The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 15.0943  Monday, 26 April 2004

From:           Al Magary <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Saturday, 24 Apr 2004 16:31:43 -0700
Subject:        Shakespeare's Songbook; Five-Song Sampler

NPR had an interview with Ross W. Duffin, one of the authors of
_Shakespeare's Songbook_ (pbk with audio CD; 496 pp.; W.W.  Norton,
April 2004; list $39.95), a book that should particularly interest those
doing stage productions. Duffin is professor of music at Case Western
Reserve and coauthor Stephen Orgel is professor of humanities at Stanford.

Here's the publisher's blurb:  "A remarkable work that recovers the
songs Shakespeare's audiences actually heard and brings them to life
through performance.

"Shakespeare lovers have long lamented that so few songs in his plays
survive with original music; of about sixty song lyrics, only a handful
have come down to us with musical settings. For over 150 years, scholars
have aspired-without success-to fill that gap. In Shakespeare's
Songbook, Ross W. Duffin does just that.

"Eight years in the making, Shakespeare's Songbook is a meticulously
researched collection of 160 songs-ballads and narratives, drinking
songs, love songs, and rounds-that appear in, are quoted in, or alluded
to in Shakespeare's plays. Drawing substantially on the unmatched
resources of the Folger Shakespeare Library, Duffin brings complete
lyrics (many newly recovered) and music notation together for the first
time, and in the process sheds new light on Shakespeare's dramatic art.
  With performances by leading early-music singers and instrumentalists,
the accompanying audio CD brings the songbook to life. Shakespeare's
Songbook is the perfect gift for lovers of Shakespeare and an invaluable
reference for singers, actors, directors, and scholars. 49
illustrations, 500 music examples."

The NPR page has a link to the audio interview and links to
these five songs: Hold Thy Peace, It Was a Lover and His Lass,
Jog On, There Dwelt a Man in Babylon, and You Spotted Snakes.
http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1847184

Cheers,
Al Magary

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