Music Inspired by Shakespeare

Started by calyptorhynchus, April 15, 2016, 01:54:15 AM

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vandermolen

#20
April 16, 2016, 03:14:48 PM
Quote from: pjme on April 15, 2016, 09:53:49 AM
I was glad to re-discover it at this very moment. I did buy the cd some years ago. "Prospero's Beschwörungen" is just splendid.

There is an incredible amount of -often- excellent music inspired by Shakespeare. !

Take Julius Caesar:

Hans Rott in 1877: https://youtu.be/46oBNMFnXd8

Robert Kurka in 1955: https://youtu.be/N750UtuCi50

Mario Castenuovo Tedesco in 1934: https://youtu.be/dob5ZwkMIqQ

Rudolf Tobias in 1896: https://youtu.be/VgiQ9EIqbUk
The Kurka sounds good. I have enjoyed his music especially Symphony 2 - sad that he died so young.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

mjwal

#21
April 19, 2016, 08:20:44 AM
Back in the 60s, I foolishly failed to see the first (and only?) production of Humphry Searle's Hamlet in Hamburg - I thought "Searle? Who he?" and let it go. I'm a Searle fan now. But I loved Blacher's Zwischenfälle bei einer Notlandung, possibly the first opera using electronic sounds - it was clearly based on The Tempest, but updated, of course. My choice of greatest Shakespeare setting would be Britten's Sonnet XLIII in his Nocturne. The next would be Finzi's of "Fear No More the Heat o' the Sun". But prithee, stay - my choice of most magical Shakespeare setting is Arne Nordheim's ballet suite (with vocals) for the Tempest, without which I could not live. It's a pity, though, that the electronic sounds seem poorly done in the one and only recording.
I heard Reimann's Lear once - it put me off Reimann for ever - talk about sound and fury, signifying nothing (to me). Speaking of Macbeth - has Bloch's version been mentioned? - I loved Abrahamsen's Let Me Tell You. It is at several removes from Shakespeare, of course. - I would like to see/hear an operatic version of Pericles. Couldn't Birtwistle have a go?
The Violin's Obstinacy

It needs to return to this one note,
not a tune and not a key
but the sound of self it must depart from,
a journey lengthily to go
in a vein it knows will cripple it.
...
Peter Porter

Maestro267

#22
April 20, 2016, 12:03:27 AM
I'm trying to think of what Shakespeare-inspired works to listen to on Saturday to commemorate the anniversary, and now I realise I have quite a few tone poems/overtures by many different composers, based on many different plays. Here's my list as far as I can remember:

Tchaikovsky: Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, The Tempest
R. Strauss: Macbeth
Smetana: Richard III
Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream (overture and 4 other movements of incidental music)
Berlioz: Roméo et Juliette (choral symphony)
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet (complete ballet)
Liszt: Hamlet
Shostakovich: Hamlet (complete film score)
Dvorák: Othello
Mackenzie: Twelfth Night, Coriolanus (suite of incidental music)
Vaughan Williams: Serenade to Music
Elgar: Falstaff

ritter

#23
April 20, 2016, 12:15:14 AM
Let's not forget Igor Stravinsky's wonderful Three Songs from William Shakespeare, for mezzo-soprano, flute, clarinet and viola (1953):

https://www.youtube.com/v/93k7TId6Iqo

calyptorhynchus

#24
April 22, 2016, 10:06:48 PM
I've had a good week with my Shakespearean listening. It seems that Mr WS inspired composers to some of their best efforts.

I've discovered a few new things as well. The Wellesz was one, and very good, another was this disk of Shostakovich's music for King Lear, incidental music from 1940 and a film score from 1970.



And I also listened to a lot of music contemporary with WS, including keyboard works by Byrd, consorts by Coprario, Lupo, Gibbons &c and this disk, which introduced me to the lute consort, a magical sound



:D
'Many men are melancholy by hearing music, but it is a pleasing melancholy that it causeth.' Robert Burton

'...is it not strange that sheepes guts should hale soules out of mens bodies?' Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing

vandermolen

#25
April 23, 2016, 12:24:37 AM Last Edit: April 23, 2016, 12:36:05 AM by vandermolen
Many thanks to Sforzando for mentioning 'Prospero's Spells' by Egon Wellesz. I very much agree with pjme that it is a fine work. Another great advert for the forum, as otherwise I may never have discovered it. Feeds my CD obsession too of course but that is another issue. 8)

Nice thread by the way; thank you calyptorhynchus.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

vandermolen

#26
April 23, 2016, 12:27:54 PM
Frank Bridge: 'There is a Willow grows Aslant a Brook' (references death of Ophelia from Hamlet). One of my favourite works by Bridge (composed in 1927). The video includes the relevant section of the play:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1A4IdQSEv08
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

HIPster

#27
April 23, 2016, 01:13:05 PM Last Edit: April 24, 2016, 07:11:29 AM by HIPster
This is a great thread!  Thanks to all who have posted.  Much to explore.

I have greatly enjoyed Jed Kurzel's soundtrack to the 2015 film version of Macbeth ~

[asin]B014U87KWS[/asin]

An appropriate label might be that it is  "post rock" as opposed to classical.  Either way, I was haunted by this music while watching the film and straight away purchased the soundtrack CD afterwards.
Wise words from Que:

Never waste a good reason for a purchase....  ;)

vandermolen

#29
April 23, 2016, 02:09:20 PM Last Edit: April 23, 2016, 02:11:42 PM by vandermolen
Quote from: HIPster on April 23, 2016, 01:13:05 PM
This is a great thread!  Thanks to all who have posted.  Much to explore.

I have greatly enjoed Jed Kurzel's soundtrack to the 2015 film version of Macbeth ~

[asin]B014U87KWS[/asin]

An appropriate label might be that it is  "post rock" as opposed to classical.  Either way, I was haunted by this music while watching the film and straight away purchased the soundtrack CD afterwards.
Must look out for that one! I'm not a great fan of Michael Nyman's music but I do like the soundtrack from 'Prospero's Books' especially the track entitled 'Prospero's Magic'.  :)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=htK3W0Acjsg
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Scion7

#30
April 23, 2016, 03:12:28 PM
Quote from: vandermolen on April 23, 2016, 12:27:54 PM
Frank Bridge: 'There is a Willow grows Aslant a Brook' (references death of Ophelia from Hamlet).

Ah!  I had not heard that before. Thanks - more Bridge to add to the collection.
Saint-Saëns, who predicted to Charles Lecocq in 1901: 'That fellow Ravel seems to me to be destined for a serious future.'

vandermolen

#31
April 23, 2016, 11:03:12 PM
Quote from: Scion7 on April 23, 2016, 03:12:28 PM
Ah!  I had not heard that before. Thanks - more Bridge to add to the collection.
One of his most atmospheric works - there are several recordings. I'd be interested to hear what you thought of it.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

vandermolen

#32
April 24, 2016, 12:00:57 AM
These are great ways to commemorate the Shakespeare anniversary as they combine the text with music:
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"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

mc ukrneal

#33
April 24, 2016, 06:53:41 AM
There are so many. I think these were not mentioned (but so much was, it could have been):
Korngold - Much ado About Nothing
Rossini - Otello
Thomas - Hamlet
Bernstein - West Side Story
Salieri - Falstaff
Ades - The Tempest
Be kind to your fellow posters!!

Luke

#34
April 24, 2016, 07:07:05 AM
Henze's Royal Winter Music is a favourite of mine - a number of Shakespearian character studies for solo guitar.

mc ukrneal

#35
April 24, 2016, 07:32:39 AM
Quote from: Luke on April 24, 2016, 07:07:05 AM
Henze's Royal Winter Music is a favourite of mine - a number of Shakespearian character studies for solo guitar.
Mad Lady Macbeth always reminds me of Britten's Turn of the Screw (the theme after the prologue) . They both are a little cookoo, so it seems appropriate, but do you know if there is any intention by Henze there (either direct or indirect) to refer to that? 
Be kind to your fellow posters!!

Monsieur Croche

#36
August 10, 2016, 12:03:12 AM
Lukas Foss ~ Measure for Measure, for tenor and small orchestra (1980)

A setting of texts by Shakespeare using music (arranged fused with some newly-composed) of Renaissance composer Solomon (Salamone) Rossi (ca. 1570 – 1630).

Lovely piece, imo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sGlzIr13uo


Best regards.
~ I'm all for personal expression; it just has to express something to me. ~

Turner

#37
August 10, 2016, 12:14:14 AM
It´s been years since I heard it last time, but there´s Foerster´s "Shakespeare-Suite", however less attractive than his "Cyrano de Bergerac", as I remember it. Maybe it´s because of the recording. Will give it a try again.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51KYA7Z7GXL.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Pqsok2B8jY

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