Shakespeare: Songs & Sonnets

ABSTRACT Considering the fame of the poet and the beauty of the poetry, it is intriguing and somewhat baffling that there are no musical settings of Shakespeare’s sonnets from his lifetime, whether from lack of preservation or a disinclination on the part of composers to set them. This was first won...

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Published in:Music & letters 2022-05, Vol.103 (2), p.205-225
Main Author: Duffin, Ross W
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description ABSTRACT Considering the fame of the poet and the beauty of the poetry, it is intriguing and somewhat baffling that there are no musical settings of Shakespeare’s sonnets from his lifetime, whether from lack of preservation or a disinclination on the part of composers to set them. This was first wondered at by Charles Burney in 1789, but is essentially explained away today as ‘sonnets are pure poetry’. This article explores possible reasons for the avoidance of sonnet settings in the early song repertory, including the language, versification, structure, and subject matter. The few surviving period sonnet settings are analysed, alongside a version of Sonnet 116 by Henry Lawes, the sole surviving Shakespeare sonnet setting from the seventeenth century. Using criteria from that study, a conjectural musical setting of a Shakespeare sonnet is proposed, based on an existing song by John Dowland.
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title Shakespeare: Songs & Sonnets
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