Music in Shakespeare

This book discusses music used in Shakespeare productions during the 170-year period from the Restoration to about 1830, a time when Shakespeare's plots and poetry were updated to meet popular taste, as was the musical repertoire created to enhance the plays. Included are settings of Shakespeare's song lyrics, other original texts, and added non-Shakespearean texts, as well as incidental music, masques, operas, and afterpieces based on the plays. An appendix summarizes information about important productions and source materials in a series of charts cross-referenced to the extensive bibliography. Numerous musical examples illustrate the text, and scores of Shakespearean music by Arne, Boyce, Leveridge, Vernon, Weldon, and others are reprinted.

This book introduces every important aspect of the Elizabethan music world. In ten scrupulously researched yet accessible chapters, Lord examines the lives of composers, the evolution of musical instruments, the Elizabethan system of musical notation, and the many textures and traditions of Elizabethan music.