna on her first presentation to the audience, the text ably illustrates "the continuance of her affection..."

It was a lover and his lass is one of the most well known of all songs connected with Shakespeare. This famous version by Thomas Morley was published in 1600 and comes from his "Ayres or Little Short Songs".



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