Shakespeare & Music

We focus on the work of William Shakespeare and how his plays and poems have influenced composers.  Artistic Director of Changeling Theatre Company, Rob Forknall, is joined by the company’s new Musical Director, Albert Graver, to talk about how they are coping with the challenges for artists at this time and how they are planning their production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, to come to Deal in July 2021.

Writer and broadcaster Christopher Cook puts Shakespeare’s work in context and gives specific examples of settings: Verdi’s and Richard Strauss’ contrasting approaches to Macbeth, Elgar’s, Vaughan-Williams’ and Holst’s differing ways of characterising Falstaff and how Roger Quilter simply but poignantly sets Shakespeare’s words to ‘Come Away Death’.

Artistic Director of Changeling Theatre Company, Rob Forknall, is joined by the company’s new Musical Director, Albert Graver, to talk about how they are coping with the challenges for artists at this time and how they are planning their production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, to come to Deal in July 2021.

These films were made during the lockdown period of Covid 19 as a resource for Deal Music & Arts’ audience.

Because of the nature of Christopher’s talk, we give a Playlist available on Spotify.  You need not pay for a Spotify account to hear this list, but you may need to sign up to the platform.  If you listen on a computer, the music will play in the order of Christopher’s talk.  If you listen on a mobile phone, that order may vary.