(from the booklet for
the recording "Hey, Ho, the Wind and the Rain")
by Nick Wright
It is appropriate that this collection of songs for Shakespeare's plays,
recorded by boy soprano Lorin Wey, should contain music used in the
original productions and early revivals, for the songs would then have
been performed by boys who were accomplished singers as well as actors.
Many of them would have been recruited from established companies, such
as the Children of the Chapel or the Paul's Boys. Originally trained as
choristers for religious duties in such prestigious places as the Chapel
Royal or St Paul's Cathedral, these boys were also commanded to provide
musical and theatrical entertainment at court and indeed became so
well-known and popular that their masters set up their own companies to
perform additionally in private playhouses. Their success overtook for a
time that of the companies of professional adult actors, until the
playwrights providing them with material introduced political and
religious satire, which so displeased James I that he effectively closed
the children's companies down. In 1608 Shakespeare's company, The King's
Men, took over the Blackfriars theatre, which until then had hosted a
children's company. But Shakespeare's company would also have taken over
the best of the boy actors and singers, who were needed to play the
female roles, as women were not permitted to act on stage
professionally. These boys would be required, together with the
apprentices of the King's Men, to create such demanding roles as
Ophelia, Desdemona and Juliet.
This programme of songs for Shakespeare's plays takes us back as far as
the earliest productions. But as the early editions of the plays contain
no printed music we cannot be certain which of the songs might actually
have been used. Nor can we be sure how many of the texts came from
Shakespeare's own pen: often existing ballads were quoted or misquoted,
and the length dictated by the needs of the action. Robert Johnson
(15821633) is the composer most readily associated with Shakespeare: he
was employed by the King's Men from 1609 and it is likely that the two
songs for Ariel, Where the Bee Sucks and Full Fathom Five were used in
early revivals of The Tempest. The Willow Song (Anon) was already known
before Othello was written and Shakespeare adapted a shortened version
of it for the boy who played Desdemona. Thomas Morley (1557-1602)
published his song It was a lover and his lass about the same time as
the first production of As You Like It and the setting of 0 Mistress
Mine appeared just before Twelfth Night was first performed. But in both
cases there is nothing to establish if the words were indeed
Other songs in this collection most likely used in the early productions
of the plays include Take, 0 Take those Lips Away by John Wilson
(1597-1674) and Hark! Hark! The Lark!, which has been attributed to
Robert Johnson. In Measure for Measure only the first verse set by
Wilson is printed, although the second verse appears in a play by
Fletcher. Wilson was employed as composer to the King's Men in
succession to Robert Johnson, and also held positions as King's Lutenist,
Gentleman of the Chapel Royal and Professor of Music at Oxford.
At each successive revival of Shakespeare's plays, English composers
were keen to show their skill in writing or arranging music to accompany
the new productions. From the eighteenth century,Thomas Arne
(1710-1778), prolific writer of operas and incidental music for the
theatre, is best now remembered for his Shakespeare settings, of which
Under the Green Wood Tree, Blow, Blow thou Winter Wind and
Where the Bee
Sucks, written in the 1740s, are represented here.
The words set by Thomas Linley junior (17561778) for a revival of The
Tempest at Drury Lane in 1777 were not by Shakespeare but R. B.
Sheridan, who had rewritten the beginning of the play to allow for a
storm chorus and bright opening aria for Ariel: 0 Bid your Faithful
Ariel Fly. Thomas Linley junior was
the most promising composer of his age: coming from a multi-talented
musical family, he was already an accomplished violinist and composer
before going to Italy to study with Nardini at the age of twelve. There,
two years later, he met Mozart (they were exact contemporaries) and they
soon became friends, performing together at private salons. Back in
England Linley was a prolific and acclaimed composer, but tragically his
life was cut short when he drowned in a boating accident at the age of
22. Mozart called him "A true genius... had he lived he would have been
one of the greatest ornaments of the musical world"
Over Hill, Over Dale from A Midsummer Night's Dream, is probably the
least known song in this collection. It was written by an Irishman,
Thomas Cooke (1782-1848), one of a large number of songs written for the
stage. Cooke was a versatile musician, a noted singer and trainer of
singers; he was also proficient in most string, keyboard and wind
instruments. After leaving his native Dublin for London, he became
associated for a long time with the Drury Lane Theatre where he composed
music for more than fifty theatrical productions.
The name of Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) is inevitably associated
with that of W. S.
Gilbert, the provider of librettos for Sullivan's best-known operettas.
But Sullivan left a quantity of other work, including orchestral music,
oratorios, songs, anthems, and church services, as well as an attempt at
serious opera. And just as his operettas were popular in the theatre, so
were his songs in the home. He fulfilled the Victorians' passion for
home music-making with some seventy songs: these vary in quality from
those which aimed high (and succeeded) to others which descended to the
overly sentimental. Most of these songs were written before his
collaboration with Gilbert, and no doubt provided him with a comfortable
income. He wrote five settings of Shakespeare texts between 1863-4, of
which Orpheus and his Lute is the best known.
A more polished and elegant development of the Victorian drawing-room
song is to be found in the work of Roger Quilter, (1877-1953). From a
wealthy family, this most English of composers found early success as a
song writer and only occasionally strayed outside this genre. The two
well-crafted Shakespeare songs It was a Lover and Hey, Ho, the Wind and
the Rain are from his Opus 23.
Our two most recent Shakespeare settings are by two of the greatest
twentieth century British composers, Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) and
Michael Tippett (1905-1998). Instantly
recognisable by their individual styles, both are represented by works
from the 1960s, Britten's Fancie (1961) and two of Tippett's Songs for
Ariel, Full Fathom Five and Where the Bee Sucks (1962). These latter
pieces were part of the incidental music Tippett wrote for a production
of The Tempest at the Old Vic theatre, London. It is interesting to
compare Britten's setting of Fancy with that of Francis Poulenc,
(1899-1963) which dates from a couple of years earlier (1959).
Almost every major Western composer since Shakespeare's day has either
set his words to music or written incidental music based on his plays.
Hey, Ho, the Wind and the Rain is largely an anthology of English music
through the ages, but it is fitting that Lorin, a former Vienna Choir
Boy, and resident of Vienna, should include two songs by Franz Schubert
(1797-1828), also a former member of the choir. The two songs An Sylvia
and Horch, Horch die Lerch are both well-known favourites.
Note: The recording "Hey, Ho,
the Wind and the Rain" by boy soprano Lorin Wey is currently available
online at Tadpole Music
in the UK. Three tracks from the recording may be heard at
Lorin's discography page on
Copyright © 2003
Nick Wright, Tadpole Music Used with permission.